A HUSBAND who punched, kicked, and repeatedly beat his wife with a walking stick was sent to prison for five years yesterday.

Thomas Dodds was found guilty of the manslaughter of Patricia Dodds, 42, who had suffered years of abuse at his hands.

Newcastle Crown Court had heard how on December 13 last year Mrs Dodds was beaten by her husband and suffered a ruptured spleen, which caused the mother-of-three to bleed to death.

John Milford, prosecuting, told the court how the pair had been married for two years but had been in a violent relationship for ten years.

On December 13, a gas engineer went to fit a cooker in their Park Road home in Wallsend, Newcastle, and discovered Dodds drunk and his wife lying on the sitting room floor.

Later that day, Dodds went to a fish and chip shop and asked staff to call an ambulance because his wife was dead.

A post-mortem examination revealed her death had been caused by bleeding from a ruptured spleen.

Mr Milford said the couple had a violent relationship during which people had witnessed Dodds beating his wife with a walking stick, and she had also attacked him.

During interviews with police, Dodds denied he had beat his wife on the night of her death.

Toby Hedworth, defending, said: "Sadly, although there was a great amount of violence between this couple, there was also a great amount of love between them.

"But that does not take anything away from the fact that Patricia Dodds lost her life."

The jury reached a unanimous guilty verdict which was met by cheers from Mrs Dodds' family