Man sentenced following Fareham cemetery murder
HAMPSHIRE CONSTABULARY have announced that a sixty-eight year old male from Gosport has been sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of twenty-seven years and 230 days after he admitted murdering his ‘ex-wife’ in the grounds of Crofton cemetery in Fareham; thus concluding a lengthy legal process which began over two years ago.
Police were called at 3:47pm on July 24 2023 from Martin Suter who said that he had murdered someone by stabbing them; identifying this victim as his 71 years old ex-wife Ann Blackwood and the motive was related to a non-suspicious accidental death of a family member many years previously. Ms Blackwood sadly died at this scene in Lychgate Green.
Suter was charged with murder after being arrested and taken into custody, but denied the offence before changing his plea to guilty during his trial on May 28 2024. His sentencing was however adjourned until after the outcome of another case being heard within Bolton Crown Court, where he was found not ‘guilty’ via a jury of some sexual offence charges.
Although he admitted an indecent assault in the case, Suter then attempted to overturn his guilty plea for the murder of Ann Blackwood but the application was declined. At the Newton Hearing held on November 7 HHJ Bowes rejected that he had taken a knife for the cemetery to cut flowers and identified a minimum starting point could be 25 years in prison.
Suter attended his hearing at Portsmouth Crown Court last Friday (November 21), where he was duly sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 27 years and 230 days before he can be considered for parole. This includes his total of 27 years / 109 days for murder, and the additional four months’ term ‘served consecutively’ for indecent assault.
Readers can read full comments here from Detective Inspector Martin Longyear and the family of Ann Blackwood, who gave the emotionally powerful statement describing her as an individual of “beauty, grace, and immeasurable fortitude”.
PICTURED BY ALAMY (2JJ9JE8): A stock image of police tape which is often used to prevent access to crime scenes.
