A BUSINESSMAN who murdered his wife when she found out that he had lost their life savings was sentenced to 15 years in jail this month. But, had Maurice Pearson, 57, pleaded guilty early on in the proceedings, he could, under the new guidelines, be looking at a jail term of only ten years.
Pearson was convicted at Bournemouth Crown Court 12 days ago for battering his wife, Irena, to death with a blunt intrument during an argument at their home in Poole, Dorset.
Carol Croydon was jailed for 15 years in February for murdering her husband after luring him to a hotel by promising a night of sex to revive their flagging marriage.
Croydon, from Edwinstowe in Nottinghamshire, pleaded guilty to manslaughter due to provocation, a plea rejected by the jury. But, had she admitted murder, under the new guidelines her sentence could also have been reduced to ten years.