Grandmother, 62, stabbed to death by partner 'after nagging him for 30 years'

By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 1:39 AM on 6th October 2010

A long-suffering man stabbed his partner of 30 years to death because of her nagging, a court heard.

Grandmother Judith Scott, 62, was found with a knife sticking out of her chest at her home after a 999 call by Dennis Long.

Long, who denies a charge of murder, told police in the emergency call that he had killed her, saying: 'I just lost it. She gave me grief so I knifed her.'

Prosecutors claim Long, 59, murdered Mrs Scott in North Shields in March this year.

Newcastle Crown Court heard Long had returned home from watching Newcastle play Bristol City at a pub, and was upset at receiving abuse from a man on his way home.

Later that night, an argument flared between the pair and Long stabbed her to death before dialling 999.

Former plumber Long does not dispute inflicting the fatal injuries, but claims he was provoked by Mrs Scott being abusive towards him and repeatedly nagging him.

Long said Miss Scott would lash out at him during frequent rows, hitting him with her fists, hurling ornaments at him and regularly attacking him with a heavy poker.

Asked how many times he had been hit with the poker, he said: 'Over 30 years, dozens of times'.

Long said: 'She started calling me weak, she said I was weak, it was constant, I would go out and come back in and it would start again.

'She said I was weak, a pansy, a poof, she said she should wear the trousers and I should wear a dress, she kept going on saying I was weak.

'I snapped. I remember looking at the knife, I remember seeing the knife but between that and standing in front of her I don't know. It was peaceful. There was no sound, it was just quiet.

'I do remember thrusting the knife.'

Mrs Scott's daughter, Kerry Scott, told jurors she had seen her mother being nasty to Long but said she couldn't believe her stepfather, who 'hated violence', had killed her.

Miss Scott, 37, who said her children regarded Long as their grandfather, added: 'When police said my mum was dead I was shocked, even more so when they said Dennis had been arrested for it.'
The trial continues,

From: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1318000/Grandmother-62-stabbed-death-partner-nagging-30-years.html