Jury Adjourns for Weekend in Attempted Murder Trial

The jury in the case of a woman accused of attempting to murder both her husband and a child has been dismissed for the weekend, with no formal verdicts yet declared. Jacqueline Mounsey, aged 53, has been undergoing trial for a fortnight at Carlisle Crown Court, where the jury began its deliberations on Thursday afternoon. Accusations state that she inflicted a stab wound to the neck of Mark Bennett, 56, while he was asleep on a sofa at a property in Whernside, Carlisle, on the morning of 10 June. The child was also reportedly stabbed twice in the neck during the same incident. Ms. Mounsey refutes these allegations. She herself suffered knife injuries, and a neighbor characterized the post-incident scene as being like something “from a horror movie”. Ms. Mounsey is also confronting two alternative, less severe charges, which claim she injured both her husband and the child with the intention of inflicting grievous bodily harm upon them. Throughout the proceedings, testimony was presented to the court by Mr. Bennett, the child, and Ms. Mounsey, who stated she had no recollection of any occurrences from 10 June. The members of the jury are scheduled to reconvene at the court on Monday to resume their discussions. Ms. Mounsey continues to be held in custody.