Strange, Sad And Yet…

I’ve been waiting for this trial to conclude, because it was such a bizarre incident, and more so when what few details the newspapers could print about the perpetrator and victims became available.

I was pinning my bet on a long-simmering feud, or a ‘Midsomer Murders’-esque backstory of covered-up mental illness.

But no. The answer – if it really was the answer – was far more prosaic:

A former school bursar who attacked an elderly couple on their doorstep was today jailed for eight years.

I wonder how many she'll serve?

James and Sheila’s son Julian, speaking after Spanswick was jailed, said: “The Rose Spanswick that stood in court today will be unrecognisable to those who would claim to know her.

“Hubris and the desperate need to keep up appearances, to avoid losing face and to maintain social status prevented her from asking for help to alleviate her worsening financial situation.

“It led her instead to try and cover up her plight by committing crimes so calculated and brutal that they could have ended the lives of two innocent and decent people - people that at any other time she would have described as friends.”

How very strange and yet, quintessentially British, somehow.

And I’m afraid I was unable to prevent a wry smile from coming to my lips when I read the ‘Daily Mail’ account:

When Spanswick barged in, wearing latex gloves and concealing the knife in a Marks and Spencer bag…

Well, of course! What else would one use?