Husband of university lecturer found guilty of her attempted murder

On January 3rd of this year, Cambridge Crown Court heard that Dr Marian Bond, an Animal and Environmental Biology lecturer at Anglia Ruskin University, had been attacked by her husband Paul with a lump hammer in July, which left her with a fractured jaw and skull. 

Paul Bond, 62, admitted to the attack of his wife, also 62, to whom he has been married for more than 30 years, on the phone to the 999 emergency call handler. He was later found by police officers at his property with blood over his “hands, cheek, chest and dressing gown” The Sun has reported.

The court also heard that Paul Bond had been suffering from depression at the time of the attack, and has been detained indefinitely under the Mental Health Act. He was told on January 10th that he “may never be released”, according to the Daily Mail, and will only be permitted to leave when it is deemed safe by a mental health tribunal.

Paul Bond, 62

Although Bond did not personally defend himself over the course of the week-long trial, Judge David Farrell QC said that, due to Bond’s psychiatrist agreeing that he had been “depressed, agitated and had self-harmed”, a custodial sentence was considered inappropriate and he was instead given a hospital order.

During the sentence, it was revealed without doubt that Bond, allegedly plagued by fears that wife Marian would leave him, had “undoubtedly intended” to kill her and had struck her with the hammer up to five times. The jury heard that Dr Bond was placed in an induced coma due to the attack, and will be scarred for life as a result.

The lecturer was from ARU

Despite this, Dr Bond has stated that she hopes her husband shall one day be released from his hospital order so the two can resume their lives together. Speaking to the Mail, she said that the couple had been “loving and devoted partners since 1982” and that she “can only conclude” the actions of her husband were down to his depression.

Ultimately, Dr Bond agreed with the court ruling, saying “I have always felt that hospital treatment over a prison sentence would be the best thing for Paul, myself and society.”