Murder suspect chokes to death in prison cell

LOUISE JURY

A mother charged with stabbing her husband to death in a furious row over his alleged affair with a neighbour has been found dead in her prison cell.

Claire Bosley, 34, apparently choked to death by stuffing tissues down her throat at Holloway prison, north London, only hours after she appeared in court accused of killing her 42-year-old husband Barry.

He was found in a pool of blood at their three-bedroom home in Tadley, Hampshire, shortly after 6am on Thursday.

Their eight-year-old son, Thomas, was last night being comforted by relatives.

Police were called to the couple's home by a 999 call and had to break the door down to get in. Mrs Bosley, a secretary, was arrested at her parents' house in Thatcham, Berkshire.

She was reported to have plunged a knife into her husband during a fierce argument over his affair with a neighbour. She appeared before Aldershot magistrates on Saturday and was due back in court on 4 December.

A police source claimed Mrs Bosley was furious after finding out that her husband had been having an affair.

Mr Bosley worked at the Atomic Weapons Establishment at Aldermaston, Berks, before being given medical retirement after two kidney transplants seven years ago.

Yesterday, a Hampshire police spokesman said they were not seeking anyone else in connection with his murder.

A post-mortem examination into Mrs Bosley's death will take place today, a Scotland Yard spokesman said. It is believed she committed suicide.

At the Bosley family home, a bunch of chrysanthemums lay on the doormat. Neighbours recalled the couple as private but likeable and could not confirm Mr Bosley was having an affair.

Pearl Loosen, 49, said the deaths added to a history of tragedy which had overcome Sarisbury Close in recent years. "A young chap down the road died when he electrocuted himself, another young chap committed suicide and a woman next door lost her baby with a brain haemorrhage and then lost her husband with Hodgkin's disease. You expect elderly people to die of course, but all these tragic events don't seem normal."

Many neighbours expressed sympathy for Thomas. One said: "You feel so sorry for the little boy. How is the poor little lad going to face his friends at school? My heart goes out to him."

The Rev Martin Nockels, who said prayers for the family at the parish church of St Paul's yesterday, said: "The whole community is saddened by this tragedy."