A woman in her sixties has been charged with murder after her husband was shot twice in the chest with a shotgun while he lay in bed.

Helen Lawson, a clay pigeon shooting enthusiast, is alleged to have got up in the early hours of Sunday and taken her gun and ammunition from locked cabinets before shooting her husband, Geoffrey, at their cottage on the Isle of Wight.

Mrs Lawson, 61, then called the police to her home, the former post office in the village of Wellow, and admitted what she had done, saying that she had suffered years of verbal and physical abuse, the local magistrates’ court was told.

Police officers and ambulance crew found his body just after 3.32am.

Mrs Lawson spoke only to confirm her name, age and address during a five-minute hearing at the Isle of Wight Magistrates’ Court yesterday. She was remanded in custody and will appear at Winchester Crown Court in April.

Roger Merry, Mrs Lawson’s solicitor, said that the couple, who both had children from previous marriages, had moved to the Isle of Wight to start a new life.

He said that close friends and family knew about alleged abuse that she had suffered at the hands of her husband. He said that Mrs Lawson was now feeling “an element of numbness – the reality of what she has done has not kicked in yet”.

He added that Mrs Lawson had cooperated fully with police.

The couple were well known in the village. Joanna Minchin, who lives near by, said that she had been woken in the early hours of Sunday by police sirens.

Mrs Minchin said that she also knew the Lawsons through the Wellow Literary Institute and believed that they were married about five years ago.

“I always saw Mrs Lawson serving out the coffee at the coffee mornings and Mr Lawson recently helped me clean up after a children’s Christmas party,” she said.

“They both seemed like very good people, real stalwarts, and it’s very sad that this has happened.”

Another woman neighbour said: “Helen is a really lovely lady who would never cause anyone any trouble but her husband could be a difficult man.

“It’s a terrible shock that something so drastic has happened.”

A friend at the Wellow Literary Institute, who did not want to be named, said: “They have lived in Wellow for about three or four years and have played a very active role in the community. The man was a member of the institute committee and carried out our repairs and printed fliers advertising our events.

“She [Mrs Lawson] loves art and is always on hand to help out with any activities we put on here. His death is a terrible shock to all of us here.”

A spokesman for Hampshire police, who are leading the murder investigation, said: “At shortly after 3.30am on Sunday, January 4, police were called to an address in Yarmouth, Isle of Wight, where the body of a man was found. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

“Formal identification of the body is due to take place this week. Next of kin and the Isle of Wight Coroner have been informed.

“A postmortem examination is being arranged and will take place in due course.”

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