A man who beat his wife to death with a hammer before dumping her body was said to be suffering from an “adjustment disorder”.
Robert Brown fatally beat his 46-year-old wife Joanna Simpson with a claw hammer in their family home in October 2010, as their two young children cowered in a playroom. Just a week before the finalisation of their divorce, Brown dumped Joanna’s body in a makeshift coffin in Windsor Great Park.
In 2011, the former British Airways pilot was cleared of murder after a trial, but admitted manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility, with a psychiatric report saying he suffered from an “adjustment disorder”. He was sentenced to 26 years in prison and has since served 13 years of his sentence.
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Brown was due to be freed last November but Joanna’s family started a campaign against his release. After new powers were introduced last year by Secretary of State for Justice Alex Chalk, Brown’s case will need to be reviewed by the parole board, meaning he would not automatically be released on licence.
What is an adjustment order?
According to the Mayo Clinic, adjustment disorders are excessive reactions to stress that involve negative thoughts, strong emotions and changes in behaviour. It adds: “The reaction to a stressful change or event is much more intense than would typically be expected.
“This can cause a lot of problems in getting along with others, as well as at work or school.”
Often, big life changes or illnesses or work problems can cause stress, many of which people can get used to and adapt within a few months. But those with an adjustment order would continue to feel more anxious and depressed.
According to the government: “The symptoms can include depressed mood, anxiety, worry, a feeling of inability to cope, plan ahead, or continue in the present situation, and a degree of difficulty in day-to-day living. The individual may feel liable to dramatic behaviour or outbursts of violence.”
ITV: The British Airways Killer
ITV previously announced a new two-part documentary that will explore the death of Joanna Simpson, a wealthy heiress who was killed by her husband, a British Airways pilot. With access to unseen police interview tapes, the programme tracks the Thames Valley Police Major Crime Unit’s complex investigation and speaks to her friends and family to paint a vivid picture of the crime and its aftermath.
The description reads: “When the mother-of-two disappeared from their house in an affluent area of Ascot on Halloween night in 2010, Brown called police the next morning to report a domestic issue.
“Yet when he handed himself in, he refused to help police with their missing persons investigation, despite having brutally bludgeoned her to death with her children listening in their playroom. Eventually he confessed that he had killed her and told the police where to find the body.
“This documentary tracks the case from that first phone call to the tragic discovery of her remains in a shallow grave in Windsor Great Park, to his conviction and the consequences – taking in an acrimonious divorce and the pre-nuptial agreement of a wealthy heiress that was to change British legal history.”
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