The Curious Case Of Sara Thornton

Sara Thornton I thought that you all might be interested in learning about a case involving a woman named Sara Thornton.  Mrs. Thornton is an Englishwoman who was sentenced to life in prison after being convicted of the 1989 murder of her violent and alcoholic husband, Malcolm Thornton. Sara Thornton never denied the killing, but she claimed that it had been an accident during an argument. The prosecution at her trial argued that Sara carried out the act for financial gain, and, subsequently, she was found guilty of murder.  At a retrial in 1996 Sara was found guilty of the lesser charge of manslaughter and freed from custody.  Malcolm Thornton died in a hospital after he was stabbed at home by Sara on 12 June 1989 following an argument.  At her trial in 1990, Sara pleaded guilty to manslaughter based on reasons of "diminished responsibility", claiming that she had stabbed Malcolm accidentally following an argument as he laid drunk on the sofa. The court heard that police were called to the house in Atherstone, Warwickshire on several occasions when Thornton was being assaulted by her husband. An Alcoholics Anonymous representative witnessed Malcolm punching his wife on one occasion, while one of their neighbors spoke about how Sara had been beaten "black and blue" to the point where she became unconscious and required hospital treatment. The prosecution claimed that Sara Thornton was a "pathological liar" who had carried out the killing for financial gain, and the jury later convicted her of murder. Sentencing her to life imprisonment, the judge told Sara that she could have walked out of the house or gone upstairs. Sara appealed the conviction, but it was rejected in 1991. The original trial was largely ignored by the media, but Thornton's case was taken up by women's groups and domestic abuse activists who were pushing for a change in the way cases of domestic violence are handled by the courts. Following a high-profile campaign for a retrial, Sara Thornton was eventually granted leave to appeal. At a hearing at the Court of Appeal in December 1995, lawyers argued she was a victim of "battered woman syndrome" as a result of her husband's repeated violence, something which had resulted in her losing control and killing him. Her murder conviction was quashed, and a retrial was ordered for the following year.  Sara Thornton faced her second trial in May 1996, and the 12-day hearing took place at Oxford Crown Court. The prosecution presented evidence that Thornton had spoken of killing her husband to an acquaintance at work, but psychiatrists argued successfully that Thornton suffered from "dissociation"-a personality disorder that causes an individual to react inappropriately to events. She was convicted of manslaughter, and sentenced to 5 years imprisonment. However, she was released from custody as a result of time already served. Speaking shortly afterwards, Sara said that she believed her sentence was fair. "I am not saying that every woman should be sent to prison, but for me it was fair. I took a life at the end of the day."  Now, there are some differences between Sara Thornton's trial and the trial of Jodi Arias, but I think Sara's case ought to give Jodi and her supporters hope.   
Source:http://justiceforjodi.blogspot.com/2013/06/the-curious-case-of-sara-thornton.html

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