In January, a 63-year-old woman walked into a police station in Stockport, England, and announced that she had killed her father 12 years earlier, burying his body in their garden not far from her bedroom.
Though she seemed notably stoic, the woman, Barbara Coombes, would later detail how dad Kenneth Coombes, 87, had abused her physically and sexually for decades, dating back to when she was 5 years old,according to theGuardian.
Barbara described herself as like her father’s “sex slave,” the newspaper reports, and said the abuse included hundreds of rapes and frequent molestation. Her life was a barren one, she said, devoid of friends, hobbies or a job.
Greater Manchester Police
Barbara had been gardening that day and it was her spade that she used to fatally strike Kenneth, according to Greater Manchester police — first in the back of his head and then again when he turned around.
A “black cloud appeared over me,” Barbara later recalled, theGuardianreports. She said she was “utterly disgusted and mortified” as she went to confront her dad,according to the BBC.
Afterward, she hid his body in a rug, buried it in their garden and removed his belongings from the residence, police said.
To their relatives, she explained that Kenneth had died and been cremated, police said, but she “concealed” his death from the government and over the years received more than 180,000 pounds, or $230,000, in various benefits.
Still, public officials eventually “insisted” on meeting with Kenneth in January. Then, a day before that planned appointment, Barbara confessed what happened to police.
Joel Goodman/LNP/REX/Shutterstock
The BBC reports that prosecutors said there was evidence supporting Barbara’s account of her torturous life with her dad — which she reportedly revealed months into her stay in police custody, during her fourth psychiatric interview.
The judge in her case found similarly, describing what she endured as “40 years of extreme mental, physical and sexual abuse at the hands of your father,” and he said she lacked self-control and rational judgment, according to theGuardian. But he rejected that she killed Kenneth in self-defense.
Law enforcement took a harsher tone about the crime.
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“Despite having years to tell someone what really happened, she only came forward when she had no other choice,” Thorpe said. “The impact on the family and friends of all concerned cannot be underestimated. As these tragic events have come to an end I hope that the family can now move forward with their lives.”
Barbara’s daughter, however, said in court that she would support her despite her anguish, according to theGuardian. “I hope when this is done we can repair our relationship to something approaching normal,” she said, in part.
“This has to be one of the most tragic cases to come to the courts,” said Heslop, Barbara’s attorney,according to theManchester Evening News.
Of her nine-year prison term, the judge said: “Some may think that wholly inadequate, others might say it’s far too much given the history of abuse. I have no doubt in the round it is an appropriate sentence.”
A message left with Barbara’s attorney was not immediately returned on Wednesday.
source: people.com
