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| Version 3 | Version 4 |
|---|---|
| Husband let wife starve to death | Husband let wife starve to death |
| (20 minutes later) | |
| A 71-year-old man has been jailed after letting his mentally ill wife starve to death while he went to the pub and visited the bookmakers. | A 71-year-old man has been jailed after letting his mentally ill wife starve to death while he went to the pub and visited the bookmakers. |
| William Pottinger, known as Bill, of Weirside Court, Newtown, in Berkshire pleaded guilty to manslaughter at a hearing last month. | William Pottinger, known as Bill, of Weirside Court, Newtown, in Berkshire pleaded guilty to manslaughter at a hearing last month. |
| His wife Gillian, 61, died on a flea-ridden couch in June 2006 weighing just four-and-a-half stone (28.5kg). | His wife Gillian, 61, died on a flea-ridden couch in June 2006 weighing just four-and-a-half stone (28.5kg). |
| Pottinger was jailed at Reading Crown Court for 18 months. | Pottinger was jailed at Reading Crown Court for 18 months. |
| Judge Christopher Tyrer described it as a "horrific" case. | Judge Christopher Tyrer described it as a "horrific" case. |
| Jailing him, he said: "You allowed your wife to starve to death. | Jailing him, he said: "You allowed your wife to starve to death. |
| "She began to significantly deteriorate from about the year 2000. | "She began to significantly deteriorate from about the year 2000. |
| From the outside world you continued your life as if nothing was wrong Judge Christopher Tyrer | |
| "She last went outside in about 2003, she totally lost the ability to look after herself and she lay on a sofa and wasted away. | "She last went outside in about 2003, she totally lost the ability to look after herself and she lay on a sofa and wasted away. |
| "Her suffering must have lasted months. | "Her suffering must have lasted months. |
| "Her death was in squalid and degrading circumstances and the pain and the stress that she suffered for the months before she actually died doesn't bear thinking about." | "Her death was in squalid and degrading circumstances and the pain and the stress that she suffered for the months before she actually died doesn't bear thinking about." |
| Self-neglect | |
| The court heard Mrs Pottinger had been suffering from a condition known as Senile Squalor Syndrome, or Diogenes, a behavioural disorder characterised by extreme self-neglect. | |
| The judge said that at any stage during the final months, Pottinger could have called for help and his wife could have been treated and recovered from her illness. | |
| He said: "From the outside world you continued your life as if nothing was wrong. | |
| "You lived alongside her day by day . . .you must have realised she was utterly incapable of doing anything for herself." | |
| The judge added it was "quite extraordinary" that an incident such as this could have happened in 21st Century Britain. | |
| Speaking after the hearing, Det Insp Rebecca Mears of Thames Valley Police welcomed the sentence. | |
| She said: "It is a particularly nasty case - without a doubt this lady suffered significantly. | |
| "The situation was horrendous and the death horrific. We are pleased that justice has been done." |