Police officer who battered his wife to death for refusing sex jailed for life

PC Adrian Goldsmith was jailed for life on February 1 at Stafford Crown Court after he was found guilty of killing his wife.

Goldsmith, 50, beat wife Jill, 49, with a mallet, paint pot and heavy battery then stabbed himself to make it look like self-defence. He tried to trick colleagues and a jury into thinking she had attacked him first at their home close to Northants Police headquarters.

 

Goldsmith also known as Otis, was arrested after his wife was found dead in March last year. The lying policeman even made out Mrs Goldsmith had “self-harmed” in the moments before her death.

But a jury at Stafford Crown Court dismissed his fantasy defence and found him guilty of murder. Judge Paul Glenn who delivered the sentence said he must spend at least 15 years behind bars before he can be considered for parole.

The officer, who has been dismissed from the force, showed no emotion as he was sentenced.

"You set about establishing a defence in an attempt to avoid the consequences of your actions. You lied repeatedly to the police, to the doctors who were treating you and to the prison chaplain some weeks later when you were on remand. You had caused injuries to yourself to enable the defence you ran at your trial to get off the ground."

Judge Glenn rejected Goldsmith’s claims that his wife had become violent and aggressive shortly before she died.

"Jill Goldsmith was a mother, a daughter and a friend of many. No sentence the court can impose can even begin to compensate for the loss and anguish the family are feeling. The nature of this attack was such that your victim would inevitably have suffered physically before she died. There were multiple blows, predominantly to the head. She must have been in terror as she fought for her life, as I am satisfied she did."

Goldsmith, also known as Otis, was a serving officer at the time of the offence and had 28 years of service and a number of commendations. The officer, of Wootton Hall Park, Northampton, denied murder. According to the prosecutor, John Lloyd-Jones, QC:

"Jill was undergoing the menopause and the reduction in her sex drive annoyed and frustrated the defendant."

The victim’s heartbroken son Charlie Bailey said in an impact statement that his mother’s death means "there is a massive part of me missing"