Life in jail for man who murdered his wife

Stuart Gallear, 51, claimed he did not intend to kill wife Mandy, 42 – who worked as an accountant in Chorley.

He said he momentarily lost his self-control when her stabbed her in the kitchen of their home in Hindley, Wigan.

Last week a jury at Manchester Crown Court rejected his account and unanimously found him guilty of murder.

Sentencing him yesterday to life imprisonment, Mr Justice Openshaw said Gallear “gave way to self-indulgence, verging on self-pity” as he faced the break-up of his marriage and his family.

Police arrived at the couple’s home in Makinson Avenue within 10 minutes of the defendant ringing for an ambulance and found the mother of two lying motionless on the kitchen floor with three deep wounds to her chest.

Mrs Gallear, head of accounts at property firm Heaton Estates, was rushed to hospital but medics could not resuscitate her and she was pronounced dead.

Six months earlier, Mrs Gallear confessed to her husband, a warehouse manager, about having an affair, but denied it was with joiner Mark Prescott and said it had ended.

However, on October 5 the son of Mr Prescott’s partner called at the Gallears’ front door and revealed the relationship was ongoing.