Killer wife sparked by lockdown
THE murder of a husband sparked by a Valentine’s eve meal of bubble and squeak might never have happened without the “pressure cooker environment” of lockdown, a crime expert believes.
Penny Jackson, 66, stabbed husband David, 78, to death in February 2021 after they had rowed in their home in Somerset over whether bubble and squeak was a suitable dish to serve with steak in a gourmet meal.
She was jailed for at least 18 years, despite accusing him of decades of emotional and physical abuse.
The shocking case is the subject of a new two-part TV documentary.
Lockdown had a “considerable influence” over her behaviour, criminologist Dr Sohom Das claims. “Most crimes decreased during lockdown but the one that skyrocketed was domestic violence.
“In everyday life, a couple like Penelope and David who have escalating disagreements have relief from that when they go out to see their friends. They can also go to work for several hours.
“But in lockdown you had this pressure cooker environment.they’re at each other’s throats and in each other’s faces 24 hours a day. It’s very likely that if it wasn’t in lockdown, the murder wouldn’t have occurred.”
The case is notorious for the 999 call David initially made to police after being stabbed by his wife, then her intervention. He told the operator that his wife of 24 years had just attacked him with a knife and he needed police immediately.
Seconds later, he could be heard screaming in pain as he was stabbed again by his wife while still on the phone. Jackson then took over the call and told the operator she had stabbed David three times. She said: “I’ve killed my husband because I’ve had enough. I thought I’d get his heart but he hasn’t got one.”
When police arrived, she said: “I stabbed him. He’s an aggressive bully and nasty, and I’ve had enough...
“When he said I wouldn’t do it, I did it twice more.”
Dr Das, a consultant forensic psychiatrist, said: “There’s this callous indifference. She’s so invested in ending her husband’s life she seems indifferent to the fact she might be spending the rest of her life in prison.”
In court, Jackson claimed that her husband had controlled which TV shows she watched and repeatedly abused her, including strangling, verbal aggression and forced sex.
The murder was both “planned” and “impulsive” at the same time, Dr Das believes. “She just went from zero to 100. She’s a murderer.”
‘She seemed indifferent to a life in jail’