A husband who killed his wife after she over-cooked his roast beef has been sentenced to prison - for 18 months.
Jonathan Wicks, 48, hit his wife Sarah, 49, during an argument after they had held a dinner party to celebrate his birthday. A single blow ruptured an artery in her neck and she died immediately.
After the attack, Wicks, a TV executive, fled the scene but returned 20 minutes later and called an ambulance. He was arrested at his home by police, during which time he was reported to have said: 'My wife is dead. I may have killed her. Do you really think I give a flying ****?'
But yesterday, a judge praised Wicks, 48, for leading a 'respectable and successful' life and described the argument as a 'tiff' as he passed the sentence for manslaughter.
Sentencing him at Birmingham Crown Court yesterday, Judge Richard Griffith-Jones said: 'You're a man of hitherto good character who has led a respectable and successful life.
'That success encompassed what I believe to be a loving and harmonious domestic life.'
'That was brought to a tragic end during a tiff between you and your much-loved wife which in many other instances would have caused bruising but in this instance caused her death.'
During the trial at Warwick Crown Court in May, Wicks claimed he acted in self defence during a row after his wife threw plates at him in their home in Stourton, Warwickshire. The couple had just finished hosting a dinner party, during which Wicks had complained that the beef was over-cooked.
Paramedics arrived to find Mrs Wicks lying on her back on the kitchen floor.
Wicks will serve half of his 18-month sentence before being released on licence. The 110 days Wicks has already served in custody will be deducted.