Man accused of murdering Bigglewade mum-of-three says he 'snapped' after 'suffering years of abuse'

The man accused of murdering mum-of-three Sarah Albone and hiding her body in a wheelie bin told a jury today that he had ‘snapped’ after suffering ‘years of abuse’.

Matthew Waddell, 35, told the court that he went ‘numb’ when he attacked her.

On the night of the attack, at the end of November last year, he said she came downstairs at the house in Winston Crescent, Biggleswade, and started shouting at him. Waddell said he had snapped after suffering “years of abuse” from Sarah, who had multiple sclerosis.

He told the jury: ”It was like a curtain came down. It is a feeling like you would not believe. You literally go numb. You stop feeling.”

The prosecution at Luton Crown Court said Sarah, 38, had been in a “toxic relationship” with Waddell who launched a “frenzied and horrific attack.”

After killing her, Waddell told her family and friends she was receiving treatment at a hospital in London and could not be contacted. He sent text messages from her mobile phone, used her bank card and sold her belongings.

He put her body in a suitcase before placing it in a wheelie bin at the back of her home in Biggleswade, where it was found three months later.

Waddell denies murdering the mother-of-three at her home in Winston Crescent between November 20 last year and February 26.

Mr Mulgrew said a post mortem examination found a “frenzied and horrific attack had been carried out, resulting in catastrophic injuries.” The cause of death was airway obstruction caused by catastrophic injuries to her head. She had broken ribs and injuries to her body.

In a letter found in the house Waddell wrote that he had stamped on Sarah’s head, but she was still breathing. It added: “I grabbed a towel and wrapped it around your head. There was blood everywhere.”

His barrister Naeem Mian KC asked Waddell why he did not leave Sarah. He replied: “Because I loved her and wanted it to work. No matter how many times I left. How many times she kicked me out. We got back together all the time.

“I loved her. I was actually in love with the woman. Every time we broke up she said she needed me.”

Asked if he exerted controlling behaviour over her, he replied: “No one could exert control over Sarah. She did what she did when she wanted.”

After killing her he said he covered her up with a duvet and put a load of washing on because he had blood on his clothing.

He said: “I felt free as I could breathe. In a sense there was a bit of freedom. I wasn’t under any torment – everything was gone.”

Waddell said he went to the shop to buy beers and to a friend where he got some cocaine – but he said he was destroyed after she died and did not sleep for over a week.

Case proceeding