Horse trainer killed husband then called pal to look af ter her dogs before dialling 999
A HORSE expert who stabbed her husband in the back at their £800,000 home in a row over a plot of land has been jailed for life.
Christine Rawle, 69, killed Ian Rawle, 72, as he mucked out her horses at their property in Braunton, Devon, on august 21, 2022.
She denied a murder charge, claiming she was acting in self defence following years of domestic abuse, but a jury convicted her after just three hours and seven minutes of deliberations.
During the trial, prosecutors said the warring couple had a dysfunctional marriage and likened them to the Roald Dahl characters the twits.
Rawle claimed her husband made her life a misery during their 27-year marriage, calling her fat, refusing her money and
‘Stabbed your husband in a fit of temper’
physically assaulting her. But the court also heard she had put Viagra in his tea, chilli powder in his underpants and wiped her backside with her husband’s ties.
On another occasion she ran a hosepipe through the sunroof of his car and filled it up with water.
at Exeter Crown Court yesterday Judge James adkin, who sentenced Rawle to serve a minimum term of 17 years behind bars, rejected her allegations that her husband was a ‘serial domestic abuser’.
the judge described how Rawle ‘violently thrust’ a knife with a 12.5 inch blade into her husband’s back during an argument about the sale of land at their detached rural property.
the victim followed his wife for 100 yards asking her to remove the knife, before collapsing and dying. Judge adkin said: ‘It was a wholly unexpected attack when he was completely defenceless.’
Prosecutor Sean Brunton, KC, had pointed out that after the stabbing, it took Rawle 20 minutes to dial 999, during which time she rang a friend to ask if she would look after her dogs.
the judge told her: ‘You said to the police you were frightened of your husband. But he was a 72year-old man with a knife in his back. he wanted you to help him. But you refused to do so.’
Noting how she phoned her friend to look after her dogs, the judge said: ‘You prioritised them over your husband as he was slowly dying.
‘twenty minutes later, you did phone an ambulance. I cannot sentence you on the basis that he would have lived had you sought medical assistance, there’s no evidence to that effect.
‘But I can sentence you on the basis his suffering was prolonged. I’m sure you intended to kill.’
the judge said Rawle had sent a text message that morning reading: ‘I hope the c*** dies’.
Rawle did not give evidence with her legal team arguing she had been the victim of domestic abuse. the judge said: ‘I’ve no doubt you were frustrated about selling that piece of land and you felt your husband was standing in the way of your future.
‘You stabbed your husband to death in a fit of temper for that reason. Ian Rawle was not perfect. he was obstinate, grumpy, he could shout, he was stuck in his ways and was old fashioned.
‘But in statements to police you chose to misrepresent his character to seek to persuade this jury that you were a victim of coercive and controlling behaviour.
‘Some of that material was wild exaggeration and some of your lies caught up with you. the jury saw through that.’
the judge said Rawle experienced depression and post traumatic stress disorder but the conditions had only a ‘modest effect’ on her culpability.
he added: ‘the main reason you killed your husband was that you have an ungovernable temper.’
During the trial, Mr Brunton told how one witness claimed
Rawle enjoyed ‘tormenting’ her husband such as by putting chilli powder in his pants.
Jurors heard differing accounts of the couple. Rawle’s son thomas said Mr Rawle subjected his mother to years of abuse, including physical assaults.
however, a work colleague of Mr Rawle told how thought he was the victim of domestic abuse.
She recalled seeing him with a black eye, which he said was caused by his wife. On one occasion, Rawle rang the workplace and told the witness: ‘tell Ian to look in the mirror because he isn’t Kevin Costner’.
‘The jury saw through that’