A JEALOUS pensioner who tried to strangle his estranged partner has been jailed for 64 months by a judge Retired bus driver Denis Bradley put a pillow over Deborah Pope’s face and then tried to throttle her with his hands, Stafford Crown Court heard.
Bradley let go when the victim’s daughter came in to the bedroom and he “came to his senses”.
The murder bid happened because Bradley thought Miss Pope, a bus driver, was having an affair with a work colleague.
On the night he attacked her, he had seen her get off a bus being driven by the suspected love rival, Len Cooper.
Bradley, 69, formerly of Springhill Terrace, Rugeley, admitted a charge of attempted murder.
Judge Simon Tonking told him: “You believed she was seeing another man - but they have denied there was any kind of sexual relationship at the time and even if there was, the relationship between you and Miss Pope was over.
“You were jealous of the fact she was seeing another man and it was that which drove you to try to kill her as she lay in bed half asleep.
“Fortunately, her daughter came in to the room and you stopped what you were doing. She believed you were going to kill her and she was going to die.
“This wasn’t a planned attempt to kill Miss Pope. You acted perhaps on the spur of the moment.... hav- ing had your jealousy inflamed by what you had seen and fuelled by alcohol.” Paul Farrow, prosecuting, said the couple’s nine- year relationship had ended last year due to an entirely unrelated issue and although still living in the same house, they were sleeping in separate bed- rooms.
On November 25 the defendant saw Miss Pope get- ting off Mr Cooper’s bus.
The pair were only friends at the time, but have since formed a relationship.
The attack on Miss Pope took place later that evening when she was in bed. As Bradley put his hands round her throat he said: “If I can’t have you, no-one will.” She managed to get his hands away and shout for help, but he again tried to throttle her, until her daughter Amy came in to the room.
In a victim impact statement Miss Pope said it had been “a terrifying experience” and she never wants to see Bradley again.
Lee Masters, defending, said: “He’s never struck a woman before in his life. This was an aberration on his part. He stopped as soon as he was brought to his senses by her daughter.” “His genuine remorse could be seen by the remark he made to Amy in the bedroom: ‘What have I done’.
“Miss Pope can be reassured that my client now accepts that their relationship is over.”
