Wife who attacked her husband with a hammer is entitled to £1.8 million in divorce compensation

A woman set to be convicted of attacking her husband with a hammer is entitled to a £1.8 million payment from her victim as part of her divorce, a court has heard.

Pamela Teasdale, 69, was originally charged with the attempted murder of Daniel Teasdale, 74, but admitted wounding with intent and was due to be sentenced at Sheffield Crown Court on Thursday.

But Judge Jeremy Richardson KC was forced to postpone sentencing in what he described as a “very serious case” because a number of legal issues arose.

The judge was told that the incident on August 21 last year at Burne Farm in Todwick, near Rotherham, in which farmer Teasdale suffered significant injuries, was linked to a series of highly complex and bitter legal disputes over the ownership of a holiday home and the couple’s divorce.

Prosecutor Laura Marshall told Judge Richardson that Mr Teasdale, supported by the couple’s children, is still fighting the terms of the divorce agreement.

Ms Marshall said the current situation was that Mr Teasdale had been ordered to pay his wife £1.8 million, £800,000 of which had already been paid.

Legal costs of more than £1 million

The court concluded that payment of the remaining £1 million was overdue because Mr Teasdale and his family had lodged several appeals against the divorce decree.

The family’s legal battles had already made headlines before Teasdale’s attack on her husband.

Last year it emerged that they had incurred legal costs of over £1 million in a dispute over ownership of a cottage valued at £245,000.

The case went all the way to the Court of Appeal, where Judge Moor said in his judgment: “I must say that this is one of the most regrettable legal disputes I have ever encountered.”

On Thursday, Judge Richardson stressed that he had no intention of intervening in the civil proceedings surrounding the divorce, but noted that “huge sums of money have been spent.”

He said it appeared the family’s “wealth” would be “almost, if not completely, destroyed” by the legal action.

Few details were given in court about the main offence for which Teasdale is to be sentenced.

Ms Marshall said Mr Teasdale was sitting in a chair when he was “hit with a sledgehammer”.

The maximum penalty for the crime of attempted bodily harm is life imprisonment.

Accused of stalking

The judge was unable to sentence Teasdale on Thursday due to legal complications that arose after she was arrested in May on charges of stalking Mr Teasdale while out on bail following the attack.

Her lawyer, Gordon Stables, said she had admitted to stalking in a district court, but now that the full charges against her have been seen, she wants to withdraw that confession and contest the case.

Mr Stables explained that the allegation related to her taking photographs of Mr Teasdale and that the dispute was about whether she was on public or private property at the time.

Judge Richardson said he would rule on the matter at a hearing at Sheffield Crown Court on August 1 and there would be a further case hearing on July 15.

The judge remanded Teasdale in custody, but Mr Stables said he would apply for her release on bail in the coming days.