Chaos as trial of ‘loving’ wife accused of murdering husband, 84, collapses

The trial of a wife charged with the murder of her 84-year-old husband has collapsed after the jury failed to reach a consensus. Daryl Berman, 71, stood accused of stabbing David Berman to death at their home in Prestwich, Greater Manchester. The prosecution alleged she stabbed him in the chest “for a reason known only to her”, but she pleaded not guilty and called it the “most horrendous accident”.

She suggested her husband must have fallen onto a “vegetable knife” while carrying her dinner tray into the kitchen. A jury of five men and five women at Minshull Street Crown Court were unable to reach a verdict after more than seven hours of deliberation following an eight-day trial. Two jurors had been discharged earlier in the case due to illness.

Judge Tina Landale dismissed the jury and granted the prosecution time to decide whether they will pursue a re-trial.

The court heard that Mr Berman’s death was initially treated as an accident by the police after Mrs Berman dialled 999 at 1.55pm on March 13, reporting her husband’s injury. He was declared dead at their home at 2.39pm.

Mr Brady said it was only later that a senior pathologist was brought in, after another doctor had expressed concern over the nature of the injury.

Home Office pathologist Dr Philip Lumb determined the stab wound bore “typical features of a homicide”, maintaining that whilst not impossible, an accidental fall was “very unlikely to have caused the fatal wound”.

Mr Berman was discovered with an additional wound to his finger, which prosecutors suggested may have occurred whilst attempting to defend himself.

The jury learned the couple’s 27-year marriage had been “loving and mutually supportive”, with no history of domestic violence or police involvement. Mrs Berman was characterised as a “very supportive and loving wife”.

Taking the stand for the first time in her defence, Mrs Berman was questioned about whether she had been involved in her husband’s death “in any way”. She responded: “Absolutely not.”

Regarding their marriage, she remarked: “I loved him. I just wanted to look after him and care for him.”

A subsequent hearing in the case is yet to be scheduled.