Husband sentenced to 21 years in prison for murdering wife with hammer in 'last act of control'

A 'jealous' controlling husband who killed his wife after she asked for divorce was jailed for 21 years.

Mark Ballot, 55, murdered NHS nurse Eileen her Ballot, 50, last August before fleeing to aconvent. final act of control".

Nure Eileen's body was found at her family's home in Leeds, West Yorkshire after a brutal attack. rice field.

Leeds Her coat is that the father of three children shockingly killed her wife by hitting her twice with a hammer, and held her "her" with her hands until her wife died. I heard that he squeezed his neck.

Prosecutor Craig Hassall said that Ballot took a series of different trainsto "get away" before reaching the border withScotland

Three hours after she left her parents' home, Hassell said Barrott emailed her childhood friend and therapist, Paula. The text says she attacked after Irene was "really mad".

message eerily follows is written as and police to Eileen.

"'When she pushed me through the bedroom door, I instinctively hit her with a hammer.

``Then I put a rope around her throat and hanged myself with it.

"'I don't want her to die and I don't want Joel to get her badly hurt. So hurry up, Paula, call them. I left the front door unlocked, and I'm going to die now."

In fact, the court determined that Ballot did not attempt suicide, and that no rope was found at his home address.

No wounds were found on Irene's body, suggesting that it was used to kill her.

Hassall said: Three and a half hours after he escaped, Irene was already dead, lying face down on the living room sofa.

"No rope was recovered at the scene or elsewhere, and Irene's body showed no signs of strangulation other than by the defendant's bare hands.

"Defendant did not 'go to death'. He did not take his life the next day." It was only the beginning of Ballot's endeavors.

The prosecutor told the jury:

"Prosecutors believe he primarily suffers from mental health problems such as depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder.

"However...his decision to kill Irene on August 15th last year was made precisely by a jealous and controlling husband. They did not tell him that their marriage was over.”

Indeed, in sentenced Barrott to a minimum of 21 years of life imprisonment, Judge Andrew Hutton said that Barrott had been charged with domestic violence and behavioral control.

He said the defendant routinely

hid a tracking device in her handbag,

Hatton notes that when Eileen bids farewell to Barrot, he finally "exhausts all his chances of dominating her", stating:

"Your control and manipulation came to an end, and you killed her in the act of finally controlling her."

She said: "My life has been completely turned upside down."

"In an instant, my whole view of the world changed, and all my hopes and zeal for life were shattered.

Walking around like a soulless, hollow, empty shell that no longer belongs to this world, without the greatest inspiration in my life.

"The bittersweet side of my life After 23 years of abuse and domination, and 27 years of my mother's life, I was now as free as my brother and mother, no longer in pain anywhere. She is."

Sentencing Judge Hutton told the court that Barrott gave several testimonies about what happened on the day of the murder, but that they were all "clearly false."

In one version, the husband threw a hammer at her because he thought she "had a demon inside her" and they started fighting.

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However, the judge dismissed the explanation as "absurd" and said he had made a clear "unjustified attack" on his "vulnerable wife".

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