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| 20 November 2009 |
'Nightmare' Killer Cleared Of Murder Charge |
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A man who killed his wife during a nightmare about intruders has been cleared of her murder.
Brian Thomas, 59, who suffers from a sleep disorder had admitted strangling his 57-year-old wife Christine while on holiday in their camper van in Aberporth, Ceredigion last July.
Swansea Crown Court heard how sleep experts had blamed the disorder - automatism - for the fatal attack, meaning that at the time Mr Thomas' mind had no control over what his body was doing.
The court heard that Mr Thomas had been dreaming that he was fighting an intruder. His two daughters also told the court that their father was prone to sleepwalking and had been known to sometimes act strangely while doing so.
It is understood that Mr Thomas had been taking antidepressants, but that they had made him impotent and he had stopped taking them in order to be intimate with his wife during the holiday. The couple were childhood sweethearts who had been married for 40 years.
The prosecution told the jury on Friday morning that it was no longer seeking a special verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity and said that there would be no purpose in sending Mr Thomas to a psychiatric hospital.
Jurors were told that they could reach only guilty or not guilty by reason of insanity verdicts on a murder charge and the judge instructed them to declare Mr Thomas not guilty over the death.
However, there are two types of automatism - insane and non-insane - and jurors will have to decide between them for their verdict.
Family members have welcomed the decision.
DCI Richard Evans of Dyfed-Powys Police said that Mrs Thomas' death was a "tragic case".
(KMcA/GK)
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