Fort Crescent, Margate, where Ripley's partner James Heddington died

by Paul Hooper

A Thanet mum-of-three - acquitted of killing her partner - has had her 15 month jail sentence for burglary slashed.

Sarah Ripley, 22, had been sent to prison for carrying out two burglaries before the incident which led to her facing a murder charge.

But Canterbury Crown Court heard she had spent time on remand awaiting her trial where she was eventually acquitted of stabbing to death her lover James Heddington.

Ripley, who was pregnant with twins at the time of the incident in September, had told the court how she had been locked in a tug-of-war with her partner.

She said drug addict Heddington had held the weapon to his stomach and she grabbed his hands to pull it away – but in anger let go and the knife went into his stomach.

Ripley, of Fort Crescent, Margate had denied killing the 29-year-old drug addict. The jury took just three hours to return their not guilty verdicts on murder or manslaughter.

But after the acquittal she reappeared in the same dock to face sentence on two burglaries in May and June last year. She will now serve 11 months.