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The jury has been sent out in the trial of Ben Lacomba, who is accused of murdering former partner Sarah Wellgreen from New Ash Green.
Just over three weeks after the trial began, His Honour Judge Christopher Kinch finished summing up at Woolwich Crown Court today.
Sarah, 46, disappeared from her home at Bazes Shaw, New Ash Green, on the night of October 9-10 last year and has not been seen since. Lacomba was subsequently arrested and charged with murder.
Jurors were asked to consider two questions - could they be sure that Sarah Jane Wellgreen was dead, and were they sure that Ben Lacomba intended to and did kill her.
After finishing a review of the evidence, Judge Kinch said the jury should take as long as they need to come to a verdict.
“There must be no pressure of time on your deliberations,” he said. “It must take as long as it takes; that’s the only rule.”
Judge Kinch spent yesterday and today summing up the three weeks of evidence, which included the fact Sarah has not been seen since the night she disappeared despite a widespread police search, and that none of her phones or band accounts had been used.
Other evidence included the emergence, prior to her disappearance, of Sarah’s plan to buy Lacomba out of their home at Bazes Shaw; and that she had got a new job a day before she disappeared.
While Lacomba has said he was in bed throughout the night Sarah is said to have disappeared, evidence suggested his car left the New Ash Green area in the early hours of the morning and returned around two hours later.
The jury was reminded that a large long handled shovel was also found in his shed, which Lacomba said was bought for his mother to dig in his front garden as she couldn’t bend down very easily.
And the judge recalled there was evidence from an occupant of the house at Bazes Shaw who had seen Lacomba return to Bazes Shaw in the early hours of October 10, but Lacomba had said that they must have been mistaken that night with the night before - when he went out in the early hours to investigate the sound of animals nearby.
Judge Kinch added: “This episode is one of a number of matters that it’s apparent he didn’t mention when he was questioned by police.
“The prosecution allege this account of going out in the early hours of the 9th is a made up account to explain (the occupant’s) evidence. The defence says this is a genuine recollection which he didn’t reveal because he was following legal advice to stay silent.”
The judge also noted that Lacomba has no previous convictions or cautions, making him a man of “good character”, but he added: “Good character cannot by itself provide a defence to a criminal charge. Even the most hardened criminal had a good character once.”
Nevertheless, he said good character can support the credibility of a defendant’s evidence and may mean he is less likely to have committed an offence.
Other evidence included the fact Lacomba had thrown his phones in the River Thames in the wake of Sarah’s disappearance, something he said he did out of panic as he was worried that messages he’d composed to Sarah - but not sent - might be found on them.
Despite not being able to investigate the phones, police were able to access “data sessions”, which showed when the phones had connected with the network on the night Sarah disappeared.
Read more from the trial:
Such sessions suggested the phones were active before Lacomba’s car was thought to have left the house that night, and had remained inactive until he is alleged to have returned, and that a data session was said to have been observed soon after he parked up.
However, the judge reminded the jury to treat such evidence with caution as the defence had noted data sessions could occur automatically, for example if the phone connected with the network to update something or download an email.
Other evidence included the mud seen on Lacomba’s previously clean car, the morning after Sarah disappeared, plus the fact he got it washed that morning; although the judge reminded the jury how Lacomba thought he could have got the car dirty on his last taxi job the day before, and that he said he always got it cleaned before going to pay his rent at All Night Cars in Dartford.
It was also noted the CCTV at Lacomba and Sarah’s home in Bazes Shaw had been turned off the night Sarah disappeared, something which Lacomba had given different possible explanations for.
And the judge recalled how a damp t-shirt had been found in Lacomba’s shed - which the defendant said he might have used as a rag while cleaning his property.
After being sent out the court reconvened this afternoon to answer questions from the jury, who asked if there was a full length picture of Sarah, if there was evidence of her height and weight, and if the police had investigated the 10 Vauxhall Zafiras of the same year and model identified within the three postcodes around New Ash Green.
The jury was told there was a photo showing Sarah from a distance presented in evidence, but it was also recalled Lacomba had estimated Sarah to be 5ft 6ins and a size 12 in his first 999 call to police. Later, giving evidence in court, Lacomba had estimated Sarah’s weight as 13 to 14 stone.
The jury were told the vehicles in question had been investigated to the extent to which was presented in evidence - in that 10 vehicles of the same model and year were identified but none were registered as a taxi.
The court was later reconvened before the jury was sent out again. The court will next sit on Monday next week, due to a prescheduled break.
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