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Husband who strangled wife while dreaming 'must walk free'
18 Nov 2009A man who strangled his wife during a nightmare should be set free whatever the outcome of his murder trial, a prosecution psychiatrist told a jury today.
Brian Thomas, 59, throttled his wife Christine, 57, during a bad dream in which he believed he was fighting somebody who had broken into their camper van.
A jury at Swansea Crown Court had heard that Mr Thomas, of Park Avenue, Neath, South Wales, suffers from a rare sleep disorder which left him unable to control his actions.
Medication that he usually took to control the disorder had been stopped while the couple were on holiday.
The couple, who had been married for 40 years, had driven 60 miles to the seaside village of Aberporth, Cardiganshire, in July last year.
They had originally parked in a car park on the seafront but had been disturbed in the night by boy racers doing wheel spins and handbrake turns.
As a result they moved onto a pub car park for the night.
The jury heard a recording of Thomas's emergency call yesterday in which he frantically told the operator "I think I've killed my wife. Oh my god."
Reader views (1)
You say the medication that Brian Thomas usually took to control his sleep disorder had been stopped while he and his wife were on holiday. On whose instructions? Did his doctor instruct him to stop, or did he do on his own? There is something very odd about all of this.
- Graham Rodhouse, Helmond, Netherlands, 19/11/2009 10:02
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