CANNABIS USER MURDERED LOVER

A cannabis user said to have developed a personality disorder from constant
use of the drug killed his partner when she threatened to leave, a court
heard. Phillip Caswell, 31, was jailed for life after pleading guilty to
murdering his 22-year-old common-law wife, Stephanie Hancock.

Winchester Crown Court heard how Caswell strangled and stabbed Ms Hancock at
their home in Gosport, Hampshire.

Nick Atkinson QC, for Caswell, said he had smoked an-ounce-and-a-half of
cannabis every week since he was 17 and had suffered psychological problems
as a result.

Mr Atkinson said: "Mr Caswell is an inadequate, unhappy person who has never
been assisted through his life by the abuse of drugs, which has continued to
maintain him in an unreal cloud of existence.

"He still dreams of Stephanie and he is very easily reduced to tears."

The court was told how the eight-year relationship between Caswell and Ms
Hancock had deteriorated in the months before her death in July, 2002.

A week before the murder, Caswell told a friend that he would rather kill
her than lose her.

Post mortem

He later strangled Ms Hancock with a piece of cord and stabbed her four
times in the back with a kitchen knife at their home in Pegasus Close.

Mr Atkinson said: "There is no doubt he has a cannabis-related disorder and
suffers from an anti-social personality disorder."

Caswell also pleaded guilty to a charge of assault causing grievous bodily
harm against a five-year-old boy and was sentenced to a five-year prison
sentence to run concurrently.

A verdict of not guilty was recorded for attempted murder of the boy after
Caswell denied the charge.

A further charge of attempted murder against a one-year-old girl was ordered
to lie on file after Caswell pleaded not guilty.