A pensioner has been cleared of persistently abusing her husband including punching, kicking and spitting in his face.
Elizabeth Coleman, 68, was accused of causing injuries during a frenzied attack in January 2023 at their home in Watton when the marriage turned sour.
Her husband Ian, who moved out after the attack, also claimed she had subjected him to another tirade of foul-mouthed abuse and spat in his face when he returned to collect belongings four days later.
He also accused her of having poured boiling water over him on another occasion and using a mobile tracking app to monitor his movements.
READ MORE: Woman denies actual bodily harm over frenzied attack on husband
Coleman, of Crabtree Close in Watton, pleaded not guilty to assault and causing actual bodily harm.
She was found not guilty following a trial at Norwich Magistrates’ Court.
The couple, who have a 12 year age difference, had met while both were working at a Watton care home in 2019 and had married the following year, the court heard.
Prosecutor Stuart Cowan said when interviewed by police Mrs Coleman had described their relationship as “crap” and accused him of being “clingy”.
She told the court he had been “lovely” when they first met but that they had increasingly lived separate lives and that he had made abusive remarks about her age.
READ MORE: Domestic violence and sexual offences now half of crimes in Norfolk
Giving evidence via video link, her husband claimed she had become verbally and physically abusive after they bought a house together.
But Kieran Dunphy, defending, said his credibility was “shot to pieces” due to “monosyllabic and evasive answers that suggest he is not telling the truth”.
He claimed injuries blamed on Mrs Coleman had instead been caused in a fall while he was working for the ambulance service three weeks before the alleged assault.
The allegations of assault had coincided with her telling her husband that she had filed for divorce, he added.
Magistrates said accounts of the alleged assaults were not consistent with the evidence.
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