Don’t jail the husband who tried to choke me to death
Wife saves dentist after row over £200,000 he lost in pensions scam
A RETIRED dentist who tried to murder his wife after losing their savings has been spared prison after she begged a judge not to jail him.
Christopher Shipp, 63, stole his wife Shirlianne’s life savings and pawned her jewellery after he was fleeced out of £ 200,000 in a pension savings investment scam.
When Mrs Shipp, 73, confronted her husband of 30 years about thousands of pounds missing from her account, he began to throttle her in their bedroom.
Grabbing his terrified wife by the waist and attempting to strangle her with one of his ties, Shipp alluded to killing himself, telling her: ‘I’ll be with you in half an hour, I’ve got the tablets downstairs.’
It was only when she desperately pleaded with him about their children and grandchildren that he let her go and collapsed on to the bed.
Speaking after the case Mrs Shipp said she and her husband, who have now sepa- rated, are still ‘good friends’, although she is ‘not sure’ if she will ever forgive him.
Shipp, of Sapcote, Leicestershire, admitted attempting to murder his wife in their former home in Lutterworth, Leicestershire, on March 10 last year. He also admitted stealing £17,686, two rings and a bracelet worth £ 15,000 which belonged to her.
But in extraordinary scenes at Leicester Crown Court, Shipp was spared jail after his wife made an impassioned plea to the judge through prosecution lawyers.
Judge Nicholas Dean, QC, said: ‘The victim is in court and she’s told officers she doesn’t want him to go to prison because he wasn’t himself at the time.
‘She believes he didn’t want to harm her but he thought he was acting in their best interests. They continue to be friends and he remains in her life.’ The
‘Wasn’t himself at the time’
judge said the ‘highly unusual case’ called for a ‘merciful and compassionate’ sentence in the light of the victim’s views.
The maximum sentence for attempted murder is life imprisonment, but Shipp was given a two-year sentence, suspended for two years, and ordered to do 200 hours unpaid work and attend a 20- day rehabilitation programme. The Shipps married in 1985. Before retiring to Leicestershire, Mr Shipp ran a successful dental practice in Poole, Dorset, and was involved in charity work.
He invested his entire pension savings into an overseas investment scheme where he expected a £500,000 return, but it turned out to be a scam and he got nothing.
Shipp then stole from his wife, pawning the £ 15,000 bracelet for £3,000, and raiding her account.
After he attempted to kill her, Mrs Shipp ‘could see he was in a desperate state’, the court was told.
Judge Dean said the defendant thought killing his wife would ‘spare her the anguish’ over his own suicide and the scam coming to light.
He said it did not seem to be a serious plan to kill her, and she suffered no physical injury, although she was deeply shocked.
Judge Dean said: ‘[The prosecutor] opened the case with fairness and compassion, indicating your wife still loves you dearly and doesn’t want you to go to prison.’
Mrs Shipp accompanied her husband to and from the court, but when asked outside if she forgave him, she replied: ‘I’m not sure, I’ll have to think about that.’
Later, speaking at her new home, she said: ‘We’re both adults and we want to leave what happened in the past. We remain good friends and are still in contact.’
Shipp has been treated for depression and admitted to a psychiatric unit.
Michael Garvey, defending, said: ‘It’s a sad case and until then he had led an entirely blameless life. With the benefit of clarity and hindsight he’s able to say how much he regrets what he did.
‘He’s been extremely foolish in his financial dealings and made a terrible error in how he sought to deal with his problems. It’s inflicted a burden on his wife which she shouldn’t have had to put up with.’