Depressed man bludgeoned partner to death

A man who bludgeoned his long-term partner to death with a rolling pin and then stabbed her eight times in the back with a kitchen knife has been sent to prison for nine years and four months.

Yusaf Mohammed, 66, of Millgate, Newark, denied murdering Karen Jacquet but admitted manslaughter by diminished responsibility.

Police were called to their home on the afternoon of August 16 last year and found 59-year-old Karen, a former foster carer dead at the scene.

Mohammed appeared before Nottingham Crown Court today for sentence.
Judge Gregory Dickinson QC, the Recorder of Nottingham, said the case involved two weapons with intention to kill.

"The defendant knew full well at the time what he was doing was wrong," he said.

The judge said Karen was a remarkable person with so much good in her life.

"The case has been described as a tragedy and rightly so," he said.

"This courtroom is full of family and friends devastated by what happened. The truth is we do not really know why this happened.

"There is no real reason for what happened. The death of a wonderful lady was unnecessary and avoidable."

Mohammed had told a doctor his intention had been to kill Karen, then their 18-year-old severely disabled daughter and then himself. But after killing Karen he had been unable to go any further.

The judge said three psychiatrists had disagreed over whether Mohammed should be sent to prison or hospital but the consensus was that at the time of the killing he was suffering from a depressive illness which impaired his judgment and exercise over his self control.

He said he accepted Mohammed was depressed but not psychotic.

"He was not driven by demons nor halucinations which he could not control," he said.

The judge said Mohammed had known he had problems but there were people to whom he could have turned.

"He could have turned to Karen Jacquet for help, not bludgeon her to death," he said.

In a statement read to the court Mohammed's son Mr Andrew Mohammed of Millgate, Newark, said Karen was never just a step-mum. He regarded her as his mum and his rock.

"The situation I have found myself in since August 16 truly has been some kind of surreal nightmare," he said.

"Life as I and the rest of my family have known it changed forever that day."

He said that over the course of 25 years his dad and Karen had fostered many children, that perhaps others wouldn't, with severe physical and mental disabilities.

"Karen and my dad were very much a team, a unit and together a force for good. They did everything as a couple," he said.

Karen's brother Trevor Jacquet said it had been a complete and utter tragedy that she had died in such a way at the hands of someone she loved and who loved her.

"Karen's task was not finished," he said. "She still had much to do both in all her responsibilities as mother, grandmother, aunt, friend and confidante, all those people she loved and cared for and those who loved, cared for and looked for support from her."