South Yorkshire alcoholic chased wife of 25 years with kitchen knife after smothering her with pillow
Sheffield Crown Court heard David Lawton’s wife disarmed him when gestured to “stab himself”
A South Yorkshire man with a drink problem chased his wife of 25 years around their home with a kitchen knife after smothering her with a pillow amid a boozy jealousy attack.
While brandishing the blade David Lawton, aged 53, told his long-suffering spouse - who had been with him for 38 years - “I’m doing to do you and them I’m going to do myself”.
After disarming sloshed Lawton, his wife locked herself away for the night and returned from work the next day to find him “unresponsive” on their garden furniture. However attending paramedics then told the complainant it was time to report her abusive husband’s behaviour.
Addressing Sheffield Crown Court, Lawton’s tearful wife described feeling “guilty” and “terrified” about what what would happen to her long-term partner, adding: “I’m struggling to come to terms with what’s happened.”
Neil Coxon, prosecuting, described how on April 26 Lawton returned home from the pub while his wife was in bed and accused her of “infidelity”.
Mr Coxon said: “She saw him pick up a pillow, he then held it over her face, applying pressure and causing her to struggle to breathe and panic.”
After being pushed away Lawton left the room and returned with a kitchen knife, telling her “I’m going to do you and them I’m going to do myself”.
While following the complainant around the house Lawton was “gesturing” with the blade as if to “stab himself” in the stomach, said Mr Coxon.
Lawton’s “terrified” wife then locked herself in their bedroom until the morning after managing to wrestle the blade from him. When his wife found him in the garden the next day he was taken to hospital with a suspected overdose and arrested two days later, denying the allegations to police.
The defendant had only one previous conviction for a motoring offence, the court heard.
Lawton’s barrister Laura Marshall said he was “entirely ashamed” of his behaviour and was battling the “demons” of alcohol addiction.
Lawton, of Bramley Grange Way, Bramley, Rotherham, admitted intentional suffocation and threatening a person with an offensive weapon.
He was jailed for 19 months suspended for 18 months, handed 40 rehabilitation activity days, a six-month alcohol treatment requirement, a 120-day alcohol abstinence monitoring requirement, 150 hours of unpaid work and a six-year restraining order.