A PSYCHIATRIST has argued that a man accused of murdering his wife at their home in Pontypool may not have been suffering from depression at the time.
David Maggs, 71, is on trial at Cardiff Crown Court, accused of murdering his wife Linda, 74, at their Sevastopol home in February last year.
The defendant denies his murder, but pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility, specifically because he was suffering from depression at the time.
Sarah Jones, advocate, questioned expert witness and psychiatrist Dr. Thomas Wynne, who evaluated Mr. Maggs and researched his medical history, for a second day.
Ms. Jones told the court that the most recent International Classification of Diseases guidance described single-episode depressive disorder as characterized by a period of depressed mood or decreased interest in activities.
“Given what we’ve been through, are you seriously saying that, in your opinion, it’s at least not clear that Mr. Maggs experienced a single episode of depressive disorder?” he asked the witness.
“Do you have a depressed mood? The evidence of [the defendant’s sister] the day before does not suggest it,” said Dr. Wynne.
“Was he enjoying the activity? He said he was enjoying a Netflix series.
“It is not definitive that he was depressed. We don’t think we have enough information.
“I don’t deny that he was down at the beginning of the year, in 2020, but we don’t know at the time. [of the offence].
“I don’t deny that it’s a possibility, but we can’t be sure.”
Mrs. Jones asked: “For a man who has never been in trouble with the police before, quite the opposite, to talk about stabbing his wife, doesn’t that suggest a substantial impediment?”
“I was not convinced there was an impairment due to a mental disorder on the day of the crime,” said Dr. Wynne.
Ms. Jones asked if Mr. Maggs’ divorce, during which he and his wife lived in the house but did not speak to each other and slept in separate rooms, as well as the pandemic and Mr. Maggs’ previous mental health issues, they would take Dr. Wynne sectioning him the moment he killed his wife.
“It depends on your symptoms at the time,” Dr. Wynne said.
Prosecutor Dean Pulling said that Maggs’ sister was “involved with him every day” and that the night before he murdered his wife, she had reported that he had been enjoying a “feel-good movie”.
“Would you have sectioned it?” he asked Dr. Wynne.
“There was no evidence,” Dr. Wynne said.
Mr Pulling described how Mr Maggs’ sister had spent the day with him, and he had gone for his Covid vaccine and they had gone shopping. She had described him as “lively” the night before Mrs. Maggs died.
The trial before Judge Michael Fitton QC continues.
