Penelope Jackson murder trial

VANECAM

It strikes me that many of the posters on here wouldn’t have been accepted onto the trial jury since their biased views even before hearing the evidence would render them unworthy of providing justice.

but unfortunately their biased views would not be known when they are selected for jury service.
maybe it is different in america ?, but in uk there is no routine questioning of prospective jurors, as to their opinions/politics.
this jury was made up of 8 women and 4 men, randomly selected from the electoral roll.

There is no doubt she is guilty.
I think people are surprised at the length of the sentence, when comparing it to other murders committed by men--

MissAdventure

There is no doubt she is guilty.
I think people are surprised at the length of the sentence, when comparing it to other murders committed by men--

None of us know for sure what goes on in someone else's marriage. The face they seemed to present to the world was a happy one but we don't know if either, or both, was different behind closed doors.

Her attitude after the stabbing did not appear to be that of someone in their right mind. I presume psychiatric reports were presented to the court.
We weren't there and didn't hear all the evidence or how she presented herself in court.

However, I agree that the sentence does seem unduly harsh compared to others who have killed.

MissAdventure

There is no doubt she is guilty.
I think people are surprised at the length of the sentence, when comparing it to other murders committed by men--

Exactly. Because strangling a woman in the middle of sex, and using the 'She liked it rough...' defence is SO much better than a ground down woman snapping and killing while out of her mind.

I have a friend whose father beats the mother. None of the children will have anything to do with the father. Any one of the three daughters would take the mother in and put a roof over her head, day or night. Still, she stays. Coercive control on top of physical violence means she is mentally unable to leave DESPITE having external support.

Maybe your friend is petrified that if she leaves he'll come to find her and seek his revenge, GagaJo?

I was petrified when I left my husband. I had a young son and was convinced he'd come to my parent's house and set fire to the place.

Or that he'd snatch our child from school

Nothing to do with having support outside my matrimonial home. I had parents, siblings, friends.

But the fear of what he would do once I'd left made the procedure nigh on impossible. I did manage it but it took years.

John Broadhurst left his partner dead with over 40 injuries and dying in a pool of her own blood, claiming she wanted rough sex.
He got 3 or 4 years, I think. AND appealed!
There have been 59 cases like this, and when it happens, the dead women are effectively put on trial.

Fortunately I have never witnessed or been the victim of abuse. I think think Penelope Jackson had just had enough! Of course killing is wrong and she was well aware of that ! She quite simply felt that any punishment she received was well and truely worth it! How desperate she must have been.

He was her 4th husband apparently. I’d like to know a bit more about the other three before forming an opinion. I only know that husband number three committed suicide because she was unfaithful. She had an affair with husband number four. I wonder what happened with the other two.

According to press reports she had her 2 much loved Rottweillers put to death when he was in the Middle East. Then had an affair

She'd had 4 husbands so I don't know much about her apart from that. Husband number 3 killed himself which she has blamed herself for.

Maybe her husband has snapped and she'd snapped that little bit more.

The Judge would not have been a stupid man. He and the Jury will have heard all the relevant evidence.

There may well be an appeal for lesser jail time.

But I for one am not feeling much sympathy for her.

Sorry, they were his dogs that she had put to sleep.

At one time I would have had some sympathy for her due to my own experiences but now I'm not so sure. A male family member has been accused of harassment, domestic abuse, drug abuse, mental health issues and now rape by an ex partner. All totally untrue and vindictive because he applied for a court order after she refused to let him see his child. Also much of it is impossible because she totally refused contact with him from early in the pregnancy and then let him see the baby a few times just to prove that she was trying!!! I have discovered several of his friends and acquaintances have been through similar experiences, including violence from their partners. It is a disgrace that these women are cashing in on the genuine abuse that is suffered my other women. I don't know the full story behind Penelope Jackson but I worry that often self styled 'feminist' 'strong single women' are making it difficult to get to the truth. Sorry for the rant but the whole family is suffering stress because of her lies.

Sorry correction 'genuine abuse that is suffered by other women'.

I have noticed that several people on here are using gender to determine whether a person is guilty or innocent. I do feel that using the information that we have available to us would be more accurate. Even taking into account the only information we have is via the various news channels one or two of which are well known for not letting the truth get in the way of a good story I do feel they are likely to give a more accurate verdict than just relying on gender alone.

It seems strange that an independent woman who was in her fourth marriage stayed with an abusive husband for so long.

The sentence was harsh, I believe, because she showed no remorse when arrested, (probably out of her mind at that time) but also later and throughout the trial.

Her first husband remarried and 'does not have pleasant memories of his first marriage'; the second husband is thought to live abroad; the third one committed suicide after her affair with her fourth husband whom she murdered. She does not present as a typical victim of domestic abuse, I would think.

She does not present as a typical victim of domestic abuse, I would think.

Is there a typical victim of domestic abuse?

18 yrs for manslaughter is a long sentence, showing no remorse did her no favors, guilt was not in doubt. The judge must have thought she was unstable and a threat to others, no doubt the psychiatric reports played a part in that.
If there is an appeal new psychiatric reports would have to refute the original, it doesn’t sound like that is going to happen soon. After the tragedy that her life has been so far prison will be the only stability she has had for a very long time

she was found guilty of murder not manslaughter

Scones there is no ‘typical victim’ but I ve yet to come across one who is as strong and bolshi as she appears to be and I worked for many many years with survivors
I would certainly be very cautious to call her a victim if her third husband committed suicide because of her actions ?
For a woman to trust a knife in after her husband is dreaming in pain begging 999 for help is beyond my understanding
I haven’t followed the court case so only know what I ve read in the media however the judge and jury would have a much fuller version

From reading various press reports about her she sounds like an absolute psycho.

Probably not Scones. However I think one could definitely call this murderer ‘feisty’ which is maybe unusual in domestic violence situations. Taking the knife to her bedroom indicates to me she was prepared to give as good as she got if anything started. But then, she ramped the situation up and went into him and it escalated from there. She could of course have chosen to pack a bag, call a taxi and stay in an hotel whilst she examined her options the next day. I don’t think she’d have been feared of her 78y old fella coming after her. Plus she had no littlies in tow. She made a bad choice with tragic consequences.

I don't think anyone commits suicide because of someone else's actions.
That's an outrageous thing to say.

On the surface, I know how it looks. We saw a short video on YouTube.
However, if she’d had three husbands before, she’s no stranger to walking away from a marriage. Why didn’t she walk from this one...rather than kill him? It could be she drove him to be the bully he has been reported to be.
I’m not saying he was actually a decent man, except when he was with her, I don’t know, but to kill him is extreme, and very sad.
No doubt there’ll be people with experience ,who can identify with her, but to me, with the little knowledge I have, I do hope she goes to prison for life.

She drive him to be a bully!?
When are men going to be held accountable for their own behaviour?

MissAdventure

She drive him to be a bully!?
When are men going to be held accountable for their own behaviour?

I did say I don’t know. I have no experience, but I had a cousin, who attacked her husband with an axe, while he was asleep. Her own parents said he was an ordinary bloke until he married her. She was unhinged to the point he attacked her. There had been no history of it with any other relationships of his.

It was a miracle he didn’t die. She pleaded self defence of course. I honestly can’t remember what happened to them, but know they didn’t stay together.

Ah yes.
I listened to a youtube podcast yesterday about a male victim of domestic abuse.
His tiny little partner almost killed him; shocking!
So yes, you're right, it can happen.