Sheffield woman, 85, who ‘tragically’ stabbed husband to death found dead at her home

Marjorie Grayson, aged 85, was pronounced dead at her home on Orgreave Lane, Handsworth, on Thursday, September 3 after emergency services were called to the property.

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She had been allowed to return to the semi-detached home she had shared with her husband of nearly 60 years, Alan, after she was sentenced for killing him.

Mrs Grayson, a retired office administrator, appeared at Sheffield Crown Court in June 2019 over the death of her husband, who she stabbed to death during a ‘trivial disagreement’.

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It emerged that Mrs Grayson was suffering from a rare form of dementia at the time and the couple had been ‘happily married’.

She told detectives she had ‘snapped’ and ‘felt like a different person’ as she stabbed Mr Grayson in his chest and back.

She was diagnosed with a rare condition known as behavioural variant-frontotemporal dementia, which the court heard had affected her ability to inhibit her impulses on the day of the ‘inexplicable’ attack.

Mrs Grayson was initially charged with murder but pleaded guilty to the lesser offence of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

She was sentenced to a hospital order under the Mental Health Act, and was treated at a specialist facility until she was considered well enough to be discharged and cared for in the community.

Sentencing her, Mr Justice Matthew Nicklin described the case as ‘tragic’ and said the nine months Mrs Grayson had spent in custody waiting to be sentenced were ‘sufficient punishment’ for the crime.

Mrs Grayson’s barrister for the case, Julia Smart QC, told the court she had been an ‘exemplary’ mother and grandmother, and it was clear she had acted ‘out of character’ when she stabbed her husband.

She described the pensioner as a ‘kind, caring and extremely selfless’ woman who had never previously displayed any form of aggression.

An inquest into Mrs Grayson’s was opened in today.

It was adjourned for further enquiries to be carried out ahead of a full hearing at a later date.

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