http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/s/7040_stagehand_guily_of_lovers_murder
The jury in the Peter Noble murder trial took just under two hours yesterday to find him guilty of murdering his lover.
The three men and nine women were out of Reading Corwn Court for only 100 minutes before returning to give their verdict that The Hexagon stagehand was guilty of Josephine Cockell's murder.
As the unanimous decision was read out cries of "yes" were heard from the packed public gallery while Noble, 46, sat stone-faced in the dock.
Speaking after the verdict DCI Andy Taylor, who headed the investigation, said: "It was a particularly nasty attack and I am pleased we have secured a conviction."
"Hopefully this will give some benefit to Jo's family and friends. She was very popular and my thoughts go out to them," DCI Taylor continued.
Noble savagely stabbed Mrs Cockell, a Reading Museum worker, in his Stanley Grove home on December last year as she tried to end their end relationship.
Through the trial Noble's defence had tried to convince the jury he was so depressed he had an abnormality of mind and was not responsible for his actions.
The jury had heard three psychiatrists disagree about his mental state, although they were told by a GP his depression had improved before the attack and a doctor brought in to assess him when he was arrested declared him fit for questioning.
Ultimately, the jury rejected Noble's claim and found him guilty of murder.
Mrs Justice Rafferty told Noble: "There is one only sentence for murder and that is imprisonment for life." She ordered reports and postponed his sentence until later in the summer.
Violent end to a life hit by tragedy
PROSECUTOR Paul Reid summed up Jo Cockell's life when he opened the case against Peter Noble, telling the jury: "Her life was frequently touched by tragedy."
Just four months before her death the doting mother had been forced to come to terms with the loss of her son Xenon, who died of an asthma attack at just 29.
Heartbroken, she sought solace in the man she trusted most at the time, Peter Noble - and he repaid that affection by murdering her.
But Mrs Cockell would never have been put in that position had her life not been marred by tragedy twice before.
Her first husband, Xenon's father, Bogdan Sidorowciz, who she divorced in 1978, died of a heart attack. Then tragedy struck again when her second husband, Adrian Cockell, died in a Legionnaire's Disease outbreak at the Inland Revenue offices in Reading nearly 10 years ago.
The widow was left on her own to nurse Xenon, who was frequently rushed to hospital because of asthma attacks and once suffering a heart attack.
That was until she met Peter Noble at the Water Fest gala in 1998.
After an initial friendship their relationship grew until Noble moved in to her Salisbury Road home to help her get over her son's death. Xenon had died in Noble's arms. The couple shared an interest in spiritualism and would spend evenings talking and reading books by medium Doris Stokes.
However, on September 24 last year Mrs Cockell asked Noble to leave and told her line manager at the museum, Ivan Preston, she had a three-point plan to end the relationship. He said: "She told me she was going to let him down gently and do it over three stages and that she had completed the first phase.
"She said she found him overbearing."
She also spoke about ending the relationship to another colleague Frank Harding, who described Noble in court as a laid back gentleman.
Mr Harding said: "She said she was finding her relationship with him difficult. She felt that she didn't want to get close to anyone at that time because everyone she got close to let her down or died."
Noble stabbed her to death as she tried to complete her plan.
Friends said Noble had become jealous of her other friends and killed her just days after she returned from a weekend break in Paris with Carol Patient.
It was Mrs Patient who introduced the couple to each other. She was present at court throughout the trial.
Yesterday Mrs Patient paid tribute to her friend: "Two of Jo's greatest qualities were her strength and courage. The deaths of her two husbands, her son Xenon's asthma illness and heart attack were hard to bear and his death last August devastated her."
"Jo was a kind and generous person and gave her time freely if she could be of some help to others.
"Above all Jo was a lady. She handled all the traumas in her life with dignity and courage. She is very much missed by her friends and family."
'Killer Noble enjoyed being centre stage'
MURDERER Peter Noble's final act during his trial was to thank the jury for their efforts in reaching a unanimous verdict writes Anthony Moore.
The sword stuntman - accused of being an attention-seeker prone to theatrics by the prosecution - asked his defence barrister to make a special speech to the jury that had just branded him a cold blooded killer.
Robin Spencer, QC, said: "Whatever the jury's verdict he thanks them and regrets they had to endure such a case."
During his trial, psychiatrist Philip Joseph said Noble liked to be centre stage.
With the spotlight on him, the soft-spoken killer - born David Gordon but who took the stage name Peter Noble - told the jury he had contacted the other side and spirits had told him exactly when his victim would die.
However, Noble attacked Mrs Cockell two weeks before that date in a frenzied rage he could remember nothing about, except seeing a knife on the floor and hearing Jo Cockell last breaths.
The film buff said he wanted to capture the spirits taking Mrs Cockell's lifeforce to the other side but instead made a harrowing video he remembers nothing about.
With the camera zooming in on Mrs Cockell's naked body he says: "This is Jo and I'm very, very sorry. Very sorry. She's um, she's gone, she's with Xenon. I've committed a most heinous crime. But I think, I'm going to the great world. She's happy. That's all she wanted."
Throughout the trial the silver haired defendant sat emotionless as his savage acts were dissected - his face did not change when the curtain finally fell and the jury returned with its verdict.
