Berrow death: Murder accused says husband was 'often violent'

A woman who fatally stabbed her husband has told a court that she had become "petrified" by violence she says she endured during their 24-year marriage.

Penelope Jackson, 66, is accused of murdering her 78-year-old husband David Jackson at their home in Somerset.

She told the jury that her husband was often violent following arguments, adding: "I didn't know if I was waking up to nice David or nasty David."

Mrs Jackson admits manslaughter but denies murdering her husband.

She told Bristol Crown Court that she "never knew what was going to happen" when she walked through the door of their home in the village of Berrow.

The 66-year-old said the couple got together following an affair they had had while she was still married to her second husband, who went on to take his own life.

She said her daughter with her second husband grew up thinking Mr Jackson was her father, but Mr Jackson would threaten his wife to "behave or I will tell her I'm not her daddy".

Mrs Jackson said she "walked on eggshells" and "lived with a knot in my stomach" throughout their marriage.

"It would always start out with him being verbally aggressive. It would escalate, and he would shake me most of the time, he strangled me sometimes and I would go unconscious sometimes.

"Other times I would be semi-conscious, and I would be on the bed or the floor, and if he was really angry he would kick me," she said.

She told the court that Mr Jackson would "always apologise" after the incidents and it was not clear what would trigger his anger.

Mrs Jackson added that it was "important" to her to make the marriage work after losing "somebody I loved very much through my own negligence."

The trial continues.

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