A woman has been jailed for life for the murder of her partner in Gomersal who she stabbed once in the heart in a “flash of temper”.
Michelle Spencer, who is a former Huddersfield Technical college student, had previously claimed the fatal injury to father of two David Butterfield was accidental but changed her plea to guilty at Leeds Crown Court yesterday (Wed), accepting a momentary loss of temper when she was holding a kitchen knife.
Ordering Spencer to serve a minimum of 13 years in prison minus 142 days spent on remand before she can apply for parole, Mr Justice Soole said: “You have now finally accepted that you deliberately stabbed Mr Butterfield.
“Your basis of plea states that you cannot recall what passed between you and him before you did so, but that you were angry with him. You say that he was complaining about how his wages had not gone into his account.”
The judge said he accepted she did not intend to kill him but: “This was an utterly unprovoked assault with a knife on your innocent partner. In a sudden outburst of unreasoned anger you deliberately stabbed him once and with very considerable force, causing his almost immediate death.”
Hairdresser Spencer, 48, a mother of two, admitted murdering Mr Butterfield at their home in Shirley Terrace on January 13. He was 43 and also a father of two.
Simon Waley, prosecuting, said the couple had been together for around 16 months prior to the killing and had a close relationship.
He added: “It is also right to say inquiries during the course of the investigation revealed a number of witnesses who gave evidence of the fact they had seen injuries on the deceased during the course of the relationship and had heard accounts from Mr Butterfield about how he had received those injuries.”
That included saying they had seen bruising particularly to his nose “and they had received accounts from him they were at the hands of the defendant.” She was also alleged to have punched him on one occasion.
The judge stressed he could only take into account “what has been proved or admitted.”
Mr Waley said on the day of the killing Mr Butterfield returned from work about 3pm. Spencer had been out drinking with friends and on her account had had three double gins and one single.
Mr Butterfield bought a loaf of bread at a local shop around 6.20pm and had returned home by 6.27pm. The 999 call from Spencer was only seven minutes later saying he had been stabbed, falsely saying she did not know by whom.
Paramedics and police found him on the floor in the kitchen but could not save him. The kitchen knife used had an 11 centimetre blade and the wound was some 8-9centimetres deep, penetrating his heart.
Spencer later accepted she had been holding the knife but claimed the stabbing was accidental. She had no previous convictions, but two cautions the second one in 2011 for an assault.
Michelle Colborne QC, representing Spencer, said she had struggled to come to terms with the fact “a minor disturbance resulted in this shocking act.”
“The fact she could do this to a man who apart from her children she loved most in the world.”
Spencer described Mr Butterfield as the “kindest, most loving man.”
She was genuinely remorseful.
“She will deal with the guilt of this for the rest of her life,” she added.
