Every third day, in our #EveryThreeDays campaign, I write about a woman killed by a man. Previously in this campaign, which started on May 2nd 2021, I have remembered 124 women, the last being Vanessa James.
Today we remember Frances Cleary Senior who was murdered by her husband.
The Oldham Evening Chronicle reported in September 2015:
A man who stabbed his wife in the chest and heart after drinking “barrel loads” of alcohol has been found guilty of her murder.
Frances Cleary-Senior’s family cried as a jury at Manchester Crown Court swiftly returned a unanimous verdict on her husband Graham (56) of Alt Avenue, under the “most powerful evidence”.
Frances (49) returned home from work [in March of this year] not knowing where her husband was, and when he arrived a row erupted over his alcoholism and their £27,000 debt. He grabbed a kitchen knife and after goading his wife, stabbed her once in the chest, left the knife there and handed her a towel. Frances was left to call emergency services herself while her husband slept drunkenly in a chair. While she recovered after emergency surgery, she developed complications in hospital and died almost a month after the stabbing.
A family statement after the verdict said: “Frances’s family and friends are sad and devastated at the loss of their friend and sister. Her 90-year-old mum was inconsolable when she discovered her daughter was dead.” After his arrest, Cleary-Senior was placed in a police car and launched a tirade of abuse at the officers. He told police she had wound him up.
His solicitor told the court: “He doesn’t underestimate the agony he has caused her friends and family. His sorrow for what he has done is real and he now sees the consequences through clear eyes.”
A few days later the BBC also reported on the sentencing of Graham Cleary-Senior saying.
A man who stabbed his wife in the chest before telling police she had “pushed him to it” has been jailed for life for her murder.
Cleary-Senior, 65, was told he would serve a minimum of 15 years by a judge at Manchester Crown Court. Greater Manchester Police said he had contacted the police himself. Investigating officer Duncan Thorpe said: “This was a horrific attack that Graham Cleary-Senior subjected his wife to.
“Upon being arrested, he showed absolutely no remorse for the callous murder of his wife, saying that she pushed him to it. I hope that the rest of the family can now try to move on from what has happened and start to rebuild their lives after their traumatic loss.”
Frances Cleary-Senior
#EveryThreeDays
