Paedophile who killed wife jailed for 19 years

A paedophile who bludgeoned his wife to death with a hammer to spare her the shame of discovering his child sex offending was jailed for a minimum of 19 years today. Geoffrey Norton could not bear the thought of his 63-year-old wife, Janet, having to deal with the aftermath of his offences. The 67-year-old hid a hammer in the bedroom of their home in Preesall, Lancashire, and killed her while she slept. Sentencing him at Preston crown court, Mr Justice MacDuff said: "This was a brutal murder of an innocent woman, who had done nothing to deserve this. It was you, not she, who had committed shameful criminal acts." Norton was arrested in December over an allegation that he had sexually assaulted a young girl. He denied the offence and was released on bail pending further inquiries, but killed his wife weeks later. Norton dialled 999 shortly after he committed the murder on the morning of 22 January and told the operator: "I have just killed my wife." His wife was taken to Blackpool Victoria hospital and later transferred to the Royal Preston hospital, where she died the same day. A post-mortem examination showed she had suffered severe head injuries. On Monday, Norton admitted murdering his wife, the child sex offence and a string of other sexual assaults against another child victim. Sentencing him to life imprisonment, the judge added: "Your wickedness is difficult to comprehend. "The reason for your decision to take the life of your wife of 46 years is hard to understand. "It is said that you could not bear the thought that she would have to live with the knowledge of your sexual offending, and that she would be unable to cope. "The perverse reasoning appears to be that you were in some sense sparing her anguish, that it was kinder to kill her than to let her live in the shadow of your shame. And you killed her with a hammer in the way that has been described." Ater Norton pleaded guilty on Monday, his wife's daughter, Pamela Vilorio Mieses, said: "Janet Norton, my mum, was a remarkable person. "Of her many qualities, she was an honest and sincere person with an absence of vanity – an individual who has an outstanding ability to listen, care and take all your problems away. "I have lost my mum. I feel like I have been blindfolded and can't take it off. I can't believe what happened to her. "Her pure generosity and loving nature I'll miss the most, and truly believe the lives of my family and her friends will never be the same."