Man denies '˜intending' to kill his wife

Stuart Gallear, 51, admits stabbing to death his wife Mandy, 42, in the kitchen of their home in Hindley, Wigan, but claims he did not intend to do so and cannot remember plunging a knife into her chest.

Giving evidence in his defence, Gallear said there was no plan to kill the accountant and punish her lover, joiner Mark Prescott, in revenge on October 6 last year.

He told Manchester Crown Court: “Why would I plan to kill my wife, the woman I loved for 20 years?

“Why would I plan to murder the mother of my children and leave them without a mother?

“Why would I plan to put myself in a 11ft by 6ft cell room with just a concrete wall between me and the dregs of society?

“There was no plan.”

The warehouse manager called for an ambulance and police assistance just moments after he said he “lost it” as the couple discussed their impending break-up in the kitchen of their home in Makinson Avenue.

Police found the mother-of-two lying motionless on the kitchen floor with three deep wounds to her chest. She was rushed to hospital but was later pronounced dead.

When interviewed by detectives, Gallear told police he walked home from the pub after drinking five pints of lager and talked “amicably” with his wife as she emptied the dishwasher.

He said she told him: “Anyway, it’s sorted now. We are separating. I love him more than you.”

Gallear said he next recalled his wife saying: “What are you doing? I still love you”, after he had stabbed her.

His barrister Simon Csoka QC asked him: “On October 6 what was it that was bothering you the most?”

Gallear replied: “Probably the fact my marriage was breaking up and I was losing the woman I loved for 20 years.”

He denied thinking or imagining his wife and Mr Prescott having sex.

Mr Csoka asked: “Do you think about what happened?”

“Yes,” said Gallear.

His barrister went on: “And how do you cope with thinking about it?”

Gallear replied: “I end up crying my eyes out. It’s a never-ending nightmare.

“I go through every stage that I can to see if there is anything else I can remember.”

Prosecutor Alaric Bassano suggested to Gallear he was “extremely angry” on the day of the killing.

Gallear said: “I may have been angry but I would not say extremely. I was upset, I was tired and I was stressed.”

He denied having feelings of jealousy, resentment or revenge.

Gallear agreed he wanted Mr Prescott, an acquaintance who had previously carried work out at his house, to “suffer” like he was doing but not by depriving him of his wife.

He said he did not know why he picked the knife up from the open cutlery drawer.

He said: “There are bigger and sharper knives in that drawer.

“There was no intent, I don’t recall picking it up ... I loved her to bits.

“I had no thoughts or intent from that moment of hurting anyone. If I was thinking clearly we would not be here speaking.

Mr Bassano said: “This was not an accident, was it?”

Gallear said: “In the sense of an accident, no. I killed her but it was not deliberate. I had no intention. I did not plan or intend to hurt Mandy.”

Mr Bassano continued: “You did this in a state of anger?

The defendant replied: “I don’t remember being angry, I just lost it.”

Gallear has pleaded guilty to manslaughter but denies murder.