Retired major detained in hospital indefinitely after killing wife
Leonard Webb may never be released from hospital after killing his wife of more than 40 years
Leonard Webb with his wife Doreen Photo: INS
By Ben Farmer, Defence Correspondent
5:58PM GMT 06 Feb 2015
A retired Army major stabbed his wife to death after battling depression for 25 years, a court heard, as his sons asked a judge to send him to hospital rather than prison.
Leonard Webb knifed his spouse of more than 40 years, then rang police and told them 'I've just killed my wife'.
The 69-year-old former soldier told officers he did not know why he had killed his wife, Doreen, who was found slumped in a corner of their dining room.
The couple’s sons told Winchester Crown Court on Friday they wanted their father, who has six grandchildren, to be treated in hospital rather than be sent to a mainstream prison.
Chris Webb said: "This is not to be confused with forgiveness, I just want to make sure my father is on the path to recovery from his depression."
Mr Justice Dingemans ordered Webb, who has admitted manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility, to be detained in hospital under the Mental Health Act while he remains a threat to the public.
Webb shared an emotional embrace with his sons as he was led away to Fromestone Mental Health Hospital in Bristol.
The court heard Webb had a 25-year history of severe depression which emerged after he contracted malaria in 1989, aged 43.
He was working in Oman with the British Army when he began to suffer mental health difficulties and made a number of suicide attempts in the years that followed.
Webb took redundancy from the military in 1994, aged 48, and then worked in a small shop selling military memorabilia while his wife worked in a local nursery.
In the week leading up to Mrs Webb's death, he was visited by a number of health care professionals because he was seen as 'high risk'.
They discussed appropriate medication with him and he opened up about his low moods which were leading to thoughts of ending his life, the court heard.
In mitigation, Nigel Pascoe QC said Webb was 'deeply remorseful, broken and devastated' and that he remains a 'tragic individual'.
He said: "The letter from his family shows the enormity of the impact his actions have had in taking the life of the mother of his sons.
"He has a history of treatment, relapse and recovery that's been a vicious circle."
He continued: "He killed his wife to whom he was utterly devoted and who had done so much to care for him.
Sentencing, Mr Justice Dingemans, said: "From the victim impact statement from your middle son Christopher Webb, it is apparent that your mental illness, the various detentions in the local mental hospital, and your occasional attempts at suicide had a very considerable impact on the whole family.
"I should like to pay tribute to the dignified way in which the family of Doreen Webb, which is your family too, have listened to the proceedings today."
