The desperate cries of a God-fearing pensioner fighting for her life were played to a judge today.

They were recorded on a special emergency lifeline during a prolonged murderous knife attack in Rainham last year.

The 71-year-old victim - repeated the Lord's Prayer to herself - as she feared she was going to die after being strangled and stabbed.

Pensioner Pamela Penfold said during the chilling 18 minute recording: "Get off..no, no, no, no..get off. Leave me alone You're mad."

Talking to the Lifeline operator, she added: "He's mad. He wants me dead. He's mad.

"I don't want to die!"

Today her would-be killer, her husband John Penfold, 87, was jailed for eight years and eight months after admitting attempting to murder his wife of 46 years.

Maidstone Crown Court heard that Mrs Penfold would later tell police she believed God had been with her and it wasn't her time to die.

"He's mad. He wants me dead. He's mad..." Pamela Penfold

Prosecutor Martin Yale told how the couple were living in Stirling Close, Rainham in November last year.

As she slept in her bed, he crept into the bedroom and tried to strangle her.

She later told police she woke up to find hands tight around her throat and called out to her husband that she was being attacked.

But the prosecutor revealed it was the former RAF sergeant who was carrying out the terrifying act.

Mr Yale added: "When that didn't work he tried to kill her with a sheathe knife. He told her he wanted to end her misery but she repeatedly told him she didn’t deserve to die.

The court heard how Mrs Penfold suffered from a number of illnesses and her husband was struggling to cope with her care – especially at night.

Mr Yale said that on one occasion Penfold had gone to the Rochester Bridge over the M2 intending to jump to his death.

He told a neighbour he had thought that by killing himself his wife would be better off without him.

“She thought she was going to die but she told him she wasn’t frightened of him and grabbed the knife..." Prosecutor Martin Yale

The prosecutor added that because of her illnesses he thought his wife “no longer loved him”.

On the night of the attack, she had managed to fight him off and went downstairs where Penfold punched her before saying he was going to cut her throat.

“She thought she was going to die but she told him she wasn’t frightened of him and grabbed the knife, cutting her hand.”

It was then she pressed the panic button of the in-home alarm system which was about to be removed after he failed to pay the rental bills.

Fortunately, it was answered and the police and ambulance services were called as Mrs Penfold managed to get to the front door, refusing to move until help arrived.

Mr Yale said she was found covered in blood by police and paramedics – and her husband handed over the weapon as police arrived.

Mrs Penfold said she believed the number of jumpers she was wearing had prevented the knife from going further into her chest.

Tom Stern, defending, said it was a mercy killing and father-of two Penfold, a retired fitter, had intended to commit suicide afterwards.

He had been finding it hard to care for the daily needs of his wife who was bipolar and suffering from Parkinson’s Disease.

“This is a sad and serious case..." Judge Charles Macdonald QC

But the judge, Charles Macdonald QC, said: “This is a sad and serious case. My confident finding is that the defendant had no genuine belief that he was trying to murder his wife as an act of mercy.

“She had made no statement that she was suicidal or very unhappy.”

He said Penfold, who was under “extreme stress” had “hatched his plan” on killing her “for some time, days maybe weeks.”

The judge added that when the police arrived Penfold had remained “remarkable insouciant” and had ignored her pleas for mercy during the attack.

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