‘Ex-UKIP councillor killed wife after she discovered his affair with daughter-in-law’
Court told he choked her during row
AN ex-Royal Marine murdered his wife after she found out he was bedding their son’s long-term partner, a jury has heard.
Former UKIP councillor Stephen Searle, 64, killed Anne, 62, in a rage after they argued about his affair with Anastasia Pomiateeva, 39, it is claimed.
He allegedly suffocated her using a choke hold he learned in the Marines.
Andrew Jackson, prosecuting, said: “Anne’s discovery of the relationship... ultimately led to her death.”
The jury was played a recording of the 999 call dad-of-three Searle made in December last year, around an hour after the killing at the family home.
He told the call handler: “I have just killed my wife... Suffocation .... Bit of a bizarre situation but never mind.”
Miss Pomiateeva had been with his son Gary, 44, since 2010 and had children with him.
Searle pursued her for weeks, it was claimed. Miss Pomiateeva said the relationship began when he asked her to the house when no one else was there. She told the court: “He invited me to make him happy and comply... He used to call [his wife] ‘a piece of s**t’. “He used to call me that as well when I didn’t please him.” She said she tried to end the affair “but he did not want to and he got a bit horrible”. The jury was told yesterday that the fling began in April last year and Anne found out two months later when she saw intimate photos on his phone.
Ipswich crown court was told Miss Pomiateeva then ended the affair and told Gary about it.
Mr Jackson said: “From that point there was little communication between Gary and his father, but the defendant continued to pursue her.”
Searle and his wife, who were married for 45 years, had run a pub in their hometown of Stowmarket, Suffolk.
He later worked at a bowling alley alongside Gary and Miss Pomiateeva.
Searle, who became a county councillor in 2013 and was seen with UKIP’s then leader Nigel Farage, claims the killing was self-defence.
He denies murder, telling police Anne tried to stab him. The trial continues.