Man convicted of smothering partner had killed before

A North Yorkshire man who smothered a “vulnerable” grandmother to death following an argument had a history of domestic violence and had killed a previous girlfriend, it has been revealed.

Paul Plunkett, 62, was given a life sentence of no less than 23 years at Teesside Crown Court yesterday for the murder of his partner, Barbara Davison, in August last year.

Davison, who was 4ft 11in tall and weighed less than seven stone, had struggled with alcohol abuse and was described as “vulnerable”, the Northern Echo reports.

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The 66-year-old was found dead at her home in Redcar on 15 August. She had been smothered to death and also exhibited signs of trauma, including three missing teeth.

Plunkett was arrested on suspicion of murder two days later.

Davison’s family have described Plunkett as a “controlling” partner who isolated their mother from friends and family, and exacerbated her problem drinking. He is “a lying, manipulative, evil coward who will never face up to what he has done and the lives he has ruined”, the family said in a statement after he was sentenced.

Plunkett had initially claimed that he killed Davison accidentally, by covering her mouth during a row. He denied murder at a hearing last October, “but changed his plea to guilty shortly before his trial was due to start at Teesside Crown Court this week”, reports Teesside Live.

Contempt of court laws meant that Plunkett’s past convictions could not previously be reported, to avoid the risk of prejudice in the event of a jury trial.

However, it has now been revealed that he had a history of domestic violence and served three years in prison for the 1995 manslaughter of then-girlfriend Jacqueline Aspery.

“In that case, he applied so much pressure to Aspery’s throat that he fractured the cartilage around her larynx,” says The Guardian.

Emma Dowling from the Crown Prosecution Service said: “Given the similarities between the death of Barbara Davison and the manslaughter of Jacqueline Aspery, the CPS made an application for his previous convictions to be revealed to the jury.

“Given the strength of the case against him, it is unsurprising that Plunkett has pleaded guilty to murder on the first day of this trial.”

The revelations are likely to bring renewed attention to an initiative launched by victims’ rights groups last year to change the law to allow police “proactive measures” to notify new partners of serious offenders about their previous convictions.

Current legislation “allows people to find out if their partner has a history of abuse”, but the information “is only disclosed upon request”, says The Guardian.

Speaking outside the Teesside court on Thursday, Detective Inspector Darren Birkett described Plunkett as a “danger to women”.

“We hope that Barbara’s family can take some comfort from the knowledge that he will never be able to hurt another family again,” Birkett said.