HUBBY KILLER WIFE IS SPARED PRISON
Victim had faced sex abuse claims
A FORMER councillor who smothered her sick husband to death was spared jail yesterday.
Retired nurse Susanne Wilson, 72, had been struggling to come to terms with allegations of child sex abuse against Henry, 70, her husband of 50 years.
A court heard she also believed her spouse – who had chronic heart disease and was housebound – wanted her to help him die.
He had spoken to one of his accusers not long before the killing last September – and then talked to Wilson about ending his life with drugs.
Yesterday, Wilson, who admitted culpable homicide last month, appeared for sentence at the High Court in Dumbarton.
Judge Lady Rae said she was prepared “in the unusual and complex circumstances of this case” to not send Wilson to prison.
She said: “Mr Wilson suffered serious ill health physically and mentally and it transpires he previously tried to commit suicide.
“In addition, you had been confronted with distressing information about the husband you had lived with and loved for 50 years.
“It’s impossible to envisage the mental torment you must have been going through at the time when you killed your husband and which clearly distorted your decision making.”
The judge deferred sentence until January for Wilson to demonstrate continued good behaviour and to continue with psychiatric treatment.
Gran Wilson was a Labour councillor in Troon, Ayrshire, in the late 90s.
It was in September 2015 that she first became aware of allegations her husband had abused children.
Bill McVicar, prosecuting, said: “Mrs Wilson accepted the accusations were true, but continued to live in the same house to provide constant care.”
He added that other people – who had once helped share the “burden” of looking after her husband – stopped visiting due to the claims, leaving Wilson increasingly isolated.