Woman guilty of murdering pub landlord

A woman accused of stabbing a landlord to death has been convicted of his murder.

Stephanie Langley, 55, from East Farleigh, Kent, stabbed Matthew Bryant, her former brother-in-law, three times with a kitchen knife.

Mr Bryant was pronounced dead as he lay in the street in front of the Hare and Hounds pub in Maidstone, Kent, last September.

She will be sentenced at a future date, but was told when she was convicted on Wednesday that she is facing a life sentence.

The attack was described by the prosecution as "impulsive, irrational, but deliberate and intentional".

The court heard Langley had gone to the Hare and Hounds pub on 11 September 2023 and had told a customer: "Get a drink while he is still alive."

The court heard she had also said to Mr Bryant: "You're dead tonight."

Langley then walked out of the pub saying to a customer as she left: "Do you like that pub? Do you like the people in there?

"You won't be going in there no more, because it's going to be shut."

She then went back to her car which was parked nearby, as Mr Bryant was calling the police.

She returned moments later and knocked the phone out of his hands - a moment captured on CCTV.

She then stabbed him three times.

Mr Bryant can be heard on the 999 call saying: "I have just been stabbed."

Passers-by attempted to give him first aid, and a passing ambulance was flagged down, but Mr Bryant was pronounced dead at the scene.

Witnesses reported hearing Langley say: "I hope he's dead."

The prosecution said after Langley was arrested she had told officers that she had killed him, she was glad she had killed him and she was happy to go to jail for it.

When she learned of his death at the police station she said: “I’m glad he’s dead."

Jurors previously heard Ms Langley had claimed Mr Bryant had raped a woman she knew.

Mr Bryant's widow Caroline said: "My life hasn't been the same since Matthew died.

"He was taken from me in such a cruel way. I have to relive this every day for the rest of my life.

"He wasn't the man she made him out to be, he wasn't a monster. All she's achieved is ruining many lives."

Speaking after the verdict, Det Ch Insp David Higham said: "Matthew was targeted outside his pub in a violent and unprovoked attack.

"The brutal assault has left a family mourning a needless loss of a much-loved man."

Jody Tyman from the Crown Prosecution Service said: “The victim posed no threat to the defendant or anyone else, despite the defendant’s claims to the contrary.

“He had called the police at the time he was killed to ask for their help, after the defendant made various threats against him, saying repeatedly that she wanted him dead.

“Langley claimed in court she had never intended to hurt her victim, but we were able to demonstrate that her actions on that night were deliberate and intentional and amounted to murder."

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