Man found guilty of murdering his wife in Cambridgeshire

A man has been found guilty of murdering his wife at their home in Cambridgeshire.

Robert Hammond has been on trial at Cambridge Crown Court for the murder of his wife Sian in Primes Corner, Histon in October last year.

The court had heard the defendant faced a "surging mountain of debt and financial pressures" and his wife's life insurance policy was for a £450,000 payout in the event of her death, prosecutor Christopher Paxton KC said.

The defendant dialled 999 just before 2am on October 30 last year and told the operator he had found his wife Sian face down on the bed and not breathing.

Mr Paxton said that a post-mortem examination "established Sian Hammond had been strangled and sustained other injuries including to her vagina".

Air ambulance doctor Abilius Wong, who attended Robert and Sian Hammond's home, told jurors that the defendant told paramedics he last saw Sian well around 30 minutes before the 999 call was made.

Critical care paramedic Sally Boor told the court during CPR, blood had come up through tubes inserted by paramedics into Sian's mouth, which she said doesn't often happen early in resuscitation.

Karim Khalil KC, defending, said Hammond and his wife Sian were "a wonderful loving couple and devoted themselves to their children."

Mr Khalil, who said the defendant and his wife were "childhood sweethearts", told the court that medical evidence showed there were no signs of a 'crushing' injury on Sian at the time of her death.

Judge Mr Justice Cavanagh KC told jurors that Hammond said he and his wife's finances were healthy.

Mr Justice Cavanagh KC said Hammond, a mortgage broker, "admits to telling lies but 99.9 per cent of situations, he didn't lie".

In the judge's closing comments, he said Hammond admitted to lying to the likes of insurers as part of a strategy between him and Sian to help clear debts.

Hammond said there "was no reason to contemplate killing my wife".

Detective Inspector Richard Stott, from the Beds, Cambs and Herts Major Crime Unit, said it was an unusual case because suspicions were not raised until a coroner’s postmortem examination on 3 November, which identified concerning injuries.

A forensic post-mortem a week later concluded the cause of death was compression of the neck.

DI Stott said: “The pathology played a key part in this investigation, and this started to show how Mr Hammond had lied about how his wife had died.

“Once the investigation progressed it showed Hammond to be a competent liar and the large debts and financial pressures, he was under became clear. His greed and fear of losing his public standing led to him murdering his wife to benefit from her life insurance and to continue to hide his debt and lies.

“Our thoughts go out to the family and friends of Sian; she was a loved and well-liked person and an active and successful businesswoman.”

Sian’s family previously released this statement: “Everyone that knew her would agree Sian was one of the friendliest people you could have the pleasure of meeting, and she will be sorely missed by many.”

47 year old Robert Hammond will be sentenced on Tuesday 23rd July

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