A retired accountant who was wealthy was today found guilty in the murder of her husband, a retired colonel. She stabbed him to death on her birthday and told police, “I should have stabbed his more” as he lay dying.
Penelope Jackson was arrested in her Marks & Spencer pyjamas outside their £450,000 luxury bungalow while calmly telling police her husband David, 78, was lying bleeding on the kitchen floor.
After 24 years of controlling her behaviour, she told a jury that the “final straw” was a row over a birthday side dish of bubbles and squeak.
Penny, who pleaded guilty but not murder to manslaughter, insisted that David was violent and controlling throughout their marriage. She also claimed that the situation deteriorated during lockdown as she ‘couldn’t escape’ him.
She claimed that she didn’t recall the 18-minute 999 call in which she told the operator that he was ‘in kitchen bleeding to death with any kind of luck’. She told jurors that she had not intended to kill him, but that she had ‘had enough’ and lost the plot after being abused by him.
Judge Martin Picton explained to the jury of eight women (and four men) the route to a verdict. He stated that Penny’s defense rested on the issues a lack of intent and loss of self control.
He instructed them to ask themselves if a person in similar circumstances with ‘a normal degree in tolerance and self control’ would have behaved in the same manner.
Penelope Jackson was arrested in her Marks & Spencer pyjamas outside their bungalow calmly telling police her husband David, 78, was lying bleeding on the kitchen floor
Jurors had earlier seen chilling footage of Penny being taken into custody while refusing help for her husband, who was lying on the kitchen floor dying.
She spoke politely and subtly to police about what had happened after they arrived at their Berrow, Somerset home.
She made a series of horrifying comments, including “If there’s any chance you’ll have too late”, “I should have stabbed he a bit more” and “I might go back and stab him again”.
Despite the horror, Penny seemed to be more concerned about retrieving her coat & slippers from her home. She repeatedly asked officers for them.
According to the defendant, she stabbed her husband after she became ‘petrified’ by the violence she had been subject to throughout their marriage.
She claimed that she walked on eggshells, and that she felt like she had a knot in her stomach.
During the two-and-a half-week trial at Bristol Crown Court Penny was described by various witnesses as outgoing and gregarious with a temper that flared up quickly, but soon subsided.
Penny, who pleaded guilty but denied murder to manslaughter, said that David was violent and controlling throughout their marriage. She also claimed that the situation deteriorated during lockdown when he ‘couldn’t escape’ her (she is shown in a court sketch).
Penny confessed to murdering her husband. She said she lost control when he called Penny ‘pathetic’ in her bedroom, and then taunted her in her kitchen.
Isabelle Potterton, daughter of the couple, stated that she had seen three instances in which her father had been aggressive against her mother in her late 1990s shortly after his first marriage ended.
Judge Martin Picton explained to jurors their path to a verdict. “It is contended, that the defendant’s reaction, stabbing her husband when he was calling out for help, at a point where he was already suffering from a serious, although not fatal, wound, is not the way someone with a normal level of tolerance and self control would react.
“The defense however, argue that you cannot be certain that such is true.”
He said that Penny’s defense team stated that, given the years of domestic abuse that Penny has allegedly suffered, the attack of stabbing her husband was within the normal range of what a person of normal tolerance would do (and that it is impossible to be certain that such a person would not).
Isabelle Potterton, the daughter of the couple, stated that she witnessed three instances where her father was aggressive towards her mother in late 1990s, shortly after her son from his first marriage had taken his own life.
She said that for the past twenty years, they had been in a close, loving relationship with many shared interests like gardening and travel.
Judge Martin Picton explained the jury the route to a verdict by stating that Penny’s defense was based on the issues of lack of intent and loss of control.
Mrs Potterton stated that her parents would argue over small things but their anger was rarely lasting long.
Penny stated that she lived in fear of the victim all through the marriage.
“It would always begin with him being verbally abusive. It was always about me being disloyal, and he would reply, “You never loved me anyway.” She said that he called me a “thing” like he didn’t consider me a person.
She continued: “It would escalate and he’d shake me most of all the time, he’d shake me sometimes, he’d strangle me sometimes, and sometimes I’d go unconscious.
“Othertimes I would be semi conscious, and I’d be on the floor or on the bed, and if I was really mad he’d kick me.
Black widow who stabbed her fourth husband to death may have ‘coerced,’ according to his brother, the third man she married into gazing himself in the garage of their family home after they began an affair.
MailOnline by Tom Bedford
His brother claims that a black widow may have coerced her husband into gazing in the garage of their family home.
