Dempsey Nibbs, 69, has been sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 21 years for the murder of his wife, Judith Nibbs, 60, at their flat in Hoxton, east London. The court heard how Nibbs, a crane driver, attacked his wife with an iron bar, decapitated her, and flushed her severed head down the toilet.
On 10 April 2014, Nibbs became enraged after Judith taunted him about having affairs as their relationship deteriorated. He struck her with an iron bar, then cut off her head and attacked it with a mallet before disposing of the pieces in the lavatory. He later wrote a note to his son and called police, claiming they would find two bodies.
Officers arrived to find Judith's headless body through the letterbox. They grappled with Nibbs as he attempted to stab himself in the bathroom, disarming him of a shotgun and knife. Nibbs, who had prostate cancer, claimed self-defence, but a jury at the Old Bailey found him guilty of murder.
Sentencing, the recorder of London, Nicholas Hilliard QC, told Nibbs: 'I'm sure you don't regret your wife's death save for its effect on your own comfort and wellbeing.' The judge described the killing as an act of 'grotesque savagery'.
Judith's sister, Frances, described her as a 'very kind and caring person', saying the family was 'shocked and devastated' by her murder. The couple's son, Kirk, was greatly affected by the trial and did not submit a victim impact statement.
