Man sentenced for killing game-obsessed partner

A man who fatally stabbed his partner after an argument about her heavy use of a Playstation was sentenced today to at least 14 years in prison.

Malcolm Palmer pleaded guilty to the murder of Carol Cannom in front of the couple's 10-year-old son on 18 November last year at their home in Long Sutton in northern England.

Cannom suffered at least 30 knife wounds, and their son was slightly injured while trying to pull his father away during the attack.

Judge Michael Heath in Lincoln Crown Court sentenced Palmer to life in prison, with a minimum term of 14 years.

During the trial, the judge said Palmer believed the couple's relationship had deteriorated because of Cannom's devotion to the Playstation electronic games system. She would stay up as late as 5am playing games on a big-screen television in a warm bedroom while Palmer was exiled to an unheated conservatory, Heath said.

Palmer, who has three children with his partner, believed she was having an affair after reading text messages on her mobile phone.

The couple's daughter, Claire Scott, 26, said outside the court that because her parents had paid off their mortgage and didn't need to work, "they had a lot of time on their hands and little chance to get away from each other."

She described her mother as a lonely woman who wasn't having an affair, but simply sent a few text messages.

"Playing on the Playstation a lot ... was just a release, a bit of escapism, neither of them were happy by that time," Scott added.

"For me this conviction is not easy. I've lost both my parents now. My head tells me that justice has to be done and dad deserves to go to prison, my heart just worries about him and misses him.

"I think about him lying in his cell, alone," she said.