Anger at killer's short sentence (From Barry And District News)

Anger at killer's short sentence

DEVASTATED relatives of Barry woman Karon Pugh say they are horrified at the six-year sentence handed out to her husband.

Some family members claim jailing Christopher Pugh for manslaughter after he attacked the mum of three with a hammer ignores a 21-year history of domestic abuse.

The 43-year-old painter and decorator was cleared of murder at Cardiff Crown Court on Friday after a jury decided the deadly blows were 'excusable.'

They were later told that Pugh has a previous conviction for assaulting Karon during a row.

Mrs Pugh's cousin Michelle told the News: "The outcome has devastated all of us. "The court didn't know that he used to beat her up - and had done for years.

"Even when I was a kid and used to babysit for them, I knew that he was giving her a hard time.

"People didn't know that. It wasn't fair.

"She had just found a bit of happiness for once in her life and he snatched it away from her."

The court had heard how Pugh became violent after finding out his wife of 20 years was having an affair.

Nurse Karon, 43, had a Spanish holiday romance with a 51-year-old landscape gardener, John Simms from Newport.

She carried on the affair when she returned home, staying in touch through her mobile phone to keep it secret.

In court Mr Simms gave evidence from behind a screen.

He told the jury that on the day Karon was killed, she had gone to Cardiff to meet him. Then Mr Simms said he had received a text message from Pugh saying: "Meeting Karon in Cardiff was the worst thing you ever did."

The court heard that after she returned home, Pugh carried out the brutal attack.

Karon died from a fractured skull caused by two blood-stained hammers found at the couple's home.

The couple had three children together, and son Michael Pugh, 21, sobbed in the witness box as he gave evidence. He told how his father had visited him to talk about going to see the man Karon had been seeing.

Michael added: "He left my house but called back half an hour later. He said he loved us and said he was sorry for what he was going to do."

Judge Mr Justice Douglas Brown told him: "There is no doubt you were provoked by your wife into losing your self control.

"It was the way in which she conducted her affair and led you to believe that the marriage was not over that led to your actions.

"The jury has come to the conclusion that the hammer blows to her face were or may have been excusable.

"Six years is the minimum sentence I can pass upon you."