Freedom for devoted husband who killed wife

Press, 21 July 1988, Page 8

Freedom for devoted husband who killed wife

NZPA-PA

A pensioner who killed his crippled wife after years of caring for her has walked free from a court.

Robert and Lily Singleton were married for 53 years and were inseparable, the Sheffield Crown Court heard.

Then Lily, who was aged 77, suffered the last of a series of strokes and was left confined to a wheelchair, needing 24hour care.

The Court heard that her devoted husband ig-

nored advice to put her in a home and saw to her every need himself, dressing, washing and feeding her. He was often up eight times a night to look after his beloved Lily.

Despite seven years of non-stop attention, Lily began to lose her mind. She began ranting and raving and her husband finally snapped. Trying to quieten her after another sleepless night, he killed her by pressing a pillow over her face, the Court heard.

The 77-year-old former

soldier and market gardener, of Hatfield Woodhouse, Doncaster, was put on probation for two years after pleading guilty to manslaughter. Villagers had sent a petition to the court, appealing for mercy for Robert, and women in the public gallery wiped away tears as Mr Justice Kennedy told him, “It is quite clear that over the years you looked after your wife magnificently. “If you are to be criticised it is because you shouldered a burden too heavy to bear.”