Detention for wife who killed husband

Dale Wickham. Photo / Paul Estcourt

A woman with multiple sclerosis who shot dead her husband has avoided a prison sentence.

In October, Dale Wickham, 62, was found not guilty of murder but guilty of the manslaughter of her husband John in their Massey, West Auckland, home last year.

Yesterday, she was sentenced to 12 months of home detention.

Justice Rebecca Ellis said a sentence of imprisonment would severely exacerbate her multiple sclerosis.

The judge took the unorthodox step of telling Wickham the sentence before giving her reasons for it, saying it was clear anxiety and stress could greatly affect her health, as seen during her trial when Wickham collapsed and was taken to hospital as the jury considered its verdict.

Wickham appeared frail as she moved through the court building, supported by a walking stick and family members, and was often tearful in the dock.

She killed her husband with a single shotgun blast after he threw a bottle of spirits at her, tried to throttle her and told her "I'll gut you like a fish".

She phoned police but her husband was dead when they arrived.

The couple had been married for 41 years. The court was told their relationship deteriorated in the year before Mr Wickham's death and he started seeing other women and psychologically abusing his wife.

One witness said Mr Wickham had said he would put his wife "out of her misery" when her condition got too bad, Justice Ellis said.

While the jury rejected Wickham's self-defence argument, the killing came about because of the abusive nature of the couple's relationship and her fear for her safety, which prompted her to store the loaded gun in her bed, the judge said.

"There is no denying that pointing a loaded gun at someone is an act of extreme recklessness, but I accept that you were very scared."

The judge also accepted that Wickham's multiple sclerosis made her feel she had few options available to her in dealing with the confrontation with her husband.

- NZPA