Husband tried to murder wife with saucepan
6:00am Saturday 27th June 2009 in News
Jailed: Former school governor Gary Gardner
A FORMER school governor who tried to murder his wife with a saucepan has been jailed.
Gary Gardner, who had secret debts of £50,000, also tried to strangle the woman, a court heard.
The attack happened at the couple’s home in Ulverston, where they moved to from Bolton last August.
Neighbours heard screams coming from the house and went to investigate. Gardner told them: “I’ve tried to kill her”, Preston Crown Court heard.
Jailing him for eight years yesterday, Judge Anthony Russell QC, said: “This is a very sad case. It seems your inability to cope with your financial problems made you increasingly unstable and you completely lost control of yourself. You launched a vicious and completely unprovoked attack upon your wife.”
The court heard Gardner, who pleaded guilty to attempted murder, married in 1996 and had two children with his wife. Until last August, they lived in Briggs Fold Road, Egerton. Gardner was a parent governor at Egerton Primary School. His wife was a health visitor.
Arthur Gibson, prosecuting, said Gardner ran up large debts, owing £50,000 on credit cards. On moving to the Lake District, the family planned to sell the house in Bolton and use the equity to clear the debt, of which his wife was partially aware.
But before the move, Mrs Gardner learned that her husband had used credit card cheques to borrow some of her money. As a result, she took over responsibility for opening the post.
Initially, the move to Baycliff in Ulverston was successful. But last October, Mrs Gardner started to worry when bills stopped arriving in the post.
Mr Gibson said: “The defendant had had it diverted to his parents’ home, in effect to prevent her from learning the true nature of the financial situation.
“The reality was there was no equity in the house in Bolton, in effect no money to start a new life in the Lakes."
Two days before the murder bid, the couple had an argument. Gardner said the marriage was over, but apologised the next morning.
He told his wife on January 22 they were going to Bolton to sign and exchange contracts for the sale of the house. But that was also a lie.
While sitting in the kitchen watching TV, Mrs Gardner felt a heavy blow to the back of the head, the court heard.
Gardner repeatedly hit her with a heavy saucepan then tried to strangle her. A couple next door heard screams and the dog barking loudly. When they went to investigate they found Mrs Gardner covered in blood. Two police officers found and arrested Gardner, who said: “I’ve killed her. I know I have killed her.”
Defence barrister Chris Stables said Gardner did not have a violent past: “This is a case, in effect, of a spontaneous act with no planning or meditation. It rather seems this was a pressure cooker-type situation, with a build-up of stress caused by serious financial difficulty, his concealment of his difficulties and his attempt to deal with them alone. All of those pressures became too much that day.”
Gardner served on the governing body of Egerton Primary School from March 2006 until June 2008.
A Bolton Council spokesman said that Gardner no longer had any connection with any schools in Bolton, and as such it would be “inappropriate” to comment on the court case, adding: “All school governors are subject to criminal record bureau checks for the safety of others and national guidelines in appointing of school governors are followed.”
