Claire Reid
A man who slit his wife’s throat before attempting to kill himself in a failed suicide pact has been cleared of murder.
Graham Mansfield, from Hale in Greater Manchester, appeared in Manchester Crown Court where he gave emotional testimony describing how he agreed to kill wife Dyanne, 71, in an ‘act of love’ because she was in pain due to her terminal cancer.
Mansfield told the court his wife had asked him to take her life ‘when things got bad’ for her’ and that she’d ‘had enough’.
Mansfield said after hearing her request, which he said was the ‘saddest words’ he had ever heard, he agreed on the condition that he would take his own life, too.
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On Thursday 21 July, the jury took just 90 minutes to find Mansfield not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter.
Mansfield was later sentenced to two years in jail, suspended for two years.
Sentencing him, Mr Justice Goose told the defendant: “The circumstances of this case are a tragedy for you and are exceptional in the experiences of this court.
“You were under immense emotional pressure. I am entirely satisfied that you acted out of love for your wife.”
Speaking outside court after he was sentenced, Mansfield praised Greater Manchester Police Officer saying: “They have been so lovely and kind. They are nice people and they treated me like a human being.”
But he went on to say that he thinks the law needs to be changed.
He said: “The law needs to change. Nobody should have to go through what we went through. Unfortunately today my wife is not here. She shouldn’t have had to die in such barbaric circumstances, that’s what we had to do.
“As far as I’m concerned as soon as we can get some form of euthanasia with terminal illness, in our case, as a priority, the sooner that happens the better this country will be.
“Dyanne would be fuming now that I have got a conviction for doing something that she asked us to do. That I couldn’t live without her.
“She would be fuming, but at the end I have walked out of this building thinking… I was going into a cell and a prison van.
“I don’t want anybody to go through this. It’s a strain.”
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, please don’t suffer alone. Call Samaritans for free on their anonymous 24-hour phone line on 116 123