Mortgage broker, 47, who strangled his wife, 46, after having sex told her friends she was dead in a text message, court told
A wealthy mortgage broker who strangled his wife after sex texted her friends she was dead, a court heard.
Robert Hammond, 47, allegedly murdered his wife of more than 20 years, Sian on October 30 last year in an attempt to clear his spirally debt.
Hammond, who was facing a 'surging mountain of debt and financial pressures' had made sure he had paid off the arrears on his wife's life insurance policy days before her death.
The banker from Cambridgeshire then called emergency workers, telling them he had found his wife dead in the early hours of the morning after going to bed alone.
However a post-mortem examination indicated the mother-of-two had been strangled.
Robert Hammond, 47, allegedly murdered his wife of more than 20 years, Sian on October 30 last year in an attempt to clear his spirally debt
Mother-of-two Sian, was allegedly strangled by her husband of more than 20 years after the pair had gone to Aldi to buy a steak dinner
Sian with her two daughters and her husband. Friends were shocked to hear of her death after the banker texted them the devastating news in the early hours of the morning
The 46-year-old broker also known as James, called 999 at 1.50am and told the operator he had found his wife face down on the bed and not breathing at their £1.2million home in Primes Corner, Cambridgeshire.
He then coldly texted friends to inform them of her death, saying: 'I wanted you to hear from me Sian passed away last night in her sleep.
'Been a tough day. Can you let your other halves know please.
'I don't need anything, just want you to know. James'
Deborah Bevis, who first met Mrs Hammond around 15 years ago when their children were attending the same school, said she and her husband were shocked at the message.
Mrs Bevis told jurors she 'didn't believe it' and her and her husband went round to see their long-term friend three days later where the banker boasted of his sexual exploits with his deceased spouse.
Hammond allegedly told Mrs Bevis that the couple had gone to Aldi to buy steak for dinner before doing a workout in their home gym.
He also said that since Sian was very sporty, she had treated their sex as a workout.
Hammond, 47, was in around £300,000 of debt and had already been 'telling lies' including a bogus cancer diagnosis to keep creditors off his back
Mrs Hammond (pictured) had numerous abrasions and bruises around her head and pinprick haemorrhaging to her face and neck a post-mortem examination found
Mrs Hammond was found dead at her £1.2million detached home that she shared with her husband
Christopher Paxton KC told Mrs Bevis: 'He (Hammond) said they had gone to bed but you don't know what time that was.
'He said he and Sian had a cwtch - it's a Welsh word for cuddle - and James told you he had sex with Sian and he described Sian as like a gym bunny and that Sian had used it as a workout.'
Mrs Bevis replied: 'Yes, I think he said that.'
The prosecutor asked Mrs Bevis if she had asked any questions about this, and she said 'it didn't seem appropriate at the time'.
Mr Paxton asked if it was 'normal for Sian previously or James to discuss their sex life', and Mrs Bevis replied 'no'.
She agreed that Hammond said he 'went downstairs to allow Sian to get sleep as he snores so badly', and that when he later went upstairs he found her lying on her front and 'knew immediately something was wrong'.
Karim Khalil KC, defending, asked Mrs Bevis if she thought Hammond 'saying about going up to bed at midnight or about there was him simply indicating it was late, or was he being particular about things'.
Mrs Bevis said: 'I think he was just indicating it was late.'
She described Hammond as a 'funny, sociable, nice man' and that she 'didn't see him not being calm'.
Mr Khalil said: 'She (Mrs Hammond) never indicated they were under any financial strain?'
Mrs Bevis replied 'no', and gave the same answer when asked if Mrs Hammond had ever indicated there was 'any strain between her and her husband'.
She agreed with Mr Paxton that the couple's daughters 'swam at a very high level' and that Mrs Hammond would pick them up from places and take them to school.
The prosecutor asked Mrs Bevis if Mrs Hammond would 'occasionally take diazepam, particularly if anyone was flying in the family'.
Mrs Bevis replied: 'I know she would take it if she was flying.
'I don't know if she would take it if anyone else was flying or not.'
The trial was earlier told that one of the couple's teenage children was due to be flying home from Switzerland later on the day of Mrs Hammond's death.
Mrs Bevis said she had met Mrs Hammond for lunch on October 27, and when asked if Mrs Hammond had mentioned any problems or issues on that occasion she replied 'no'.
'She spoke maybe one day in the future she might get an apartment in Menorca but that wasn't in the near future,' said Mrs Bevis.
Despite Mrs Hammond's plans for the future, her husband was hiding serious spiralling debt.
The prosecution claim he acted after his debts spiralled to £300,000 and had already been 'telling lies' including a bogus cancer diagnosis to keep creditors off his back.
'While the Hammonds were no doubt very wealthy, with numerous properties, and were held in high regard by many, the defendant found himself in a hole, not just about the debt and money but the status that brought them,' Mr Paxton said.
Suspicions were raised after Hammond claimed his wife fell of the bed while he was performing CPR.
The Crown say this could have been the first step in covering up the injuries she received when she was strangled, describing it as 'part of his façade, his act playing the grieving and anxious husband'.
A paramedic also questioned whether CPR had taken place as he arrived ten minutes after the 999 call was received.
Police were called to the detached house and noticed suspicious 'bruises and marks', the court was told.
A subsequent post-mortem examination found Mrs Hammond had numerous abrasions and bruises around her head and pinprick haemorrhaging to her face and neck indicating there had been 'pressure to the neck'.
Injuries to her hands suggested they were caused defending herself.
An investigation by Cambridgeshire Police found Hammond owed £200,000 to Legal and General and another large sum to HM Revenue and Customs.
During a conversation with a staff member at Legal and General who was chasing payment, Hammond is said to have mentioned his wife had died and that they had been in the process of divorcing.
But when interviewed by police, he said they were 'happily married'.
In a further conversation with the Legal and General employee on November 3, Hammond is said to have asked whether the firm would review the interest on his debt balance when he received a £450,000 life insurance payout.
'Sian had been dead barely a week and this was on the defendant's mind. He had his eyes on the prize of the pay-off,' said Mr Paxton.
'We say the defendant saw Sian's death as his way out of the debt crisis he was in.'
The court heard the couple, who have two teenage daughters and had been earning a combined £90,000 a month, had recently separated their businesses.
Sian, 46, was principal and director of Lime Tree Financial Services based in Cambridge, while her husband, who denies murder, runs Hammonds Mortgage Services in Huntingdon.
The trial continues.
