Fear over imagined debt led to Dunster pensioner stabbing his wife, court hears
A pensioner killed his wife after fearing an imagined £22,000 debt to a loan shark would leave them homeless, a court was told.
Hugh Webber, 79, stabbed Angela Webber, 77, a total of 15 times with two knives during an attack at their home in the village of Dunster, Somerset.
He dialled 999 at about 3am on October 29 2020 and told the operator: "Yesterday, I just tried to murder my wife," Bristol Crown Court was told.
Both police and paramedics attempted to save Mrs Webber but she was declared dead a short time later.
Webber was arrested and charged with murder but a judge ruled he was unfit to stand trial after hearing evidence from psychiatrists.
Instead, a jury had to decide whether Webber unlawfully killed his wife.
Andrew Langdon QC, prosecuting, said: "This is a very sad case.
"Towards the end of October 2020, a neighbour, who had regular contact with Mr and Mrs Webber, noticed that Mr Webber appeared not to be himself.
"He had apparently suddenly developed an acute anxiety (about) a debt which he said he had, and that he and Mrs Webber would be forced out of their home.
"That anxiety, it later transpired, was irrational. There was no debt and no threat of them being homeless."
After the attack, Webber dialled 999 and spoke to the call handler, Mr Langdon said.
Asked whether Mrs Webber was still breathing, he replied: "Just about. I have just tried to murder my wife."
He added: "I stabbed her 15 times, something like that. She is wandering in and out of consciousness."
Asked to go and check on her, Webber went upstairs and said: "She is still breathing and is still making noises.
"She is crying out. Just get the bloody ambulance and the police."
When the emergency services arrived at the home, they found Mrs Webber on the floor of her bedroom covered in blood. She was declared dead shortly after.
Three knives were recovered from Webber's bedroom - two of which had Mrs Webber's blood on them.
"Forensic scientists examined the scene very carefully and the patterns of blood distribution suggested that Mrs Webber had been repeatedly stabbed while lying on her bed," Mr Langdon said.
A post-mortem examination found she died from multiple stab wounds, including to her torso and arm.
Former neighbour Graham Lamacraft told the jury of a conversation he had with the defendant days before the attack.
"He mentioned there was a loan shark after him who he owed £22,000 to and he would be out of his house at the end of the week," he said.
"He said at the time he thought he had paid him off. This was a fixation in his mind and this was a fact."
Mr Lamacraft also told the jury of a telephone call he had with Webber later that week.
"His opening remark was, 'Angela wouldn't believe me that we have to get out of the house by the end of the week'.
"Again I asked him for details about the loan. He was unable to give me any information at all."
Mr Lamacraft said he also spoke with Mrs Webber and she told him, 'I think he is losing it'.
"She said she had tried to get him to go to the doctor but he had refused. She didn't seem anxious."
He added: "In conversations with Hugh, he seemed to have lost all sense of reason and didn't seem to take on board anything I was saying in regard to the way he would be evicted."
The court was told police investigations later found Webber did not have any debts and was not at risk of eviction.
Webber, of St George's Street, Dunster, is not attending the trial.
After hearing all the evidence and deliberating for around 30 minutes, the jury decided Webber had unlawfully killed his wife.
Judge William Hart adjourned the hearing until Friday afternoon.
"The recommendation of the psychiatrists is that he be made subject of a hospital order with a restriction order without limit of time," he said.
"It is a very sad case, to put it mildly."