A devoted husband whose wife has been convicted of trying to murder him said today: 'I still love her and always will'.
Christine
Houston, 66, used a cravat to throttle her disabled partner Stewart,
56, and only failed to kill him because a Sainsbury's driver arrived to
deliver their weekly shop.
Afterwards she told police she 'didn't have a
gun and didn't like knives so strangling was all she could think of', Newcastle Crown Court heard.
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Heartbroken: Stewart Houston was strangled by
his mentally-ill wife Christine at home but he says he will always love
her and she should never be blamed for what happened to him
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Happier time: Mr and Mrs Houston have been
married for 28 years - pictured in 2010 - but her conviction for
attempted murder, which he never supported, means that she will never be
allowed home again
But Mr Houston said
today his full-time carer wife was 'failed' by the NHS who released her
from a secure unit on two separate occasions despite her telling staff
she wanted to 'suffocate him'.
'They kept this from me and sent her home to care for me 24 hours a day. She was failed by them.
There is no chance she should have come home,' he told MailOnline.
Mrs
Houston has admitted attempted murder and yesterday was told at
Newcastle Crown Court she would be detained indefinitely in a mental
hospital.
The heartbroken
couple, who are still 'devoted' to each other, shared a hug afterwards
before she was taken away to custody. They will never be allowed to be
together without supervision.
Mr Houston said: 'She is a loving, caring person. She is as gentle as a lamb.
‘I still love her and always will. She has cared for me selflessly for many years and made huge sacrifices in her life.
‘She
was badly let down by people who should have cared for her. I believe
that none of this would ever have happened had she been kept in.
‘We speak on the phone four to five times a day and I see her around four times a week.
‘It
is sad because she will never be allowed to come home again and we will
never be able to spend time together without supervision’.
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Attempted murder: Christine Houston, left, was
interrupted while trying to murder her husband Stewart, right, both outside court, by the
arrival of a shopping delivery. Mr Houston says she
shouldn't have been prosecuted
Mr Houston, who suffers from muscular
dystrophy and is wheelchair bound, was left with blood spotting behind
his eyes and marks to his neck as a result of her attack on May 26 last year.
The attack only stopped when a Sainsbury's shopping delivery arrived and interrupted them.
But he says she should never have been prosecuted for trying to kill him.
'I was sitting in my wheelchair when Christine came up from behind me and put the cravat round my neck,' Mr Houston said.
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Bereft: Mr Houston has described how his wife
Christine came from behind and throttled him with his cravat having
repeatedly told professionals she wanted to harm him
‘It went on for at least ten
minutes or more. She did not say anything at all during it. When I could
I asked her to stop. I was very scared.
‘It
was a terrible situation to be in. I did not want my life to end. But I
was also scared for Christine because if she managed to kill me I
thought one day she would realise what she had done and try to harm
herself.
‘Then the food delivery arrived and she stopped, shut the
door and took in the food. He knew nothing about it at all. She came back and it was as if nothing had happened’.
Shortly
after taking him to the toilet she called the police. She told them: ‘I
have tried to kill my husband and I am a horrible person’.
Mr
Houston blames the NHS for what happened, claiming the people who cared
for her in a County Durham knew she wanted to hurt him and failed to
tell him each time she was released.
He
also says that social services failed to offer him enough care, meaning
his unwell wife was expected to look after him round the clock despite
having severe mental health problems.
Mrs Houston has bipolar and 'psychotic episodes' meaning she can have hallucinations.
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Wedding day: Stewart and Christine met in 1984
and then married in September 1985. But as his health deteriorated his
pharmacist wife was forced to give up work and care for him full time
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Troubled: Mrs Houston had suffered from mental
health problems from her early twenties but 'psychotic' episodes she
suffered became worse in recent years, leading to her being taken into
hospital on several occasions (pictured in 2004)
The couple, who are devout Christians, have been married for 28 years and met through church in Chester-le-Street.
‘I still love her and always will. She has cared for me selflessly for many years and made huge sacrifices in her life. She was badly let down by people who
should have cared for her. I believe that none of this would ever have
happened had she been kept in'
- Stewart Houston, whose wife Christine tried to kill him
Mr Houston says the authorities maintained she was not a risk because she had not made any 'direct threat to kill', he claims.
Mr
Houston said days before she strangled him: ‘she wrapped a pipe round
my neck for three seconds and told me: "You realise how bad I am" but
then she stopped'.
The attempted murder has been linked
to 'carer's fatigue', where a person snaps through the pressures of
looking after a loved one.
Christine's husband says she was put under incredible pressure to look after him.
He
said after she tried to kill him he was left to look after himself from
1pm to 10pm each day, and social workers would leave glasses of water
around the house with long straws in them so he could stay hydrated.
Mr
Houston then spent three months in hospital after failing to care for
himself. It was only in November 2012 when he was given a 24-hour help
at home.
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Tragic: Mr Houston's wife was taken away from
their County Durham home by police in May 2012 and told them: 'I tried
to kill him, I wanted him dead'
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Contact: The couple will never be able to spend time alone again and they speak on the phone at least five times a day
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Sentencing: Mrs Houston was told yesterday she
would be detained indefinitely in a mental hospital at Newcastle Crown
Court yesterday
A spokesperson for Tees, Esk and Wear
Valleys NHS Foundation Trust, said: 'We appreciate how distressing this
must be and we are sorry that Mr Houston has concerns about his wife’s
care. We would encourage him to get in touch with us so we can look
into his concerns.'
Lesley
Jeavons, head of adult care with Durham County Council, said: 'We will
not go into detail about individual cases but can confirm we have not
received any complaints from Mr Houston about the care package he
receives. We will be contacting him to find out the details of his
complaint and how he wishes to resolve matters. We take all complaints
very seriously'.
Mr Houston
has said he he hopes to launch legal action against both authorities and
the county council because he blames them for what has happened to his
wife.
'I am not able to get legal aid and do not have much money so fear I may not be able to', Mr Houston said.
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