Edenbridge murder trial: Victim’s sister and neighbours give evidence over defendant’s ‘previous threats’
Published: 11:28, 17 October 2024
Updated: 12:42, 17 October 2024
A boyfriend accused of murdering his girlfriend after beating her told police “I know it’s not good” after he was arrested.
Sonia Parker, 52, was found dead on her living room floor after a panicked 999 call to the ambulance service from her partner Huseyin Kalyoncu.
The 33-year-old is on trial at Maidstone Crown Court accused of killing his disabled girlfriend at the maisonette where they lived in Styles Close, Four Elms, Edenbridge, on May 5.
The court heard earlier this week how Ms Parker, a mother-of-two, died as a result of blunt force trauma injuries to her head and torso.
Eloise Marshall KC previously told the jury how a pathology report showed the victim had 69 external injuries, most of which pre-dated her death, and that her body had been “punched, kicked and stamped on”.
Kalyoncu was a takeaway driver at a chicken shop in Edenbridge where he met Ms Parker, who was also a part-time driver there.
He denies murder but admitted a charge of manslaughter before the trial started.
On Tuesday, the panicked 999 call the Turkish-Cypriot made to the ambulance service and body-worn footage from arresting police officers were played to the court.
During the call, which was prompted after Kalyoncu first rang his mother who advised him to ring for help, he told operators: “We were fighting and she went down.
“I had a fight with my girlfriend, then I hit her a little, then she fell onto the floor and I need an ambulance.”
The call was made at 8.01am and paramedics arrived just 16 minutes later.
Student paramedic Nicola Toms was first on the scene. Kalyoncu grabbed her arm and told her in a “panicked” manner: “Help her, help her.”
She added: “He was talking another language. I couldn’t understand.
“I was aware this was a suspected domestic violence case and I didn’t know if he was a threat, so I grabbed the neckline of his shirt and guided him out.”
Ms Toms told the court she saw the victim lying on the ground face up with “extensive bruises on her body”.
The emergency services worker was asked by defence counsel Christopher Martin how Kalyoncu was acting while she administered CPR.
Ms Toms told the jury: “On multiple occasions the male came back into the property in the hallway and crouched in the corner, sweating and crying.”
A second paramedic who gave evidence at the trial described Kalyoncu as “distressed, frantic and unsure where to place himself”.
Body-worn footage of PC Goodman and PC Billings arriving at the property was also played in court.
PC Billings was met by Kalyoncu, who was stood outside in a grey McKenzie top and tracksuit, who told him: “I’m fighting with my partner. She is down there. Come and help her.”
PC Goodman then arrived and asked the defendant what had happened, to which he replied: “I’m fighting with my partner and I’m punching her. She is going down and I call ambulance.”
The officer then arrested Kalyoncu on suspicion of assault, with the defendant immediately saying: “I know it is not good.”
He was searched and re-arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after Ms Parker went into cardiac arrest.
While travelling to Tonbridge police station it was relayed that the victim had lost her life and Kalyoncu was re-arrested for a third time, this time on suspicion of murder. Evidence from PC Goodman’s statement said Kalyoncu “looked down at the floor and around in shock” when he was told Ms Parker had died.
Maria Angelica, Ms Parker’s older sister, battled through tears and told the court her sister, who was a part-time cleaner and takeaway driver, was a “grafter” who worked even with her disabilities which had been caused by a lack of oxygen at birth and a serious car crash last year.
She added: “She was so friendly. She would talk to anyone and everyone. She was one of those people who was super kind.”
The witness was asked if she had ever met Kalyoncu, but she said that despite a number of attempts to meet up with him and her sister, no proper meeting ever happened.
On one occasion, the victim and defendant were staying at a Premier Inn close to Ms Angelica and they had agreed to meet at the neighbouring Beefeater.
However, when Ms Parker’s sister arrived she was told that Kalyoncu wouldn’t be coming as he was “agitated because the food he had earlier was cold”.
Ms Angelica said she did speak to Kalyoncu on a couple of occasions on the phone after that, and on one occasion, when her sister called her from a car on April 1, she heard “just horrific” shouting and threats from someone she believed to be Kalyoncu.
The defendant had got into an altercation with another dog walker. Ms Angelica added: “He said something like ‘I’m going to f***ing kill you. That’s my dog, she’s going to f*** you up;’
“He was livid. It was frightening me and I wasn’t even there.”
Ms Angelica described how she was out with her husband, daughter and daughter’s boyfriend when she had a call from police and was told her sister had passed away.
She told the court: “I just said ‘Oh my god. He’s killed her.’
“That was the first thing which went through my mind. They didn’t tell me, it was just a feeling I had.”
Neighbour Mark Flood told the court Ms Parker was a “very friendly and kind” person, but after she met Kalyoncu her demeanour changed and she became “very quiet and wouldn’t talk”.
On one occasion, he claims he saw Kalyoncu who told him Ms Parker had been pushed over at work.
Mr Flood continued: “He was very upset and told me ‘I will find out who has done this and go to this person’s wife, rape her and kill him.’”
Mr Martin, defending, suggested that wasn’t what Kalyoncu had said and Mr Flood was mistaken.
He said Kalyoncu told the neighbour about a man named Joe who had been round and asked Ms Parker for money. He added that Kalyoncu then told Mr Flood “if Joe did that again he would find him and kill him”.
Another neighbour, Carl Lamb, told the jury how he too believed Ms Parker’s behaviour had changed and she was less friendly after meeting Kalyoncu.
He detailed how on one night he heard “shouting and hollering” in an argument about the couple’s black Labrador-cross at about 9pm one night.
He explained: “I looked out the window and saw flashing lights and thought ‘what’s going on?’
“They were looking for the dog and he was ranting and raving. It frightened me. I thought he was going to hit her.
“He said: ‘I’m going to f***ing kill you if you’ve lost that dog. I’m going to f***ing kill you.”
During cross-examination, Mr Lamb admitted he couldn’t see the man properly but could hear him.
Mr Martin added: “Huseyin Kalyoncu denies shouting at Sonia Parker. He says he was shouting at the dog and not to Ms Parker. Is it possible you were mistaken?”
“Not a chance,” Mr Lamb replied.
The court also heard how a neighbour had reported Ms Parker to the West Kent Housing Association, which rented the homes to tenants, about a possible domestic violence incident on Friday, May 3.
It came after she noticed the woman with two black eyes which “looked like a panda mask” and immediately thought it had been done by Kalyoncu, despite Ms Parker stating she had fallen over.
West Kent Housing Association had logged the call and tried to refer it to a community safeguarding manager that day, but nobody had answered.
They were due to try to contact her again on Monday, May 6, due to weekend working hours, but Ms Parker died the day before.
The trial continues.
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Sean McPolin