ELDERLY WOMAN AUDREY HINGSTON JAILED FOR MANSLAUGHTER IN PLYMOUTH
When Audrey Hingston, then 81, was involved in her husband's death, she first claimed that two men had broken into her flat in Plympton above a butcher shop in August 2003 and murdered her elderly husband Eric.She described one suspect as a tall man wearing a deerstalker hat and white trousers, and another as shorter and stocky.
The police initially believed her story, but later discovered key evidence indicating her guilt.
Police found a bloodstained serrated knife hidden down the side of a cutlery drawer, which had traces of Eric's blood.
It was revealed that Audrey had taken the knife to her son James at the butcher shop to be sharpened weeks earlier, indicating premeditation.
Despite her initial story, forensic and witness evidence eventually proved she had murdered her husband herself.
Audrey was arrested on October 7, 2003, and later pleaded guilty to manslaughter through diminished responsibility.
In 2004, she was sentenced to two years in jail, served seven months before being released, and died 12 years later.
Her crime made her the oldest woman in the UK to be jailed for murder at the time.
The case drew widespread media attention, and she was viewed as a calculating woman who manipulated the situation, including pointing the finger at two innocent men who had alibis.
Her actions were characterized as cold-blooded and carefully planned, and her treatment in court appeared lenient considering her age and circumstances.
