OAP is jailed for lockdown killing of wife
Adrian and Gillian Bayford, 2012
A PENSIONER who strangled his wife days into the first lockdown has been jailed for five years.
Anthony Williams, 70, told police he “choked the living daylights” out of Ruth, 67, after he “snapped” last March following a period of feeling depressed and worried.
He was cleared of murder – with a psychologist claiming at Swansea crown court the OAP’s anxiety “was heightened” because of lockdown.
Former factory worker Williams, of Cwmbran, South Wales, admitted the manslaughter of Ruth, his wife of 46 years, due to diminished responsibility.
Judge Paul Thomas said it was a “tragic case on several levels” with Williams’ mental state “severely affected at the time”.
FORMER postie Adrian, from Suffolk, scooped his massive win alongside his wife Gillian.
The couple were overjoyed when they won £148.6million in a EuroMillions draw in August 2012, but just 15 months after their monumental jackpot win, wife Gillian divorced him.
She said their eight-year marriage had broken down “irretrievably”, and she moved to Scotland, taking their two children with her.
Adrian has since moved to a new swanky £1.2m home in Perthshire, Scotland, just an hour’s drive from his ex-wife Gillian after selling a £6.5m estate in Linton, Cambridgeshire.
He has managed to shed the pounds since snapping up the converted farmhouse, which includes a gymnasium, climbing suite and a tennis court in its 16.5 acres of grounds.
POP Adrian & Gillian divorced after win
WIN Couple set up charity
THIS nine-figure jackpot was claimed by factory supervisor Dave Dawes and his wife Angela, a taxi driver.
The couple, who were from Wisbech in Cambridgeshire, lavished £30million on their family and closest friends as well as setting up their own charity.
They also splashed £4m on the 55-acre Socknersh Manor in Burwash in East Sussex. It was previously owned by singers Tom Jones and Engelbert Humperdinck.
The family had to apply for beefed-up security after burglars raided the property in April last year, making off with £20,000 worth of valuables.