Life for husband who butchered wife over affair
A HUSBAND was jailed for life yesterday for stabbing his wife to death after she told him she was leaving him for their handyman.
Stuart Gallear, 51, knifed wife Mandy, 42, three times, including once in the heart, with a seven-inch kitchen blade after she told him: “I love him more than I love you.”
The father of two said he had “just lost it” when she admitted her 17-month fling with joiner Mark Prescott, who had carried out work on their home in Hindley, near Wigan.
Warehouse manager Gallear dialled 999 for an ambulance to try to save her life. Mrs Gallear, an accountant, had said she wanted to take their two teenage daughters to set up a new home with her lover.
Her husband attacked her last October after he drank five pints of lager and went looking for Mr Prescott but could not find him.
Gallear, who admitted manslaughter but was convicted of murder, used “targeted and forceful thrusts” on his wife which killed her, Manchester Crown Court heard.
Heartbreak
Gallear told a neighbour that Mr Prescott had “ruined his life”.
Mr Justice Openshaw said: “The pressure of his resentment built up.
“It is unwise to speculate what may have happened if this confrontation had taken place but I am satisfied that when he left the pub, he was overwrought.
“He was in a highly excitable state and he was thwarted by not finding Prescott.
“He believed he had been deceived by his wife. These matters were playing on his mind and it only needed a small matter to detonate those pent-up emotions.”
Simon Csoka, defending, said Gallear had shown “almost instantaneous remorse” and the attack was “impulsive rather than calculated”.
Detective Inspector Lewis Hughes said: “This family have suffered what can only be described as unbearable heartbreak.”
Gallear was given a mandatory life term and must serve at least 17 years before being considered for parole.