Michael Thompson, 56, has been sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 33 years for the rape and murder of his estranged wife, Kimberley Thompson, at their Northampton home. The sentence was handed down at Nottingham Crown Court after a jury unanimously found him guilty of rape, murder, and two counts of perverting the course of justice.
Details of the Crime
The court heard that Thompson, of Pinewood Road, Northampton, subjected Kimberley to years of domestic abuse, including controlling and coercive behaviour and physical violence. He made hundreds of hours of recordings of her before suffocating her in the early hours of 9 August last year. Thompson attempted to stage the scene to suggest she had taken her own life, but a post-mortem examination revealed no alcohol in her system and only minimal levels of caffeine, paracetamol, and codeine.
Trial and Sentencing
Thompson did not attend court for sentencing; his defence barrister, Jonas Hankin KC, informed the judge he was voluntarily absent. During the seven-week trial, Thompson maintained that he and his wife had consensual sex before he found her unresponsive surrounded by tablets and alcohol bottles. However, the evidence contradicted this claim.
Judge Nirmal Shant KC remarked: "You have shown no remorse. Throughout the course of the trial you sat in the dock shaking your head and making audible noises of dissent. And in the ultimate act of cowardice and contempt, you have refused to come into court to hear from the family of the grief you have caused." The judge ordered that a bundle of victim impact statements and her sentencing remarks be delivered to Thompson so he could "read of the devastation you have wreaked."
Victim Impact
Kimberley and Michael Thompson had been married for 19 years and had two children together. They were separated and divorce proceedings were ongoing at the time of her death. Kimberley's daughter, Athena, appeared via video-link from the US and described her father as a "jealous, conniving, narcissistic villain." She said: "How could you do such an evil, selfish, malicious thing? How could you murder the mother of your own children? You couldn't stand the fact she had so many people who cared about her."
Athena added: "No amount of years rotting in prison will ever amount to what you deserve, because you deserve no life. You are a pathetic, unloved man. The day you killed my mother, you killed me too. I feel I will never be happy again. I have no respect for you, I have no love for you. You were meant to be my dad, how could you do this to your daughter? A dad is supposed to protect their daughter from pain, instead you caused the worst pain of my life. I will not let you defeat me, I will show up for her, my mum, and I will continue to make her proud."
At least six of the 11 jurors who returned to observe the sentencing wiped away tears during Athena's statement.