Stewart Warrender claimed that Penny Jackson made Alan’s life miserable before he discovered her affair with David Jackson, a retired army officer husband. He then took his own life.
Today, she was found guilty of stabbing to death Mr Jackson, her fourth husband, at their home in February.
Penny admitted to the Bristol Crown Court trial that she had ‘driven her husband to suicide’ by cheating on him.
Alan Warrender left the RAF to get a job in Saudi Arabia, to pay off his debts.
He returned to Grantham, Lincolnshire to find that the wife he loved had had an affair with David Jackson. He had also had his two Rottweiler dogs, who were healthy, killed while he was away.
Alan and Penny were found together in the middle of the Middle East in April 1993, days after their return from the Middle East. The two men began fighting over Penny. The 43-year-old Alan died a few days later.
The Jacksons looked like a happy and content retired couple. They went on cruises several times a year and owned a holiday home in France.
Mr Warrender believes rather than just finding his brother unconscious in his car after he had gassed himself following a row, as she claimed to the jury, she may have actually persuaded him to do it.
He stated that she was’strangely optimistic’ at his brother’s funeral, and that she had been a controlling presence throughout their relationship which began less than a year after Beverley, Alan’s first wife, died.
He even said that he believed Penny convinced Alan to take the adopted son he ‘had always wanted’ back to care after they had met.
Mr Warrender – who stepped in as best man at Penny and Alan’s wedding after the former one withdrew because he didn’t approve of his friend’s fiancée – said he had always ‘had suspicions’ about Alan’s suicide.
MailOnline was told by him that he took his own life shortly after learning about David and her. It broke him in the heart, as you can see.
“But I never had any concerns regarding my brother’s logic, even when it was going through after his first wife Bev died from cancer.
“He could have had a half decent existence without Penny, who clearly didn’t love him anymore.
“Did Penny really find him unconscious after an argument in his car or was she there when it happened? Did she coerce him into doing it? I always believed that this was possible.
Mr Warrender claimed that his suspicions were first triggered by Penny’s inability to appear overly upset at her brother’s funeral. They have been strengthened by recent revelations that Pennymurdered David. She had taken a knife to bed with the original intent to kill herself, and then she went for him.
Stewart Warrender claimed that Penny (pictured) made Alan’s life miserable before he discovered her affair with David Jackson in 1993. He then took his own life.
The Jacksons often took holidays abroad. Here they are during two of their trips.
He stated that there was something distinctly wrong with her behavior at Alan’s funeral.
“I know that people grieve differently, but she seemed oddly upbeat for someone whose spouse had just committed suicide.
“It wasn’t the case that Alan was ill for some while and his death had been expected. Although it was unexpected and shocking, she didn’t seem to be too upset. She displayed a clear lack of empathy that day.
“It’s why it’s why I have always had the niggling thoughts in my head about how Alan died.
“And then to read about how she took the knife to bed and murdered David Jackson, which was originally her plan to end her life, it almost confirmed all my fears.”
The Grantham Journal headlined the report of an inquest: “Man died after marital stress.”
It stated that the body of the deceased aviation specialist was discovered in the Ford Granada fume-filled with gasoline.
Penny stated that her husband had returned from abroad to confront domestic problems. She also said that she had told him that the end was near for their marriage.
The coroner determined that Mr Warrender had taken his life while his mind was in turmoil.
To escape the cold, the Jacksons had a holiday home to France and Spain.
A former neighbor, who remembered the case, said that he had alcohol in his system, and everyone was shocked that he managed to reverse the car into the small garage.
“He had been working abroad and there was a rumour that his wife had begun seeing someone from the Prince William barracks.
“I recall that he owned two Rottweiler dogs, which were his pride & joy. His wife put them to sleep while he was on long trips to the Middle East.
Beverley Alan, Alan’s first wife, was married to him in 1971. They had two daughters, Samantha (and Katherine) respectively.
While she was being treated with cancer, the couple decided to adopt a nine year-old boy, Alan’s long-awaited son.
Beverley died in 1987. Alan met Penny shortly thereafter. The couple married the next year in South Wales, where he was stationed with the RAF as a chief technical officers.
The boy was taken back into care early in the relationship. Mr Warrender believes this decision was made by Penny.
After Alan was transferred from RAF Stanton Morley in Norfolk, the couple later moved to Grantham. Isabelle was their daughter.
A still taken from the police bodycam footage that shows Penny Jackson being arrested by officers on February 13, 2009.
Mr Warrander said: “I always had the impression Penny got whatever she wanted. It seemed to me that she was an alpha-female who pulled the strings.
Brendan, ‘Alan’s best friend and a very religious man, refused to be their best man. Penny was a major factor in that decision.
