Woman may have reacted aggressively to husband's 'coercive and controlling' behaviour, court hears

A woman accused of murdering her husband may have reacted to his "coercive and controlling" behaviour by becoming confrontational and aggressive herself, a court has heard.

Christine Rawle, 70, is on trial for allegedly stabbing Ian Rawle in the back with a large knife at their north Devon home in 2022.

As the trial at Exeter Crown Court entered its third week, jurors heard from Dr Georgina Clifford, a clinical psychologist specialising in trauma.

Dr Clifford assessed Mrs Rawle and diagnosed her with complex post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

"If someone is traumatised, often they are more sensitive to threat, thinking the world is going to end, thinking they are going to be hurt by others," Dr Clifford said.

Asked about how people usually react to coercive and controlling behaviour by a partner, Dr Clifford said: "Some people don't stand up for themselves. I didn't get that impression (with Christine Rawle).

"I believe someone can be traumatised and still behave in ways that are very confrontational and aggressive.

"You see that more typically in men, men who have come back from the war, or police officers, trauma builds up in their body and they become disregulated.'

The court has heard that Mrs Rawle would frequently use derogatory or offensive names about her husband. Several text messages have been read out in which she calls him *d***" or "d***head".

Dr Clifford said: "It's very difficult to provide a psychological opinion on text messages.

"Lots of people say different things, it's very difficult to use that as evidence. I think it certainly suggests she was very unhappy and very upset at that moment. It doesn't suggest she likes him very much."

Prosecutor Sean Brunton KC asked: "The fact that this defendant repeatedly, over many years, referred to her husband as d***head, doesn't suggest she was overly scared of him, does it?"

Dr Clifford said: "I don't think those things are necessarily mutually exclusive. Someone can control you, but you can still say unpleasant things about them.

"They are one part of the evidence you use to make a judgement. In every case you have people with one side of the story and people with other sides of the story."

Jurors heard that Mrs Rawle once sent a message to her son, several years before the incident, saying: "I had a hard life, was ill a lot and developed a nasty temper, which you've seen lots of times...I've made a lot of people's lives hell, i've made them feel inadequate."

Dr Clifford said the messages seemed "unfocused" and "all over the place".

Christine Rawle denies murder and the trial continues.