Husband’s heartbreaking words after wife is jailed for abusing him ‘night after night’ and ‘making his life misery’
A CRUEL wife has been jailed for making her husband’s life a complete misery through a campaign of violence.
Helen Thornton, 45, stabbed him with the sharp point of an electric toothbrush and repeatedly hit him with a rolling pin.
The former telephonist, from Grimsby, was also controlling and intimidating, a court heard.
She repaid his “love and support” in a “most grotesque way” through her sadistic behaviour towards him over a long period of time.
Thornton denied two offences of assaulting her husband, causing actual bodily harm, and another of controlling and coercive behaviour.
She was convicted after a trial at Grimsby Crown Court that finished on November 29.
She had been remanded in custody since well before the trial after repeatedly breaching her bail.
Judge John Thackray KC told a sentencing hearing at Hull Crown Court about Thornton “instilling fear” in her husband.
“You made his life a misery,” said Judge Thackray.
Thornton’s husband would suffer abuse and attacks “almost night after night”.
On one occasion in 2018 the police were called about an assault and a stabbing matter but he declined to take the matter further.
That incident involved Thornton stabbing him with the metal and sharp point of an electric toothbrush causing at least one puncture wound.
In February last year she repeatedly attacked her husband with a rolling pin causing serious bruising to him.
Thornton threatened to report him for matters that could have damaged him in his job.
He started making recordings of things so that he could protect himself from any malicious allegations by her.
John Dunning, mitigating, said that alcoholism had played a part in the offences being committed.
I just don’t want her to hurt anyone else.
Thornton, who had been in custody at New Hall Prison, near Wakefield, was jailed for two years and given a 10-year restraining order.
After the hearing, Thornton’s husband told GrimsbyLive: “I just don’t want her to hurt anyone else.”
He said that they had been married for 19 years and they were still married although he had started divorce proceedings.
He said that she had previously been a telephonist for BT but she had not worked for about 15 years.
He said that he did not want to comment further on his ordeal but added that he wanted the case to be made public.