'Fatal scissor throw took a split second' says accused

A WOMAN accused of murdering her fourth husband after he refused to help tidy up repeatedly changed her story about how he was fatally wounded with a pair of dress-making scissors, a court has heard.

Mother-of-five Sandra Clinch, 49, tried to "step back from the responsibility of what happened" after her husband Alan Clinch collapsed in his home after suffering a stab wound four to five inches into his chest.

Clinch, who has a history of violence against former partners and her own children, told Truro Crown Court she had been clearing the table ahead of two guests' arrival at the Clinch's cottage in Darite, Liskeard, on May 13 this year when she became angry at her husband and began throwing items.

She told police she was unaware of her husband's close proximity to her, and assumed he must have been in her line of fire.

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But under cross-examination in court, Clinch was accused of having changed her story repeatedly when talking to police, including altering her demonstrations of how she said she threw the scissors.

Paul Dunkels QC, prosecuting, said Clinch did not throw the scissors, but had stabbed her husband of nearly three years as she lost her temper.

He said, after Clinch showed the jury how she thought she had thrown the scissors on that fatal morning six months ago: "You're searching for the acceptable demonstration of a throw.

"But as you didn't throw the scissors, you have no set picture in your head. That's why your demonstration (to police and in court) wobbles and varies so much. You settle, finally, for an underarm throw. Was that your preferred version of events?"

Clinch, giving evidence on the fourth day in her trial, replied: "I'm just not 100 per cent sure how I picked them (the scissors) up. It happened in a split second. I don't think they left my hands."

The court heard earlier this week how experts believed severe force would have been required for the blades to pierce two layers of 48-year-old Mr Clinch's clothing before imbedding so deeply into his chest. The trial continues.