Love-hate marriage of two St Annes pensioners

Anthony Baxter, 81, appeared before magistrates to admit contacting his 84-year-old wife despite a court order banning him from doing so.

But the court was told Brenda Baxter refused to leave her estranged hubby alone – with his lawyer branding the debacle “a strange round of the Generation Game”.

She bombarded him with messages and even sent a parcel containing an electric blanket, face masks, chocolates, and a brochure for a house in Wales – alongside divorce papers – to his new home in Central Drive, Calow, Chesterfield, Blackpool Magistrates’ Court was told.

She sent him letters about replacing grass at her £330,000 detached bungalow in Dorset Road, St Annes, and saying she hoped to rekindle their relationship, magistrates heard.

Kathryn Jamieson-Sinclair, for Mr Baxter, who was banned from contacting his wife after attacking her, said: “She comes across as naive and ill-informed but I have pages and pages of WhatsApp messages she sent my client.

“She presents as a frail person but in some of the messages she is totally disparaging about solicitors and the police and says she is carrying his heart, making declarations of love and planning for the future.”

Mrs Baxter told the court: “I have been in hospital five times because of him. I am terrified of him. He is unstable and I don’t know what he is going to do next.”

Asked why she sent him a card with a kiss, she said: “Because it was his birthday. I know I should not have done it but I can’t help it.”

She also admitted sending him a magazine clipping with the words, ‘I carry your heart with me’.

“I loved my husband dearly but all I got in return was abuse and attacks. He killed it,” she added. “He used to stand over me at night in the dark in total silence.”

Mr Baxter, previously convicted of assaulting his wife of 14 years, was given another restraining order and a 12-week suspended jail term.

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