The jury in the Peter Noble murder trial took just under two hours yesterday to find him guilty of murdering his lover.
The three men and nine women were out of Reading Corwn Court for only 100 minutes before returning to give their verdict that The Hexagon stagehand was guilty of Josephine Cockell's murder.
As the unanimous decision was read out cries of "yes" were heard from the packed public gallery while Noble, 46, sat stone-faced in the dock.
Speaking after the verdict DCI Andy Taylor, who headed the investigation, said: "It was a particularly nasty attack and I am pleased we have secured a conviction."
"Hopefully this will give some benefit to Jo's family and friends. She was very popular and my thoughts go out to them," DCI Taylor continued.
Noble savagely stabbed Mrs Cockell, a Reading Museum worker, in his Stanley Grove home on December last year as she tried to end their end relationship.
Through the trial Noble's defence had tried to convince the jury he was so depressed he had an abnormality of mind and was not responsible for his actions.
The jury had heard three psychiatrists disagree about his mental state, although they were told by a GP his depression had improved before the attack and a doctor brought in to assess him when he was arrested declared him fit for questioning.
Ultimately, the jury rejected Noble's claim and found him guilty of murder.
Mrs Justice Rafferty told Noble: "There is one only sentence for murder and that is imprisonment for life." She ordered reports and postponed his sentence until later in the summer.
Violent end to a life hit by tragedy
PROSECUTOR Paul Reid summed up Jo Cockell's life when he opened the case against Peter Noble, telling the jury: "Her life was frequently touched by tragedy."
Just four months before her death the doting mother had been forced to come to terms with the loss of her son Xenon, who died of an asthma attack at just 29.
Heartbroken, she sought solace in the man she trusted most at the time, Peter Noble - and he repaid that affection by murdering her.
But Mrs Cockell would never have been put in that position had her life not been marred by tragedy twice before.
Her first husband, Xenon's father, Bogdan Sidorowciz, who she divorced in 1978, died of a heart attack. Then tragedy struck again when her second husband, Adrian Cockell, died in a Legionnaire's Disease outbreak at the Inland Revenue offices in Reading nearly 10 years ago.
The widow was left on her own to nurse Xenon, who was frequently rushed to hospital because of asthma attacks and once suffering a heart attack.
That was until she met Peter Noble at the Water Fest gala in 1998.
After an initial friendship their relationship grew until Noble moved in to her Salisbury Road home to help her get over her son's death. Xenon had died in Noble's arms. The couple shared an interest in spiritualism and would spend evenings talking and reading books by medium Doris Stokes.
However, on September 24 last year Mrs Cockell asked Noble to leave and told her line manager at the museum, Ivan Preston, she had a three-point plan to end the relationship. He said: "She told me she was going to let him down gently and do it over three stages and that she had completed the first phase.
"She said she found him overbearing."
She also spoke about ending the relationship to another colleague Frank Harding, who described Noble in court as a laid back gentleman.
Mr Harding said: "She said she was finding her relationship with him difficult. She felt that she didn't want to get close to anyone at that time because everyone she got close to let her down or died."
Noble stabbed her to death as she tried to complete her plan.
Friends said Noble had become jealous of her other friends and killed her just days after she returned from a weekend break in Paris with Carol Patient.
It was Mrs Patient who introduced the couple to each other. She was present at court throughout the trial.
Yesterday Mrs Patient paid tribute to her friend: "Two of Jo's greatest qualities were her strength and courage. The deaths of her two husbands, her son Xenon's asthma illness and heart attack were hard to bear and his death last August devastated her."
"Jo was a kind and generous person and gave her time freely if she could be of some help to others.
"Above all Jo was a lady. She handled all the traumas in her life with dignity and courage. She is very much missed by her friends and family."
'Killer Noble enjoyed being centre stage'
MURDERER Peter Noble's final act during his trial was to thank the jury for their efforts in reaching a unanimous verdict writes Anthony Moore.
The sword stuntman - accused of being an attention-seeker prone to theatrics by the prosecution - asked his defence barrister to make a special speech to the jury that had just branded him a cold blooded killer.
Robin Spencer, QC, said: "Whatever the jury's verdict he thanks them and regrets they had to endure such a case."
During his trial, psychiatrist Philip Joseph said Noble liked to be centre stage.
With the spotlight on him, the soft-spoken killer - born David Gordon but who took the stage name Peter Noble - told the jury he had contacted the other side and spirits had told him exactly when his victim would die.
However, Noble attacked Mrs Cockell two weeks before that date in a frenzied rage he could remember nothing about, except seeing a knife on the floor and hearing Jo Cockell last breaths.
The film buff said he wanted to capture the spirits taking Mrs Cockell's lifeforce to the other side but instead made a harrowing video he remembers nothing about.
With the camera zooming in on Mrs Cockell's naked body he says: "This is Jo and I'm very, very sorry. Very sorry. She's um, she's gone, she's with Xenon. I've committed a most heinous crime. But I think, I'm going to the great world. She's happy. That's all she wanted."
Throughout the trial the silver haired defendant sat emotionless as his savage acts were dissected - his face did not change when the curtain finally fell and the jury returned with its verdict.
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