Arguing couple were like ‘Twits’, jury hears

A WIFE from a couple likened to Roald Dahl’s The Twits stabbed her husband to death in a field then walked away, a court has heard.

Christine Rawle, now 70, of Braunton in north Devon, is accused of stabbing a knife in the back of Ian Rawle, 72, her husband of 29 years, in August 2022 before ignoring his pleas for her to remove it.

Rawle, who denies murder, was followed by her husband for 100 yards through a field before he collapsed and died, Exeter Crown Court was told.

Opening a four-week trial, Sean Brunton KC for the prosecution said it was “as clear a case of murder as you are likely to find”. “This defendant, whilst having an argument with her husband, picked up a large, sharp knife and in a fit of temper, she stabbed it into his back without any warning as he was walking away.

“She then walked off with her husband now following her and imploring her to pull the knife out of his back.

“Having followed her a distance of approximately a hundred yards, he then collapsed on the ground and shortly thereafter he died due to the wound inflicted.

“His wife, having removed the knife from his back and kicked it under a stable door, then sat down and waited for the police and ambulance to arrive... called by her daughter.”

Shortly before the stabbing, the couple had argued about selling off a small piece of land because she wanted to use the proceeds to fund an eye operation “come hell or high water”, Mr Brunton said.

Mr Brunton told the court: “I don’t know if any of you are fans of the author Roald Dahl? One of his best-loved books is called The Twits and it’s about a middle-aged married couple who delight in making each other’s lives as miserable as possible.

He told jurors Rawle “may be a complex, troubled and somewhat devious woman”, she has no psychiatric condition to excuse her for the alleged murder of “this unarmed, unprepared, 72-year-old man”. The trial continues.