“In Beverley was Alan’s soulmate. She was compassionate, a mother, and had that caring nurturing side.
Bev and Alan adopted a nine year-old boy before she died. My brother, despite being blessed with two beautiful daughters at the time of my birth, always wanted a son.
“He had a difficult start in life. He could be a challenge, but he was a great kid. He loved going out with me in my truck for the afternoon. When you are cooped up in a taxi for hours, you really get to know someone.
“But Bev died shortly after Penny met him, and he placed the boy back in care. Alan was very uncomfortable and difficult to talk to about it.
“He didn’t really want answer the question and inferred it wasn’t his choice. I didn’t press too hard on him.
“I thought Penny was bubbly, confident, and very sociable. But I always believed that she was very empty inside. She was very narcissistic and soulless.
David Jackson, whose wife Penny admitted to manslaughter but denied the killing of her husband. Issue date: Monday October 18, 2021
She was a pilates instructor at the gym, enjoyed extravagant shopping trips, and loved entertaining guests at the beach bungalow she shared with her husband David.
Penny said that she was determined for her relationship with David to work as it would ‘validate Alan’s passing’. She admitted to the court she cheated on Alan and that he would not have committed suicide if she had not.
David was a ten-year married man like Alan. Penny, a homewrecker, lured him away.
He left his wife Sheila Taylor and confided in his wife that he was afraid of them, didn’t trust them and feared they would ruin his career.
Not only that, but the jury was shocked when she threatened to ‘do Bobbit’ on him, which is a euphemism meaning to cut off his penis.
It was a reference to a case in the United States where a woman cut off her husband’s manhood while she was sleeping.
Mrs Taylor said that he was scared and that he believed that she was capable of delivering the threat.
According to Penny, her fourth husband loved to make her blush. She had a reputation of making people uncomfortable by baiting them.
Her teenage grandson, who was then her granddaughter, came to stay with her. She would sit naked and brush her hair with the bedroom door wide open, according to the court.
Jackson had his third marriage, the first at 17 to Melvyn. His family claims he has “no happy memories” of their time together.
They had two children, Victoria and Rebecca. Jackson later donated one her kidneys to Rebecca, but the murder trial heard that they are now estranged. They haven’t spoken to eachother in years.
The home of Penny and David Jackson in Berrow, Somerset, as seen on February 13 with officers outside
Penny pleaded guilty for manslaughter, but denied murder after fatally stabbing David Jackson, her husband.
After falling in love with Anthony Rothwell, Penny decided to leave Mr Porter to care for their two children.
They were married for 10 years but she described their relationship as a ‘loving friendship’ but told the court he ‘preferred relationships with chaps’.
Her next two husbands were both in the services: Alan Warrender, and David Jackson.
The Jacksons appeared to be a happy, content retired couple. With so much money they had, they went on multiple cruises a year and owned a home in Bergerac (South West France).
The couple lived in Spain for the winter after the property was sold. They ‘hated’ the cold weather.
Outgoing and vivacious, Penny loved going to the gym, splashing out on shopping trips and gardening at their £450,000 luxury bungalow in the village of Berrow, Somerset.
David had no hobbies and interests, and after beating bowel and prostate cancer, he spent his days at home, waiting for Penny’s return from her many outings.
Penny said that her husband loved her and she loved him during the murder trial. However, she tried to convince jurors that the abuse and violence in her marriage had made it unhappy.
The mother of three claimed she’d had enough and put an eight-inch fileting knife under her pillow, in the intention of killing herself on the night of February 13th, her 66th Birthday.
Instead, she stabbed his husband in the abdomen and then, after he begged for help from an emergency operator, she knifed him again.
Sketch of Penny Jackson at Bristol Crown Court. She admitted manslaughter, but denied murder.
People in the courtroom shivered at his screams during 999 calls, while Penny calmly stated: ‘I should’ve stabbed him more’.
Penny was arrested in her Marks & Spencer pyjamas and continued confessing to police that she had killed her husband.
Penny added the words “Self-defence” or “pre-meditated” to the top of the confession note she found at the scene.
The initial stabbing in the bedroom the couple’s smart bungalow was could have been an instinctive response.
The jury heard the second stabbing in a kitchen, which was recorded repeatedly. It was cold-blooded and deliberate. It was murder.
Penny, a wealthy retired accountant, had the words “Property Of David John Jackson” tattooed on her right buttock in order to tease her husband.
She even managed to suppress a little giggle when she mentioned the tattoo that her husband of 24years hated.
She will ink the name of her victim on her body as she begins her life sentence for murder.