A tragic bride was strangled by her husband just f
A tragic bride was strangled by her husband just four days after
marrying him for the second time, an Old Bailey judge heard
today Wednesday.
Pretty Tina Kingston, 23, died with the words ‘I love you’ on
her lips, the court was told.
Her husband Dean Kingston, 26, snapped and throttled her during a
row over money after the couple spent four ‘idyllic days’ together
following their second wedding.
He later described the brief honeymoon as ‘the happiest days of my
life.
‘
Kingston, of Sherbourne Crescent, Carshalton, was jailed for five
years for manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.
The prosecution accepted his plea of not guilty to murder.
Mr William Clegg, defending, said Kingston was desperately in
love with his wife.
He told the judge: ‘She was the one person in the world he
cared about more than anybody or anything else.
‘
Mr Clegg added: ‘The effect of what he did that night is
something he will have to life with.
He has had great difficulty
coming to terms with the fact that he killed the one person he
held more dear than any other.
‘
The case, said Mr Clegg, was ‘sad and tragic.
‘
He told the judge: ‘This man does not fear his sentence because
he has already suffered and will continue to suffer.
‘
Mr Clegg said Kingston had ‘an unhappy life.
‘
He suffered from a psychiatric disability and found it
difficult to cope with the stresses and strains of everydy life,
he added.
His children have been taken into care and he has now lost
everything, the court heard.
Mr Clegg said: ‘He has lost his wife, he has probably lost
his family, and has had lost one of the few people in his life
with whom he was able to have any sort of relationship with.
It
may not be easy for him to find someone else.
‘
The court heard the couple had been childhood sweethearts
and first married in March 1988.
But their stormy relationship consisted of endless rows
and separations, said Mr Michael Corkery, QC, prosecuting.
Kingston was frequently ordered out of the house by his
wife but they would always get back together again.
‘This went on with appalling regularity,’ said Mr Corkery.
In July 1991 their marriage reached crisis point and they became
divorced.
But by the time the divorce was made final the couple
were back together again, the court heard.
They married for a second time on April 10 this year.
Four days later the bride was dead.
Mr Corkery said a period of ‘absolutely perfect’ happiness
enjoyed by the couple after their wedding ended suddenly in row
which led to Kingston strangling his wife.
A confrontation took place in the bedroom and Kingston snapped
ordered him to leave.
It was then that he held her throat in a ‘firm grip’
for ten seconds causing her to die.
‘He put his hands around her neck and they fell on the
bed together.
He then saw blood coming from her mouth.
At some stage during all this he heard her saying “I love
you,”‘ said Mr Corkery.
After the killing Kingston ran downstairs and put the
television on for the children before returning to the
bedroom and trying to revive his wife.
Leaving the body in the house he took their three sons,
aged four, 18 months, and 14 weeks, away and arranged for
them to be looked after by his sister.
He then went on a drinking binge with a friend.
On April 15, after contacting a solicitor, he
walked into Wallington Police Station and confessed to
the killing.
He told detectives:’I put my hands round her throat.
The
last thing I rmember is her saying “I love you.
” I looked
at her and her mouth started bleeding.
I kept running upstairs and
just asking her to wake up.
‘
Kingston told his sister:’She told me to leave the house
yet again.
She kept hitting me and I just snapped and
strangled her.
‘
The judge, Mr Justice Swinton Thomas told Kingston:’Your
wife’s death resulted from your unlwaful act but your
responsibility was diminished by your mental state.
There can
be no doubt that what you did that day was very wrong and as
a result of that a life has been lost.
That must not be overlooked.
‘
ENDS
