It Is Not Joke But Real Murder Case

[Isis]

A dental nurse was jailed for ten years today for killing her husband during a row over what to watch on television.

Leonora Sinclair, 50, wanted to watch Harry Hill’s TV Burp, but her 73-year-old husband Lloyd wanted to watch football.

The argument intensified and Mr Sinclair, who had been married for only ten months, was attacked. He bled to death in the hallway of their home.

Sinclair, of Enfield, North London, was found guilty of manslaughter at the Old Bailey in October, but was cleared of murder.

The court was told that the dead man, a driver for a church care centre, was frightened of his wife after she attacked him on a number of occasions.

On the afternoon of January 15 she sent a text message to one of her friends which read: “I am watching Steel Magnolias and getting p***sed on wine while Lloyd makes the dinner. LOL.”

Later they argued about what to watch on television and Mr Sinclair was stabbed with a large kitchen knife in the back of his left thigh.

PC Gillian Bills said that his wife, who was drunk, had told her on the way to hospital: “We had an argument about what to watch on TV. He wanted to watch football and I wanted to watch Harry Hill.”

Sinclair, who had been married twice before, denied stabbing her husband. She agreed that she had claimed that he was injured when he fell on a broken wine glass, but said that she had done so in a state of panic.

Judge Stephen Kramer told her: “I am satisfied you are a domineering person — particularly when you have taken drink.”

She had robbed Mr Sinclair’s family and friends of a “much loved and respected man”, he said.

Bobbie Cheema, for the prosecution, said that Sinclair had set up a “sham, bogus scene”, claiming that her husband must have stabbed himself by accident as they struggled while he had her in “a headlock”.

Sinclair said: “He put on Sky Sports and I said I wanted to watch Harry Hill.

“He got annoyed, he threw his glass down and he said, ’I pay for the TV, I pay for Sky and you’re telling me what I can watch?’ I put Harry Hill on and he has gone berserk.”

As she wept in the dock she claimed: “I didn’t stab Lloyd. I did everything possible to save my husband’s life. I treated my husband with respect and dignity. I loved my husband.”

She said that they were introduced in May 2008 and were attracted to each other despite being “like chalk and cheese”.

The court was told that after they married there were rows about money because Sinclair’s wages were paid into an account controlled by her husband.

The prosecution said that it was Sinclair who had been violent, however, and that friends and family had noticed his injuries.

Miss Cheema said: “She found an element of enjoyment in humiliating him. Lloyd’s friends and family noticed that Leonora Sinclair was prone to bouts of melodrama and selfishness.

“Lloyd would come to work bearing signs of physical injury, including bruising to his face. When asked about them he would frankly admit they had been caused by Leonora.”

In September last year Mr Sinclair called the police because he said that his wife had “gone crazy”.

Officers found her in a locked bedroom with a knife, said Miss Cheema.

Mr Sinclair, who had four adult children, had told his son Vincent that Leonora had broken his arm. and Ahmed Youseff, a work colleague, said that he saw Mr Sinclair limping and with facial bruising.

“I lost count of the number of injuries,” he told the court. “He always had an injury.”

Monica Thompson, a pastor at the Ministry of Praise in Tottenham, said that she had been a friend of “Brother Lloydy” for many years. He was a deacon and would drive other volunteers to help feed homeless people on the street.

He was a “very charming, easy-going person” who had put four children through university. She used to ride with Mr Sinclair to church but stopped after she saw him being beaten by his wife outside their home.

Ms Thompson said: “He was very calm, as usual, while she was raging at him. I got the impression he was afraid of her. His face was swollen up after that. She was hitting him in his face and everywhere. He was quite shocked.”

Sonia Grieves, a family friend, told police that two years before his death she had seen Sinclair ordering her husband out of the house to buy her wine and cigarettes.

thetimes.co.uk