Wife who beat husband to death with a hammer permitted to inherit his estate: Challen v Challen [2020] EWHC 1330 (Ch) – New Square Chambers

‘On 15 August 2010 Sally Challen beat her husband to death with a hammer, wrapped him in a curtain before washing the dishes and driving home. She was convicted of murder on 23 June 2011 and sentenced to life imprisonment, but last year that conviction was quashed by the Court of Appeal. Before the retrial the Crown accepted a guilty plea to a lesser charge of Manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility, and Mrs Challen was released, having already served her sentence. The Forfeiture rule prevented her inheriting her husband’s estate or taking their joint assets by succession, and in September 2019 she issued proceedings under the Forfeiture Act 1982 for relief.’

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New Square Chambers, June 2020

Source: www.newsquarechambers.co.uk