BBC News From UK

Husband was obsessed, jurors told

Alethea Foster said her husband John was denigrating and secretiveA woman accused of attempting to murder her husband's lover told jurors he was "dishonest and disloyal" and had become obsessed with a woman he met at work.

Alethea Foster, 61, told Cambridge Crown Court that in her misery she felt unloved, unwanted and "raw inside".
The prosecution claims Mrs Foster tried to kill Julie Simpson, 45, after finding emails written by her husband.
Mrs Foster told the court her husband of 35 years had lied to her and was "denigrating, secretive and boring".
Miss Simpson, a mature student from Beckenham, south London, was stabbed 17 times in the hall of her Cambridge college in October 2005.

Mrs Foster, a retired foot specialist, told the court on Friday she and her husband had not had sex for 15 years - he had told her that he was impotent and there was no treatment.

Mrs Foster stabbed Julie Simpson 17 times

"I found it a hard thing to have a sexless marriage and I was so sorry for him," she told the court.
She said she could not believe her husband, a former political journalist with the BBC, would have sex with another woman after telling her he was impotent.

When she voiced her suspicions that he was having an affair with Miss Simpson - a family friend - she said he had always fobbed her off and gave the impression she was being unreasonable.

Mrs Foster, who also denies causing grievous bodily harm with intent, said she had not intended to attack Miss Simpson - also a former BBC journalist - but meant to kill herself in the student's room.

The prosecution said Mrs Foster took a kitchen knife from her home which she used to attack Miss Simpson.
The court has heard Miss Simpson was blinded in one eye in the attack.

The trial continues.

Nurse 'shocked to death' by alarm

Lisa Browne died suddenly in her bed in 1998A nurse died from heart failure brought on by the shock of her alarm clock going off, an inquest has heard.

Lisa Browne, who was originally from Stoke-on-Trent, died suddenly in her bed in 1998. She was 27.
An initial inquest was unable to determine the cause of death. Experts later found she had a heart disorder.
Her family, from Flintshire, called for a fresh inquest. Cheshire Coroner Nicholas Rheinberg recorded a verdict of death by natural causes.

Heart specialists in London, who investigated the case last year, confirmed the paediatric nurse was suffering from Long QT Syndrome.

The rare condition affects the electrical system of the heart which can cause sudden unexplained death in young people.

The attorney general ordered a fresh inquest and the original verdict, given in August 1998, to be quashed.
I'm satisfied now from the totality of the evidence that the cause of Lisa's death has been found and diagnosed
Nicholas RheinbergCheshire Coroner

The inquest at Warrington on Friday was told Mrs Browne was unaware she suffered from the condition.
The court heard that the nurse, who worked at the Countess of Chester Hospital, suffered from extreme exhaustion in the last three years of her life.

She complained on a number of occasions to her GP, who prescribed her a low dose of an antidepressant which she took for a few months from October 1996.

The antidepressant should not be taken by anyone suffering from Long QT syndrome, the inquest heard.
Mrs Browne's husband Stuart, 38, from Ellesmere Port in Cheshire, told the inquest he found his wife dead in bed at around 0700 GMT on 10 January 1998 after she failed to wake up for work.

Cardiac expert Dr Elijah Behr, from St George's Hospital in London, concluded the alarm clock shocked her to death.

He said: "Lisa Browne died suddenly in bed, probably after her alarm went off, waking her suddenly."
Coroner Mr Rheinberg said: "I'm satisfied now from the totality of the evidence that the cause of Lisa's death has been found and diagnosed. My formal verdict is that Lisa Jane Browne died from natural causes."
The nurse's mother Doreen Harley, from Connah's Quay, has always suspected her daughter died of the hereditary disorder and campaigned for the inquest into her death to be reopened.

The nurse's mother, Doreen Harley, campaigned for a second inquest.Speaking after the inquest, Mrs Harley said she hoped her eight-year battle to discover the real cause of her daughter's death would help save the lives of others.

Following Lisa's death, it was discovered that her father Terry, 61, her sister Rachel, 33, and her nephews Jack, 9, and Adam, 6, all had the Long QT Syndrome. They have all received treatment and are living normal lives.
Mrs Harley called on the government to provide screening for young people to diagnose heart problems.
She said: "Long QT Syndrome has affected five members of our family over three generations.

"An ECG test could well have saved Lisa's life. "All of the causes of sudden young cardiac death, many of which are genetic, are treatable once diagnosed and most people are able to live a relatively normal life."