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Jurors have been urged not to convict Ben Lacomba of murder if they have any doubt at all that the 39-year-old murdered his former partner Sarah Wellgreen.
Making her closing speech at Woolwich Crown Court, defence barrister Rebecca Trowler QC said there was still a huge amount of uncertainty surrounding the night on which Sarah disappeared from her home in New Ash Green, between October 9 and 10 last year.
“What I ask of you is a lot less than what the prosecution ask,” she said.
“They are asking you to convict a 39-year-old man with no criminal convictions, not even cautions, of the carefully planned murder of the mother of his children - that is a big ask.
“I know you will want to think very carefully before you do what it is the prosecution ask you to.
“For you to convict Benjamin Lacomba the prosecution must have proved to you that Benjamin Lacomba murdered Sarah Wellgreen. They must make you sure that he is guilty of the offence that is being alleged. The first thing that you have to be sure about is that Sarah Wellgreen is dead.
“Can the prosecution prove to you that Sarah Wellgreen is definitely dead or are you left with a nagging doubt in the back of your mind that there’s something not right? Are you left with the feeling that actually there was a lot more going on with Sarah Wellgreen that in the context of her life the possibilities are a bit less predictable than they might be for most of the people that you know in your lives.”
Ms Trowler noted the absence of a body made it hard to prove that Sarah had died, adding: “I don’t know whether she’s alive or not but perhaps you don’t either. Perhaps you will conclude that perhaps she may be. Even if the prosecution have satisfied you so you are sure Sarah Wellgreen is dead they nonetheless have a mountain to climb to prove she came to die at the hands of the defendant and not in any other way.
“You may think the prosecution case turns on Ben Lacomba, on the Dartford cabbie, having completely outwitted the fully deployed resources of Kent Police in several different ways.
“One if them is the remarkable clean up operation he is said to have done on his house, either alone or with his mum who the prosecution say could not prepare a flower bed.”
That was a reference to the long-handled shovel the prosecution suggest was used to dig a hole to bury Sarah’s body - but which Lacomba says was bought for his mother to dig the front garden.
The shovel itself was listed as a number of everyday objects which Ms Trowler said had been incorrectly identified as “smoking guns” by the prosecution.
There was nothing unusual about having a shovel in a shed, she suggested, and nor was it outlandish to have an old t-shirt in the shed, for use as a rag. Neither of those items had been hidden, said Ms Trowler, and neither had any forensic evidence on them connecting them with a killing.
Ms Trowler suggested that it was possible Sarah had walked out of her house of her own free will that night and added: “Is it possible that the police, in centering their search for Sarah Wellgreen first on Bazes Shaw and the Plaxdale Green Road, is it possible they were barking up the wrong tree?
“It’s uncomfortable isn’t it? That the prosecution have fought so hard to persuade you that their case is irrefutable; that they have a guilty man backed into the corner.
“Where’s the body Mr Lacomba?" she said, quoting prosecutor Alison Morgan. “Remember how the questioning began. But what if they are wrong?”
Ms Trowler noted Lacomba is a man without a criminal record, a taxi driver that kept his job for 12 years, and a father who cared for his children.
The court previously heard how the man accused of killing his ex-partner could have dug a grave before she disappeared
She added: “While you might understand why police became suspicious of him, that is not enough. If at the end of your discussions all you can conclude is that he is a suspect, or even the most likely suspect, then you cannot convict him.
“Only if the prosecution make you sure - make you sure that Sarah Wellgreen is definitely dead and sure if she is dead that Ben Lacomba and no one else definitely murdered her - only then can you take that greatest step and convict him of murder.”
Ms Trowler noted Sarah had a history of different relationships, and that it was perhaps possible she had decided to move on again and leave, avoiding nearby CCTV cameras.
“If she did that it would explain why there’s no evidence of a killing at Bazes Shaw” she added, noting there was no forensic evidence to support a murder and no neighbours heard or saw anything the night Sarah disappeared.
She also noted it was important to consider Sarah’s mental health and the possibility of suicide - something Sarah had considered before.
Read more from the trial:
She concluded by reminding the jury of the weight of responsibility on their shoulders and that the criminal justice system was developed to both protect the public from crime and avoid injustice.
If the jury had any doubts, she said, they could not convict Mr Lacomba of murder.
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