Ex-marine and Ukip councillor denies killing wife over affair
A FORMER Royal Marine and Ukip councillor strangled his wife after she discovered he was having an affair with their daughter-in-law, a court heard.
Stephen Searle, 64, is accused of murdering his wife Anne at their £400,000 family home in Stowmarket, Suffolk, on December 30 last year following his infidelity.
Ipswich Crown Court heard Mrs Searle died a few months after she found out her husband was having a sexual relationship with Anastasia Pomiateeva, who was the partner of the couple’s son Gary.
Andrew Jackson, prosecuting, said Mr Searle first met Ms Pomiateeva, 39, in 2005 when they both worked at the Solar Bowl bowling alley in Ipswich alongside Gary and that he began pursuing her in March last year.
Mr Jackson said the ex-marine invited Ms Pomiateeva to Suffolk County Council’s headquarters, where over coffee he told her he hadn’t had sex for a long time. He persistently sent her photos of himself bodybuilding.
The prosecutor added: “He asked if she was happy with his son Gary, and if she would like to make him happy.”
The court heard Mr Searle began a sexual relationship with Ms Pomiateeva in April last year, which was kept secret for two months before it was discovered. Ms Pomiateeva had children with Gary, and although she did not marry him she was “to all intents and purposes” Searle’s daughter-in-law, Mr Jackson told the court.
Police were called to Mr Searle’s home in December after he called 999 and told a handler “I’ve just killed my wife,” the court was told.
When he was asked how he had killed her, he replied that he had suffocated her an hour earlier, saying: “She is lying on the floor between the lounge and the kitchen,” Mr Jackson said.
He was then alleged to have said to the call handler: “Bit different for you tonight – Happy New Year. It’s a bit of a bizarre situation – but never mind.”
Asked if it was just him and his wife in the house, he said: “Just the one of us now.”
Mrs Searle, who worked at a foodprocessing factory, was found dead minutes later by officers who went to her home, which was still festooned with Christmas decorations.
Mr Jackson told Ipswich Crown Court: “The prosecution say that this alleged murder had its roots firmly in the discovery by Mrs Searle that the defendant had been having an affair with their daughter-in-law. The discovery of his infidelity with their daughter-inlaw had taken place a few months before December 30, and would have put considerable strain on the marriage.
“The prosecution case is that on that Saturday night there had probably been yet another row between the two of them and in anger the defendant strangled his wife to death.”
Mr Jackson told the court that Mr Searle was trained in unarmed combat with the Royal Marines and knew how to perform a choke hold.
“It’s that technique the prosecution say the defendant probably used to kill his wife,” he said.
The Searles were married for 45 years and had three sons together.
Mr Searle denies murder and says he acted in self-defence. In a statement, Mr Searle told officers: “I was in fear for my life and during the struggle this terrible accident happened.”
A post mortem examination recorded the medical cause of death as compression of the neck, noting that external bruising suggested the application of a hand or the crook of an elbow in a choke hold.
It said Mrs Searle would have lost consciousness after about eight to 15 seconds of pressure being applied to her neck.
“Death, however, required further sustained pressure on her neck for a period of minutes,” said Mr Jackson.
Mr Searle was elected as a Ukip councillor for Suffolk County Council in 2013 but lost his seat in May last year.
He also ran as a Ukip parliamentary candidate in last year’s general election, but came last.
The trial continues.