Pensioner to be sentenced for shooting dead wife at care home

A pensioner who shot his wife dead at a care home is expected to be sentenced after the initial hearing was delayed.

Ronald King, 87, killed his wife of 50 years Rita King, 81, and has admitted her manslaughter.

He was due to be sentenced at Chelmsford Crown Court on Monday, but this was delayed until Wednesday as reports on the defendant were not ready.

A spokesman for Essex Police said officers had been advised that sentencing was set to take place at a room in the new magistrates' court complex.

It is understood that this is due to accessibility issues in the main crown court building, as King has limited mobility.

King, of Cedar Close, Walton-on-the-Naze, Essex, denied murder at an earlier hearing but pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility or by survivor of a suicide pact.

King shot his wife in the communal television room of De La Mer House in Naze Park Road, Walton-on-the-Naze, on December 28 2015.

He is due to be sentenced by Judge Charles Gratwicke.

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