A FURNITURE company boss is today being sentenced for killing his partner of 40 years in a sustained knife attack at her home.

John Butler was yesterday cleared of the murder of Pauline Butler by a jury at Leeds Crown Court.

Butler, 62, was overcome with emotion in the dock when the unanimous verdict was returned shortly before 4pm.

Before the start of the trial, Butler, who ran the family firm Kettley’s Furniture Centre in Yeadon, had pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Mrs Butler, 61, on April 14.

He was due to be sentenced at 11am today by the judge Mr Justice Edis.

The jury of nine women and three men began their deliberations late on Monday morning although the trial did not sit on Tuesday.

As the verdict was announced yesterday, Butler, who was wearing a smart, dark suit, sat with his head in his hands in the dock.

Prosecution barrister Stephen Wood said the Butler’s eldest son, David, had requested that he read out the victim personal statement in court.

David Butler, 31, stepped forward to the witness box wearing a smart grey suit and white shirt.

He said his family story was “like a fairytale that had turned into a nightmare”.

Mr Butler said there was no such thing as perfect parents but his were great parents who had brought their three sons up as best they could.

But he added: “It just seems like, as time has gone, and the family moved on, a disease has taken hold and eaten away those happy times we all shared.

“Never, ever did we imagine that something so devastating would take hold.

“It is not just the eruption that causes damage it is the devastating aftermath that follows.

“There are not enough words to describe the pain and suffering and sheer emptiness.

“No matter what has been done or said nothing will bring our beautiful mother back.

“Each and every one of us will have to live with their separate traumas. It is truly what would be described as a very sad tragedy and a loss for everyone involved.”

During the trial, Butler said he stabbed his beloved partner to death in an “explosion” of rage.

The jury was told that Mrs Butler had pulled a knife on him three times before.

When she put out her hand to grasp a large kitchen knife on the table next to her he feared he was going to be stabbed.

He said she was shouting abuse at him and saying she would end their weekly trips out with their grandchild.

Mrs Butler had recently left the family home in Larkfield Road, Rawdon, to move into a flat in nearby Cherry Lea Court.

Butler, who has been in custody throughout the proceedings, was led back to the cells at the end of the hearing.

During the trial, Butler said he had always loved Mrs Butler and they had been together for 40 years.

Although they had never married everybody thought they were man and wife and she had changed her name to his.

He wept in the witness box when he told the jury: “I always loved Pauline, right from the beginning.”

He added: “I just wanted her to be happy. She could have had anything.”

After she moved out of the family home he was not sleeping and he was drinking too much.

The day before her death he said he felt “a wreck”.

She flew into a rage when he called at her flat to mend a microwave oven.

He said that after picking up the knife he exploded.

“It was like 200,000 volts running through your body. It was like an alien took over your mind. I turned into a monster,” he said.