A LAWYER who killed his wife in a frenzied knife attack has been freed early after just two years of his jail sentence.
Christopher Lumsden has been released 'on licence' after serving less than half his five-year jail term.
He stabbed his wife Alison in the bedroom of their Cheshire mansion after she returned from a dinner date with her lover.
Lumsden could be in line for a second huge pay-out following the sale of the £1.4m home in Bowdon, near Altrincham, where he carried out the attack.
In her will, Alison had previously left Lumsden, 54, her £1m fortune. As the mansion was in her name, it is part of the estate she bequeathed to Lumsden.
But Sheila Hannam-Andrews of Support After Murder and Manslaughter, a group for relatives of people who have been killed, said: "The sentence is ridiculous and now it looks like he will benefit from everything."
In July, the M.E.N. reported that Lumsden - who is not considered a risk to the public - was being released during the day from open prison to do unpaid work at a law centre.
He was sentenced to five years in February, 2006, but he was eligible for release this September, half-way through his sentence because of time already served on remand.
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He will remain `on licence' until March, 2010, which means he is liable to be instantly recalled to prison if he commits any other offence. Lumsden is not free to return to work as a lawyer because he was struck off while he was in jail.
The detached Victorian home he once shared with his wife has been sold to a property developer.
Public documents obtained by the M.E.N. from the Land Registry show Warrington-based Greenlink Estates bought the property for £1.4m on November 16 last year.
As it had been owned in Alison's name, it forms part of the estate she bequeathed to Lumsden in a will made five years before the killing. Lumsden, who was convicted of manslaughter, will have to launch a legal battle to get the money.
Usually a person convicted of manslaughter cannot inherit from the person he has killed. In this scenario, it is likely the money will be placed in trust for Lumsden's two children. Lumsden is likely to have to apply to court which has the power to make an exception and allow the inheritance depending on the circumstances of the case, or if the killer suffered from a mental disorder at the time of the death.
During the trial, the judge accepted Lumsden was suffering from a `depressive condition'.
It is not known whether Lumsden actually received any of the inheritance Alison, 53, left him.
Lumsden was found not guilty of murder after arguing he was suffering an `abnormality of mind' at the time.
The M.E.N. visited Lumsden's sister Elizabeth Richards at her home, Gawsworth Hall, a Cheshire manor house, but no-one there was willing to comment.
Manchester-based solicitors Lomax Geddes and Co, which represents the family, failed to respond to our calls.
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so a killer get 2 yrs what has this country come too,
Typical, criminals and killers serving half of their sentence.
Good old British justice. Who says crime doesn't pay ?
Labour's slogan of "Tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime" seems like a distant memory.
The five years this killer got was a sick joke,to be let out early is beyond me,double standards i think,if he would of been a normal joe he would of got a lot longer sentence and still be in prison,a case of the legal proffesion looking after there own.
Yes the criminal justice system in this country looks after its own, doesn't it???
(Nice educated type you see and not one of those nasty working class types.)
In America at best he would have done is 30 years minimum, but in class ridden Britain he gets 2. What a pathetic country we live in!!
I just hope he doesn't get his hands on the cash.
I hope he doesnt get a penny and the kids get the lot - no matter what the circumstances he has deprived them of their mother and any offspring of them their grandparent what is happening with the law.
What on earth is going on with the legal system in this country??? 5 years and he only spends 2 in prison? 5 yrs for murder is a joke.
If we had more prisons then he should serve the full sentence but as we dont, Id rather have him out on the street then a scally thats going to kill a pensioner for £5.
I doubt very much whether he is arisk to any one though, He will probably go through the rest of his life without a peep
You lot don’t understand, I am sure he is really really sorry for what he did. I bet he will not to do it again. For 2 years he had to stay in prison with some really nasty people, some of them were even criminals.
Odysseus, Stockport - what are you wailing on about?
What message does this send out?: Life is cheap and getting cheaper.
Years ago when they only had 10 laws. number 6 commandment was; Thou shall not murder.
Seams that is going out of the window.
I wonder if funny handshakes and shielding ones eyes from the sun were the architect of this
'is not considered a risk to the public', well, would YOU marry him??
"Abnormaility of mind" - isn't this now the standard defence for any killer - I mean, what killer is in anything like the right frame of mind? I do wonder though whether the same outcome would have arisen if the accused was a scally from the wrong part of town and not a wealthy lawyer from leafy Bowden?
It's about time this country was reclaimed for the people instead of being run for the benefit of the rich and influential. We should start by getting rid of the Windsors'.
Okay he's probably not a threat to the genral public.
But,this kind of sentence could possibly influence a potential murderer thinking 'It might be worth it, i'll only get 2 years'.
jomov, Manchester
Sarcasm, (irony, satire) caustic remark (witty language used to convey insults or scorn).
Enough said
Two years is longer than the animals who murdered a man in London last week will serve. They got 4 years for punching a man to death who was unhappy when they threw a sweet wrapper in his car.
This man probably would have got longer if they accepted Gordon's new anti terror law that wants to allow 42 days in clink without charge.
2 years for a womans life???
this country is a complete joke.
if a person is killed by another person its murder, i dont think any killer or criminal can have a normal mind, the law is pathetic and i am ashamed to be a british citizen
for murder you should get life, 2 years is nothing
April fools .......... ooops no sorry its the 7th now