Forty-six-year-old Paul Harvey killed Gloria Laguna, 48, by a “fluke” chance after the remote hit her on a weak artery near her neck.

Despite Harvey’s efforts to revive her, she died from a massive brain hemorrhage, London’s Old Bailey court heard.

Harvey, an electrical engineer from London, had pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of the former US diplomat in March.

‘Deeply shamed’
Defence lawyer Jonathan Goldberg said Harvey was “deeply ashamed and remorseful” at the death of his wife, who had had a very rare condition which neither she nor her husband had known about.

“All he did was throw the remote control in her direction. By a fluke chance, maybe the same as, in a different context, winning the lottery, it landed on the exact spot where she had a weakness,” Jonathan Goldberg said.

The couple had been arguing about maintenance payments Harvey was making to a stepdaughter from a previous marriage, the court heard.

Judge Giles Forrester said Paul Harvey had to take responsibility for his actions.
 “To throw a hard object such as a remote control device so as to strike your wife in this way was irresponsible and dangerous,” the judge added.