'Black widow' told she must serve minimum of 16 years in prison

Dena Thompson's murder of Julian Webb was reviewed at London's High Court this week.

Mr Justice Ouseley said Thompson (pictured left) was a scheming, lying and highly manipulative woman.

'This was a cold and calculated murder, achieved through trickery and without remorse,' he stated. 'There are no mitigating factors. In particular, there was clearly an intent to kill.'

He said he had carefully considered whether to set Thompson's minimum jail term '“ or tariff '“ at 30 years or more after reading a moving statement from Mr Webb's mother, Rosemary.

But he had fixed the tariff at 16 years because a financial motive for the murder had not been proved beyond doubt.

Deduction for time spent in custody means that Thompson, of Cullompton, Devon, who was 43 when convicted, has to serve 15 years and 357 days from the date of sentence in December 2003 before she can apply for release on parole.

When her tarrif expires, Thompson will only be freed if she can persuade the Parole Board she is not a danger to the public.

Her eventual release will see her remain on licence for the rest of her life to make her subject to a recall to prison if she breaks the law again.

The judge's ruling extends the 13 year tariff recommended by the judge at the trial where Thompson was convicted of the murder of Mr Webb by a 10-1 majority. She claimed Mr Webb had committed suicide.

Mr Justice Ouseley said Thompson's marriage to Mr Webb in 1991 had been bigamous, though advertising executive Mr Webb had no idea.

She murdered him by tricking him into taking massive overdoses of aspirin and a pain killer on his 31st birthday '“ June 30, 1994. The prosecution stated she used Mr Webb's love of hot curries to disguise the taste of the medication.

Thompson was only caught after Mr Webb's body was exhumed following her acquittal in 2000 of attempting to murder her third husband.