The co-founder of a social enterprise who was fatally stabbed by her partner had expressed fear that he was "on the warpath" shortly before her death, a court has heard.
Clifton George, 45, is accused of murdering 46-year-old Annabel Rook during an argument at their home in north London last June. The court heard that Rook died after being punched, strangled, and stabbed 22 times by George, before he started a fire that caused a gas explosion likened to a "mini earthquake."
Guilty Plea Not Accepted
George admitted he was responsible for killing Rook, his partner of 10 years, but denied the murder charge. Instead, he pleaded guilty to manslaughter due to a loss of self-control, a plea not accepted by prosecutors.
Rook told her father, a retired Old Bailey judge, that George had been bullying her and flying into rages over "trivial things." She described living with him as like "walking on eggshells."
Voice Messages Reveal Fear
Snaresbrook Crown Court heard that just 17 days before she was killed, Rook left her sister voice notes saying she no longer felt the relationship was "tenable."
"I fear there will be some more wrath to come," she said in the message played in court. After seeking legal advice, she was told George did not have any claim to their £1.2 million home because the couple were unmarried.
Jurors heard that on the evening of the alleged argument, Rook was planning to offer George £50,000 to move out so he could put down a deposit on a flat nearby.
In another message recorded shortly before she died, she said: "He's now on the warpath. It's tinged with him going with half of the house, which he's got no legs to stand on. It's going to get messy and it's going to be horrible."
The Attack
It is alleged George became "very angry" with Rook during an argument in their living room, punched her, and tried to strangle her. A witness allegedly saw George taking a knife from the kitchen and attacking Rook.
George said Rook had "lied" to him and claimed the stabbing happened because of the shock he suffered during a temporary loss of control.
The court heard he set fire to the basement of the property, directly below the living room where Rook's body was lying, to trigger a gas canister explosion. George, who has pleaded guilty to arson, was burned on the back in the explosion, indicating he was walking away from the basement at the time.
Neighbour's Account
Rhys Sullivan, the couple's neighbour, recalled hearing and feeling a "massive boom, which felt like a mini-earthquake." He rushed outside with his partner, Harriet Cosby, to check what had happened.
Cosby found George lying on the kitchen floor covered in blood and broken glass, while the roof of the kitchen extension had been blown off. The neighbours shouted for George to get out of the house but watched in horror as he then started to stab himself in the neck.
Police and firefighters were called to the house at around 5am and found George inside covered in blood. Asked whether anyone else was inside, he said "my wife," but that she was dead "because I killed her." He added that "my missus lied to me ... I lost it."
Rook was a co-founder of a London-based social enterprise called MamaSuze, which supports refugee and migrant women with art and drama activities and workshops.
The trial continues.
