‘Bacon and bloodshed’
Sally Challen wasn’t allowed to see her friends or spend money. All her decisions were down to her husband, Richard.
Just 15 when they met – Richard was in his 20s – and besotted, she would head to his flat after school to do his housework. Apparently, Richard continued to see other women.
When Sally challenged him, he pulled her down the stairs.
Yet Sally was in love. They married in 1979 and had two sons. Richard continued to belittle and control his wife, calling her names in front of their boys.
He also carried on seeing other women over the decades.
When Richard went out, he’d take Sally’s phone, to stop her communicating with the outside world.
Sally complained to her doctor about stress, sleeplessness and loss of appetite.
Finally, she left and instigated divorce proceedings.
But after 30 long years – and used to being under Richard’s control – she wanted him back.
Richard agreed, if Sally signed a pre-nup slashing her financial entitlement to their £1m home in Surrey.
There were other stipulations – Sally was not to interrupt him or talk to others when they were out.
On 14 August 2010, Sally arrived at their home. Richard, 61, was hungry, so she headed out to buy bacon and eggs.
On her return, Sally dialled the last called number on Richard’s phone – and a woman answered...
As Richard ate the breakfast, Sally hit him 20 times over the head with a hammer.
Wrapping his body in curtains, she left a note saying, ‘I love you, Sally.’
She was then talked down from a clifftop by a suicide prevention team.
Sally Challen was convicted of murder at Guildford Crown Court and sentenced to life imprisonment in June 2011.
Her sons fought for her release, blaming the decades of abuse she’d endured.
In 2019, Challen’s conviction was quashed as the court heard of Richard’s coercive control over his wife. The Old Bailey later accepted her guilty plea to manslaughter.
She was sentenced to nine years and four months and freed due to time served.
Even after being freed, Challen told a press conference, ‘I still love Richard and miss him dreadfully.’