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Sex rage killer cleared of murder
30.06.09
A man who stabbed his partner and his best friend after "losing his rag" when he found them having sex on his canal boat was today cleared of their murders.
William Cranston, 44, claimed he did not realise a kitchen knife was in his hand when he pushed girlfriend Kay Morton, 39, and Paul Wilkins, 55.
A jury at Reading Crown Court found him not guilty of the murders in Stoke Hammond, Buckinghamshire, in September 2008.
But he was found guilty of manslaughter by reason of provocation.
The jury took eight hours to reach unanimous verdicts.
Cranston did not react as the verdicts were given. He will be sentenced at Kingston Crown Court on July 22.
Reader views (1)
I'm glad he wasn't charged with murder, and I hope he only gets the very lightest manslaughter sentence possible. If anyone has read the story of this, it comes to light that the couple invited a friend on to their boat for a drink. When the husband awoke from sleep, he found this friend and his wife having sex on the bed, only a few feet away from their son who was asleep.
- Nowan King, London
