Accused made 'no attempt' to save wife

A retired firefighter who strangled his wife made no attempt to revive her despite being trained in resuscitation, a jury heard.

Michael Wathen attacked his wife of 44 years, Margaret, in the bedroom of their Halesowen home after she told him she was leaving him for his friend.

His murder trial heard he had left her slumped on the bed while he called his daughter to say: "I think I have killed your mum."

Wathen, who has denied murder but pleaded guilty to manslaughter, told a jury: "This is to my eternal shame. I was trained in resuscitation as part of my job and it was something that I had done myself several times. But I did not check her pulse, did not check her breathing or do CPR."

Prosecutor Gareth Evans QC said Wathen, aged 67, had not checked on his 63-year-old wife for 11 minutes between phone calls to their daughter and the police after strangling her at home in Brier Mill Road, Halesowen.

The lawyer told him: "You have the training but did absolutely nothing to bring her back to life. That is because you did not want to."

Wathen retorted: "That is absolutely untrue. I loved that woman. I was in a surreal state. My mind was completely destroyed at the time."

Speaking at Wolverhampto Crown Court, he said he had not wanted his wife to leave him for another ex-firefighter, Alan Thompson, who he had worked with at Northfield Fire Station.

"I suppose in anger I grabbed her round the neck, pushed her onto the bed and squeezed round the neck," he said.

Mr Evans asked under cross examination: "And in anger kept your hand there?"

Wathen, who pleads guilty to manslaughter but denies murder, replied: "It does look that way, I admit."

Wathen told the court he did not intend to kill his wife and that he only wanted to "frighten" her. The court heard he had been a "doting, loving husband" before finding out his wife was going to leave him. Mr Roger Farley QC, defending, said he had attended Relate sessions in an attempt to save the relationship. He said: "It must have been devastating for him to see that she no longer loved him. But he did not immediately resort to physical violence. He wanted to get back to normal.

"When he returned from Relate, he said he wanted to bring matters to a head and asked her to chose. She rang Thompson and asked him to come and pick her up. Her husband reacted immediately by grabbing her by the throat and eventually strangling her."

He said he had retired from the fire service because of depression in 1995 and was not in control of his emotions.

The jury was expected to retire today.

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