Man guilty of partner's killing

A man has been convicted of beating his partner to death after subjecting her to years of violent abuse.

Mother-of-three Carol Chambers, 48, of Simpson Road, West Auckland, was found unconscious at the home of John Bickford, 60, in July last year.

She died later of head injuries in Darlington Memorial Hospital.

Bickford had denied manslaughter but was convicted by a unanimous verdict at Teesside Crown Court. He will sentenced on 4 March.

'Challenging' case

The trial had heard how Ms Chambers was regularly beaten up by Bickford and often left covered in bruises.

Xanthe Tait, head of south Durham Crown Prosecution Service, said: "This was a challenging and demanding case for the team of lawyers to prosecute.

"The outcome has brought justice for Carol Chambers who died after suffering repeated incidents of domestic violence.

"The very nature of domestic violence means that it is often perpetrated behind closed doors and because of the emotional and psychological impact of it, as well as physical impact, it can be difficult to prosecute offenders.

"Often the only witness is the victim. The CPS regard domestic violence as particularly serious and in this case it resulted in death."

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