Sentence delay for Shropshire pensioner over wife's death
A Shropshire pensioner will appear in court next month over the death of his wife.
Beatrice Margaret Bennett, 75, was found dead at the home she shared with husband John Colin Bennett in Millfield Drive, Market Drayton, on May 20 last year.
Bennett, 75, will appear in Stafford Crown Court on March 26, charged with his wife's manslaughter by virtue of diminished responsibility.
The retired teacher was due to be sentenced yesterday, but at a directions hearing his hospital order was extended for 28 days.
At his next court appearance, Bennett will either be sentenced or further directions will be made.
Bennett was initially charged with murder and was due to stand trial in November last year, but since a plea and case management hearing in August, the Crown Prosecution Service accepted his plea of manslaughter with diminished responsibility.
On December 11, Judge Simon Tonking ordered Bennett be taken to Hatherton Centre, Stafford, to be treated for severe depressive episodes.
