• Katherine Mary Hughes was sentenced to two years in jail for attempted wounding with intent.
• Her husband, Christopher Hughes, was attacked with a carving knife during a struggle at their home.
• A protection order was issued and she was told not to contact the victim.

A man with advanced Parkinson’s disease woke to find his wife standing at the end of his bed holding a knife.

Katherine Mary Hughes told Christopher Robin Hughes she was going to kill him and then kill herself.

A lengthy struggle between the couple, who had been married for five decades, ensued as Katherine tried to stab her husband, whom she had cared for amid his health battles.

The encounter spilled from Christopher’s bedroom to the living room of their shared Christchurch home, before culminating with Katherine thrusting the knife into her chest.

Christopher received cuts to his hands in the February 1, 2023, struggle, and Katherine spent months recovering in the hospital from the self-inflicted knife wound.

Today, the 69-year-old appeared in the High Court at Christchurch for sentencing in relation to the attack.

Their daughter, Angela Hughes, watched via audio-visual link from Australia as her mother was sentenced.

Angela said, through her victim impact statement read to the court, that Katherine’s offending had torn their family apart.

Katherine had since been cut off by her husband, her three children and four grandchildren.

Angela said the attack had changed her life, causing her to have regular nightmares and lost sleep due to stress.

She had to take time off work and lost her job as a result. She said it took her three months to regain her confidence to find another job.

“My husband and children have had to endure my mood changes. This woman was meant to be a loving wife, but instead she did the absolute opposite,” Angela said in her statement.

“Will she hunt him down when she is released from prison?”

Justice Jonathan Eaton said Christopher was in the advanced stages of Parkinson’s disease when he awoke in the early evening to find Katherine, his sole caregiver, standing over his bed, shaking, telling him she was going to end it for both of them.

She produced the knife and a struggle ensued. Christopher found it difficult to disarm her but he eventually broke free and triggered a St John alarm.

Katherine started swinging a stick vacuum cleaner at him while holding the knife before stabbing herself.

She narrowly missed her heart and was taken to the hospital in critical condition.

Justice Eaton said Katherine denied her husband’s account of events and had told police he was mistaken due to his medical condition.

Police had found notes in their house, penned by her saying Christopher had never loved her, that she could finish it and that they couldn’t do it anymore.

Katherine was initially charged with attempted murder, which she planned to defend at trial.

Justice Eaton said he had heard Christopher’s evidence in advance, due to his deteriorating health.

But Katherine then pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of attempted wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

Justice Eaton said while she had received little support and became isolated over the years, it was clear she was resentful, did not take responsibility for her actions and blamed her husband.

“It could have only left enduring pain for him and your family,” the judge said.

Crown prosecutor Penny Brown said Christopher was highly vulnerable and entirely dependent on his wife for his care.

He should have been safe when he went to bed but Katherine breached that trust, Brown submitted.

She said there was an element of premeditation as there was a background of family harm, including prior threats with a knife.

Defence lawyer Olivia Jarvis said Katherine had spent significant time in custody since the attack and suggested intensive supervision would be beneficial.

Jarvis said her client had not been able to receive treatment while on remand.

Justice Eaton said Katherine’s offending was not motivated by love or compassion.

“Obviously she was stressed, but it wasn’t because of him, it was self-centred.

“This was driven by an underlying sense of animosity to her husband.

“Your motivation was to end your own suffering, you felt highly stressed and felt unsupported, you were exhausted, desperate, you were not acting out of mercy.”

The judge took a starting point of three years and two months’ imprisonment before applying 15% credit for Katherine’s guilty plea, 10% for her previous good character, and 5% for her mental health.

He then sentenced her to two years in prison and imposed a protection order, warning her not to contact the victim.

Al Williams is an Open Justice reporter for the New Zealand Herald, based in Christchurch. He has worked in daily and community titles in New Zealand and overseas for the last 16 years. Most recently he was editor of the HC Post, based in Whangamatā. He was previously deputy editor of Cook Islands News.