Murder trial dropped against Houghton Regis woman accused of killing partner

37-year-old Sherry Naidoo was today (Thursday) cleared of the murder of her partner Paul Jenner after the judge stopped her trial at Luton Crown Court.

Judge Lynn Tayton QC had been presiding over the trial which started last week.

But, following legal submissions and arguments, she ruled that there was no case to answer in respect of the murder charge Naidoo faced and an alternative charge of manslaughter.

Because a jury had been put in charge of the indictment when the trial began last Wednesday, a not guilty verdict had to come from them.

One of the jurors was selected to act as foreman and, on the direction of the judge, delivered the two not guilty verdicts.

Naidoo, who at the outset pleaded guilty to assaulting Mr Jenner, was then sentenced to 16 months' imprisonment.

During the trial, the court heard the attack by Naidoo came on the evening of October 23 last year at the couple's home in Dylan Court, off Parkside Drive, where they had lived for three and a half years.

Both were heavy drinkers and were regularly spotted in Houghton Regis town centre mixing with other street drinkers.

Just five days before striking Mr Jenner and injuring his face, Naidoo had been released from prison after serving a sentence for assaulting him in April of last year.

The day after he was assaulted by Naidoo, 41-year-old Mr Jenner was admitted to hospital where it was found he had suffered two bleeds on his brain.

Twelve days after his admittance, he suffered a further bleed to his brain which led to his death.

The prosecution's case was that Sherry Naidoo caused the injuries to Mr Jenner’s face and also that she was responsible for the bleeding which occurred within his brain.

Prosecutor Benjamin Aina said “It’s the prosecution's case that she caused Mr Jenner’s injuries by assaulting him, causing him to fall and hit his head on a hard surface.”

But the trial was halted after it emerged there was no evidence that Mr Jenner had fallen to the ground when hit by his partner.

The judge said there was insufficient evidence for a jury to infer she had intended to kill him or cause serious harm.

Before she was sentenced today, the court was told there were numerous occasions when Naidoo had been violent towards Mr Jenner.

Between February 2016 and April of last year, police were called out six times to reports of violence by Naidoo against her partner.

Despite this domestic abuse, the court was told they were both "fond of one another".

Defending Naidoo, Mr David Nathan QC said she had been one of seven children and had grown up in a house where her father had frequently been violent towards her mother.

It had meant spells in a women’s refuge with her mum and some of her siblings.

At 15, the court was told, Naidoo had found herself pregnant, prompting her father to make threats that he would kill the unborn child by kicking her in the stomach.

That, said Mr Nathan, had forced Naidoo to leave home.

In her 20s, she had started drinking heavily and became a confirmed alcoholic.

Mr Jenner was a heavy drinker too and their circle of friends in Houghton were also heavy drinkers.

Mr Nathan said that while on remand in Peterborough Prison, Naidoo had taken steps to address her drinking and anger issues which had "blighted her life".

Naidoo has plans to live with her mother in Biggleswade upon her release, and get away from the drinking environment she was part of in Houghton Regis.

Judge Tayton jailed Naidoo for 16 months, telling her she would have to serve half behind bars before she can be released on supervision and on licence.