Queen v Sarah Louise King
| Jurisdiction | Northern Ireland |
| Judge | Hart J |
| Judgment Date | 2009 |
| Neutral Citation | [2009] NICC 17 |
| Date | 26 February 2009 |
| Court | Crown Court (Northern Ireland) |
1
Neutral Citation No.: [2009] NICC 17 Ref:
HAR7383
Judgment: approved by the Court for handing down Delivered:
26/2/2009
(subject to editorial corrections)*
IN THE CROWN COURT IN NORTHERN IRELAND
_______
BELFAST CROWN COURT
_______
THE QUEEN
-v-
SARAH LOUISE KING
_______
HART J
[1] The defendant has pleaded guilty to the attempted murder of Darren
Couser on 6 June 2007. When arraigned on 18 April 2008 she pleaded not
guilty to attempted murder and to a further count of malicious wounding
with intent, contrary to s. 18 of the Offences Against The Person Act 1861.
However, on the morning of her trial on 19 January 2009 she asked to be re-
arraigned and pleaded guilty to the charge of attempted murder, and the
charge contrary to s. 18 of the Offences Against The Person Act was ordered
to lie on the file, not to be proceeded with without leave of the Crown Court
or the Court of Appeal.
[2] The defendant and Darren Couser met over the internet. She lived in
England and came to Northern Ireland to live with him at 10 Ards Drive,
Monkstown. He worked as a hotel porter at the time but the defendant did
not work, and it appears that the relationship between them became tense and
there were a number of arguments. On the afternoon of Wednesday 6 June
2007 there was another argument about the defendant not working, and Mr
Couser eventually went to his bedroom where he lay down on the bed. The
defendant followed him into the bedroom and the argument continued. He
described how he tried to push past her, whereupon she pushed him back
onto the bed. I should say that although the defendant is not very tall she is
very heavily built and appears to be a powerful woman. She then grabbed a
nearby tie, wrapped both ends of the tie around both hands, and pushed the
tie down hard across Mr Couser’s neck and he passed out. When he came
round he found that he was only wearing his boxer shorts although he had
been wearing jeans and a shirt when he lay down on the bed. Shortly
afterwards he opened the door to find police and ambulance personnel at the
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