Archive - Thursday, 28 February 2002


Find by date

Other ways to search

Also look for

Never miss anything again. Sign up for our RSS news feeds and Newsletters.

Poisoner walks free from court

A BARRY woman has seen her husband walk free from court after he attempted to poison her with a cream bun.

Kathryn Bennet, 44, living with her husband Terence Bennet in Dinas Powys at the time, became suspicious when she noticed white powder around a cake and refused to eat it. Cardiff Crown Court heard that Bennet, 46, of St Illtyd Close, had mixed crushed sleeping tablets with jam on the bun, ready to serve to Mrs Bennet.

Prosecutor Leighton Hughes said: "She became suspicious when he returned from work with two iced cream buns.

"She rang her daughter who called the police to the couple's smart semi-detached home. They seized the cakes and found the equivalent of two doses of the sedative nitrazapam." The court heard the small dose would have been undetectable to taste but would produce lethargy and drowsiness.

The court was told Mrs Bennet had become suspicious of her husband's behaviour after their 26-year marriage started to alter.

Jane Treharne, defending, said fork-lift truck instructor Bennet was emotionally insecure because his marriage was in turmoil.

She said: "He felt that if he could make his wife sleepy he could stop the emotional drain from the constant difficulties of his marriage. The tablets had been prescribed to Bennet because he was in considerable distress at the apparent collapse of his marriage.

Father-of-two Bennet admitted attempting to administer a noxious substance with intent to injure, aggrieve or annoy.

Judge John Griffith Williams QC ruled that Bennet did not pose a public threat because he is now separated from his wife.

He told him: "I am satisfied you are a manipulative individual and that this response was through self-pity."

Bennet was given a two-year community rehabilitation order.

He refused to comment after leaving court.

He now has no contact with his children, a daughter of 23 and a son of 21. He is living with his mother in Dinas Powys.

Mrs Bennet was not in court for the 30-minute hearing.