British woman who stabbed husband to death in their Malaysian home avoids hanging
A British woman who fatally stabbed her husband in Malaysia has avoided the death penalty.
Samantha Jones, 54, pleaded guilty to a lesser charge on Monday and was sentenced to three and a half years in prison.
Her husband John William Jones, 62, was found dead in the couple’s resort home on 18 October, 2018.
On Monday her lawyer Sangeet Kaur Deo said prosecutors had reduced the original murder charge to culpable homicide, which is murder without intent, after the defence appealed to the attorney-general’s office.
In Malaysia a conviction for murder carries a mandatory death sentence by hanging.
“She is very relieved having come to terms with what happened that night and for the court… to understand what happened that night. She didn’t intend for this to happen,” her lawyer said after the hearing in Alor Setar in the northern state of Kedah.
In addition to the jail sentence, Jones was also fined 10,000 ringgit (£1,800).
Jones, originally from Somerset, was charged with her husband’s murder two years ago after his body and a bloodstained kitchen knife were found in the property.
Police say Jones confessed to stabbing her husband in the chest during a heated argument.
Wearing a mask and handcuffed, Jones was escorted by police into the courthouse on Monday.
The couple moved to tropical Langkawi island 11 years ago under the Malaysia My Second Home programme, which gives foreigners long-staying visas.
Her lawyer said the couple, who had been married for 17 years, were devoted to each other but Jones was struggling with physical violence by her husband.
“Unfortunately, Samantha found herself at the receiving end of abuse,” the lawyer said.
“She supported John through various therapies to address certain problems that he had, none of which worked obviously, until that unfortunate night when things took a turn for the worst.
“She has accepted the fact that she needs to serve the sentence. She acknowledged the fact that a life is lost and I think she is looking forward to her own recovery because this was indeed a traumatising event for her.”
The lawyer added that Jones, who has spent 20 months in detention, could be released as early as the end of next year with one-third off the sentence for good behaviour.
In 1989, Derrick Gregory, from Ealing, London, was hanged in Malaysia after being convicted of drug smuggling.