Policeman who stabbed himself to cover up his wife's murder is jailed for life

Adrian Goldsmith claims his wife Jill lunged at him with a knife in the moments before her death

Adrian Goldsmith has sentenced to life in prison with a minimum of 15 years in jail (PA)

A police officer who stabbed himself to cover up his wife’s murder has been sentenced to life in prison.

PC Adrian Goldsmith has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 15 years after he battered his 49-year-old wife Jill to death with a mallet.

The 50-year-old attempted to fool his colleagues into believing he had acted in self-defence by stabbing himself and claiming Jill had lunged at him with a knife.

Following the three-week trial at Stafford Crown Court, Judge Paul Glenn said: "What was abundantly plain during the course of your trial was that you set about establishing a defence in an attempt to avoid the consequences of your actions.

"You lied repeatedly to the police, to the doctors who were treating you and to the prison chaplain some weeks later when you were on remand.

"You had caused injuries to yourself to enable the defence you ran at your trial to get off the ground."

Jurors were told the "spontaneous" killing was likely to have occurred during an argument between the couple.

Jill Goldsmith was battered to death with a hammer (PA)

A heavy battery and a can paint were also used as weapons by Goldsmith who hid the head of the mallet in an airing cupboard.

Goldsmith, who is also known as Otis, was a serving police officer up until his arrest in March last year when his wife was found dead at their home in Northampton near the local police headquarters.

He had been with Northamptonshire Police for 28 years and had received a number of commendations.

Judge Glenn added: "No sentence the court can impose can even begin to compensate for the loss and anguish the family are feeling.

"The nature of this attack was such that your victim would inevitably have suffered physically before she died.

"There were multiple blows, predominantly to the head. She must have been in terror as she fought for her life, as I am satisfied she did."

Additional reporting by PA