Husband ‘held a knife to his wife’s throat’ before she stabbed him to death

The retired lieutenant colonel who was stabbed to death by his wife after a row over bubble and squeak once put a knife to his partner’s throat during a BBQ garden party, their daughter said today. 

Penelope Jackson, 66, was arrested by police after she stabbed 78-year-old David Jackson three times in the kitchen of their family home in Berrow, Somerset, on February 13, after 

The couple had enjoyed an expensive dinner of crab, lobster and steak for Mrs Jackson’s birthday when she ‘lost all control’ after a row erupted over bubble and squeak to accompany the meal. 

Today, Isobel Potterton, 31, who is the daughter of Penelope Jackson and the adopted daughter of David Jackson, described three incidents between the pensioner and mother that left her ‘scared’.

She said Mr Jackson once held a knife against her mother’s throat at a family garden party and the family had to disarm him.          

On another occasion her mother’s ‘nose was bleeding and father had her pinned up against the wall’. 

During the couple’s 24-year marriage Mrs Potterton also described how her father once smashed the Mother’s Day mug she had bought for her mother. 

She also revealed on the fatal night a row broke out about potatoes and bubble and squeak – and an iPad charger. 

Jackson denies murder at Bristol Crown Court.

Speaking today, Mrs Potterton recalled one occasion in Germany where her father had been stationed with the army.

She remembered a sudden change in mood among guests before everyone ran towards the house and up to her parent’s bedroom.

‘I can remember mum saying something, everyone jumping up, and then running into the house,’ she told the court.

‘Everybody was upstairs on the landing at the doorway of mum and dad’s bedroom.

‘Dad had a knife to mum’s throat. She was against the doorway.’

Family members eventually managed to pull Mr Jackson’s arm back and disarm him, she said.

Mrs Potterton said she was taken to stay with nearby friends for a short period after the attack before she returned to her parents.

She also remembered a time when she had just come off the bus from primary school, also in Germany, when she witnessed her father once again grappling with her mother.

‘Mum was up against the wall of the hallway. Her nose was bleeding and dad had her pinned up against the wall,’ she said.

‘She was crying. I was told to go upstairs.’

Jackson (left with her husband David Jackson) admitted manslaughter of the retired lieutenant colonel but denies murder

Police officers were called to the couple’s home in Berrow, Somerset, on February 13 this year

Sketch of Penelope Jackson at Bristol Crown Court, where she admits manslaughter but denies murder 

She added: ‘After that, mum packed two suitcases, and we went and stayed in a hotel that night. She said we were leaving.’

However, later the next day the pair reconciled, and she returned with her mother back to the family home.

Mrs Potterton also described how her father once got her out of bed and told her to get the mug filed with chocolates she had got Jackson for Mother’s Day out of its hiding place in the airing cupboard.

‘(The victim) smashed it in front of me,’ she said.

The witness said her father would have known she had bought the gift for her mother ‘because he would have given me the money’.   

Mrs Potterton said she arranged for the birthday dinner to take place over a Zoom call on February 13 this year.

Due to the lockdown she had sourced the food in advance so the family could eat together.

‘We had cocktails to start off with,’ she said. ‘We’d all dressed up, it was all good.’

However, Mrs Potterton said that an argument among her parents that had arisen over a lack of potatoes in the pre-prepared food box had resurfaced over the zoom call.

‘When they opened the box before, I was told that dad had said, ”Oh, there’s not a lot there.” And then Mum had said ‘It’s okay, I’ll get bubble and squeak out’.

‘The meal was that you had the lobster with the potatoes, and you had the steak with the broccoli. 

‘Dad was a bit confused about why you wouldn’t have potatoes with steak.

‘When it came to it and mum said something about the bubble and squeak, dad said ”well, I didn’t want the bubble and squeak”, and then they had a bicker about who had first said about the bubble and squeak or not.

‘I just rolled my eyes because I just thought, ”Oh, they’re being silly.” I just tried to move the conversation along.’

Later, another argument broke out between the married couple as the iPad that they were using for the group Zoom call was running out of battery.

Mrs Potterton said: ‘They were having a bicker about it not charging.

‘Dad said something along the lines of, ‘Your mum will never admit when she’s wrong.

‘I could see that mum was getting upset. Dad was walking out of the room, so we just said we’d leave it there.’

Jackson is on trial for the murder of David Jackson after he was stabbed three times at their £300,000 bungalow on February 13 following a meal to celebrate her birthday.

She is accused of killing the retired colonel with a kitchen knife after claiming she could not put up with him after 24 years of marriage. She denies murder but has admitted to manslaughter.   

The trial continues.