UKIP councillor Stephen Searle guilty of murdering wife

A former UKIP councillor has been found guilty of murdering his wife, after he had an affair with their son’s partner.

Stephen Searle, 64, strangled his wife Anne to death at their home in Stowmarket, Suffolk, on 30 December.

The ex-Royal Marine had denied killing Mrs Searle, 62, after she found out about the affair with Anastasia Pomiateeva.

He was found guilty by a jury at Ipswich Crown Court and will be sentenced at a later date.

Prosecutor Andrew Jackson previously told the court Searle had probably placed his wife in a choke hold he had knowledge of from his military training.

Searle showed no reaction as the verdict was read out following a six-day trial.

He had previously told a jury his wife had uncovered his affair with Ms Pomiateeva, who is the mother to at least one of their grandchildren, months before she died.

Searle claimed that on the day of her death, his wife of 45 years had attacked him with a knife following an argument and was killed in the struggle that ensued.

He had told the court he did not intend to murder her, failed to call an ambulance after the attack and instead “sat there like a bloody idiot”.

But in a 999 call that was played to jurors, Searle could be heard telling police: “I’ve just killed my wife.”

It took the jury three-and-a-half hours to find him guilty of murder.

‘Considerable strain‘

Mr Jackson, prosecuting, told the court the discovery of the affair “would have put considerable strain on the marriage”.

A post-mortem examination recorded that Mrs Searle died of compression of the neck.

Forensic pathologist Dr Benjamin Swift said she would have lost consciousness after about eight to 15 seconds of pressure being applied to her neck, and death required further sustained pressure for a period of minutes.

Days before her death, Mrs Searle had posted a message on Facebook which said: “Happy Christmas… I hope I will still be here in 2018. We will see.”

BBC News