Murder trial sees videos of couple’s bickering at home
A SERIES of distressing videos showing a woman bickering with her husband before she allegedly stabbed him to death have been released by prosecutors.
Christine Rawle, 70, plunged a knife between the shoulders of Ian Rawle, 72, after they talked about mucking out their horses, a court heard.
It was said the pair lived on separate parts of their land at the time of his death in August 2022, and would continually row with each other, even being likened to the warring couple depicted in the Roald Dahl book The Twits.
Horse trainer Rawle, who denies murder, was seen on police body-worn camera footage in tears as she was arrested, telling police her husband was “such a cruel b ****** ”.
But now a series of fresh videos giving an insight into the couple’s relationship have been released by the CPS.The footage records the squabbles the pair had at home over a range of issues, from her “playing with the horses” to dinner plans. In one video, he refers to her as a “sick woman” and accuses her of bringing “nothing to the table”. Exeter Crown Court also heard Rawle, of Braunton, North Devon, told her daughter on the phone on August 21, 2022: “I’ve stabbed him.” Prosecutor Sean Brunton KC told the jury the couple had previously called police to the house.
He said Rawle had got into trouble in 1993 over alleged nuisance phone calls made to one of her husband’s ex-partners. A few years later, police were called to the house again when she stabbed her husband in the chest, Mr Brunton said. He added: “We fully accept Ian Rawle was not very nice to his wife, but that may have been for a reason.” The trial continues.