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| Man, 90, tried to stab sleeping sick wife, Old Bailey told | |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| Edward Turpin is on trial at the Old Bailey | |
| A 90-year-old man attacked his sick wife in bed, claiming she "got on my nerves", the Old Bailey heard. | |
| Edward Turpin is accused of attempting to stab his wife Joan Turpin, also 90, at their home in Orpington, south-east London, on 22 September 2021. | |
| He denies attempted murder and an alternative charge of wounding with intent. | |
| The court heard Mr Turpin tried to imply the couple had a suicide pact, which Ms Turpin "robustly rejects". | |
| Jurors heard Mr Turpin "ran out of patience" with caring for his ailing wife following years of happy marriage. | |
| 'Want to die' | |
| Ms Turpin had lost her sight and had become more dependent on her husband's help in their home, the court was told. | |
| Mr Turpin felt he could "no longer cope" as her carer and, at about 01:30 BST, attacked his wife in their bed before turning the knife on himself, the court heard. | |
| In a 999 call, he is said to have told an operator he had stabbed her and said: "She's been ill and it's got right on top of me." | |
| When asked where Ms Turpin was injured, he replied: "By her heart." | |
| When the operator told the defendant they could tell him how to stem the bleeding, he allegedly replied: "No I don't want to stop the bleeding. We want to die." | |
| Prosecutor Alistair Richardson suggested Mr Turpin attempted to imply he and his wife were carrying out a "suicide pact" in the ensuing conversation. | |
| Mr Richardson said: "That is a suggestion that Joan Turpin robustly rejects. Throughout the call, in the background, you can hear Joan Turpin crying out for help." | |
| 'He adores me' | |
| Police who attended the scene following the 999 call found his wife upstairs calling for help and the defendant with puncture wounds in his abdomen, the court heard. | |
| Ms Turpin, then 89, had been stabbed multiple times including twice to the chest as well as sustaining wounds to her upper abdomen, neck and hands, the Old Bailey was told. | |
| In a pre-recorded video interview played to the court, Ms Turpin said "nothing unusual" had happened before the alleged attack. | |
| Ms Turpin said her husband said nothing to indicate he might have been stressed, only "goodnight and give me a kiss". | |
| They could afford to pay for help, including a gardener, she explained, so it was not a "money issue", jurors heard. | |
| She said her husband regularly cooked meals for her, described the level of care he provided as "perfect", and said their marriage was "absolutely wonderful". | |
| She added: "Never, ever did he put one finger on me. I think he was a wonderful man. I adore him and he adores me." | |
| The prosecutor said the case was "a sad one - of a happy marriage that has become mired by poor health. | |
| "But what neither society, nor the law, permit, even in the heat of the moment, is for us to take matters into our own hands, and seek to end someone else's life." | |
| The trial continues. | |
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| Related Topics | |
| Orpington |