Man nagged for 30 years killed partner

Dennis Long, 59, was cleared of murder and convicted of the lesser charge of manslaughter on the grounds of provocation following a trial at Newcastle Crown Court.

Despite hating violence, he killed 60-year-old grandmother Judith Scott, the partner he had lived with for three decades, after years of abuse which included being beaten with a poker.

On the night in March that he snapped at their home in North Shields, North Tyneside, she had called him weak, "a pansy", "a poof" and told him she should wear the trousers and he should be in a dress.

He stabbed her in the arm and twice in the chest, and she died at the scene.

Immediately after the attack, he rang 999 and told the call handler: "I just lost it – she gave me grief so I knifed her."

The killing followed Long telling Ms Scott he had been abused on the way home from the pub by a local bully but that he would not take it further with police.

During their relationship, she repeatedly beat him with an ornamental poker, nagged him and even broke his thumb, the court heard.

Sentencing, Judge John Milford told Long: "You are a placid, unassertive, rather weak man."

He said the defendant was "full of genuine remorse".

The judge said the killing "has to be seen against a background of 30 years' severe conduct by the deceased and some physical abuse as well".