Pensioner said he killed wife after 'suicide pact'

A retired industrial chemist who said he killed his 84-year-old wife following a "suicide pact" has been given a 21-month prison sentence.

Roger Worby, 84, told police he had hit Margaret Worby on the head with a hammer when she was in bed at their home in Kingsbury Avenue, Dunstable, Bedfordshire, in January, a judge heard.

Judge Michael Simon was told how Worby had said to a 999 operator: "It's my worst ever nightmare. We were so much in love, and now it has come to this."

The judge, who oversaw a sentencing hearing in Luton Crown Court on Monday, was told Worby had admitted manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility - and psychiatrists had diagnosed mental health difficulties.

Judge Simon said Worby would serve half of the 21-month sentence in custody before being released on licence.

He was told that Worby, who lawyers said had worked at Vauxhall, had been on remand in custody since his arrest in January.

Lawyers said after the hearing that they expected Worby to be released on licence soon.

The judge heard that the Worbys had been married for 56 years and had no children.

"By all accounts you were devoted to each other, described by others as 'joined at the hip'," Judge Simon said.

"You and Margaret both worked for a living and in retirement lived in Dunstable without financial or other worry."

Judge Simon had to consider whether Worby believed he had made a suicide pact with Mrs Worby - and what his level of responsibility for her death was.

The judge concluded that evidence showed Worby had genuinely believed there was agreement and his "responsibility" was therefore in the "lower category".

"[I] am not in a position to make a finding to the criminal standard as to the exact nature of any discussion and/or agreement between yourself and Margaret," said the judge.

"In the absence of convincing evidence to the contrary, I must pass sentence on the basis that at the very least you genuinely believed that there was an agreement with Margaret."

Judge Simon was told how in late December 2024, Worby had become convinced that he had committed a fraud through online transactions.

Worby had also become convinced that he and Mrs Worby would be "sent to America", charged with fraud and "incarcerated", the judge heard.

Psychiatrists concluded that Worby had mental health difficulties.

One said Worby suffered an "acute" psychotic disorder - the main symptom being "delusions" about the "fraud" and extradition.

Another thought it likely Worby was "suffering from the early stages of dementia".

A third said evidence indicated "mild neurocognitive disorder" and concluded that "an abnormality of mental functioning" had substantially impaired Worby's "ability to form a rational judgment".

Worby had denied murder, but admitted manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility at an earlier hearing.

Caroline Carberry KC, prosecuting, had accepted the manslaughter plea.

Ms Carberry said Worby had told police that what had happened on 23 January was the "worst day of his life".

Worby said he and his wife had discussed a suicide pact the evening before her death "over a cup of tea and a biscuit".

The judge also heard that their table had been "laid out for breakfast".

Worby had taken a hammer from a workshop and two knives from the kitchen, the judge was told.

He had been taken to hospital for self-harm before going to a police station.

"This case is a tragedy," barrister Lawrence Selby KC, for Worby, told the judge.

"Nothing this court can do will ever be greater punishment for Mr Worby than having to live with what he did."

He said Worby would soon be 85 and any prison sentence was "likely to be a death sentence".

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