A woman who slept next to her husband’s dead body for three weeks has been jailed, a court heard.

Sally Smithson, 61, slept next to her husband’s body, John Blackwell, in their home in Oxford. The 71-year-old had died three weeks earlier after suffering a suspected heart attack. Blackwell was found on the bedroom floor on his back and naked, the court heard.

Smithson has now been jailed for 14 months after pleading guilty to preventing the lawful and decent burial of a body. Sentencing, Judge Michael Gledhill KC said: “You must have been sleeping next to his dead body for about three weeks. This was a very grave and serious offence. It was an affront to the standards of public decency,” The Sun reported.

Oxford Crown Court also heard Blackwell died around October 1 last year, but his body wasn’t discovered by police until October 21.

Charles Ward-Jackson, prosecuting, said Blackwell suffered from a serious heart condition. He also told the court the relationship between Smithson and Blackwell was “turbulent” and involved “drunken arguments and domestic violence”.

Mr Ward-Jackson added: “Police found his body on the bedroom floor. He was flat on his back and naked. He was in an advanced stage of decomposition. There were no signs of injuries. The TV was on and the bed was slept in. The defendant had been sleeping in the bed for three weeks,” The Sun also reported.