I am thrilled to bits, says Briton set to go free after killing abusive husband
A BRITISH woman jailed in Malaysia for killing her violent husband is delighted after hearing she will be free in days.
Samantha Jones, 55, is behind bars for stabbing her husband in the chest after a drunken row. She has been told she will be released on February 18.
Her lawyer says the former insurance clerk, from Somerset, had long been a victim of domestic violence at the hands of her husband of 17 years.
In October 2018, John Jones, 63, returned drunk to the couple’s villa on the island of Langkawi.
The retired firefighter is alleged to have kicked his wife before he suffered a fatal stab wound to his chest.
Mrs Jones was found guilty of “culpable homicide”, which is murder without intent, and was jailed for 42 months.
Having served 28 months behind bars, she is now clear for release although she could still face weeks of quarantine before being deported back to the UK.
Nightmare
Pokok Sena women’s prison, where Mrs Jones has been jailed, was locked down recently after a Covid-19 outbreak.
Her family have been told they will need to find the funds to pay for her flights and accommodation.
Mrs Jones is said to be “thrilled to bits” at the news of her release.
She met her future husband at a fire service bash in Somerset when father-oftwo John was married.
He left his family and moved abroad for a fresh start. But the couple’s dream life turned into a nightmare as their relationship descended into drunken violence.
Mrs Jones’s friends provided statements to the court to say she had suffered numerous beatings at his hands.
Her solicitor, Sangeet Kaur Deo, said that on the night Mr Jones was killed: “He came home completely drunk and she feared for her safety. There was a struggle and he was being violent.
“The one thing she wants everyone to know is she really loved this man.
“He had a lot of problems and she was standing by him and working it through.
“She never imagined anything like this could ever happen.
“She’s lost her husband and home. She is still grieving, it has been a traumatic experience.”
Ms Deo claims Mrs Jones feared her husband would kill her one day. She had suffered a broken jaw in one of his drunken rages. She was unable to call local police as domestic violence is “taboo” in Malaysia.
Instead, she claims, her client “put up with regular beatings until her husband was killed”.
Eddie Higgs, 60, a friend of the Joneses in Langkawi, said: “Sam turned up at our house a couple of times in a mess.
“I always thought she’d be the one who ended up dead.”