A wealthy mortgage broker who strangled his wife after having sex texted his friends telling them she was dead, a court heard.
Robert Hammond, 47, allegedly murdered his wife of more than 20 years, Sian, on October 30 last year in a bid to pay off his mounting debt.
Hammond, who was facing a “growing mountain of debt and financial pressure”, had ensured he had paid off arrears on his wife’s life insurance policy days before her death.
The Cambridgeshire banker then called the emergency services and told them he had found his wife dead in the early hours of the morning after going to bed alone.
However, a post-mortem examination indicated that the mother of two had been strangled.
Robert Hammond, 47, allegedly murdered his wife of more than 20 years, Sian, on October 30 last year in a bid to clear his spiraling debts.
Mum-of-two Sian was allegedly strangled by her husband of more than 20 years after the couple went to Aldi to buy a steak for dinner.
Sian with her two daughters and her husband. Friends were shocked to learn of her death after the banker texted them the devastating news in the early hours of the morning.
The 46-year-old broker, also known as James, called 999 at 1.50am and told the operator he had found his wife face down in bed and not breathing at their £1.2million home in Primes Corner, Cambridgeshire.
He then coldly texted his friends to inform them of her death, saying: “I wanted you to know from me that Sian passed away last night in her sleep.”
‘It’s been a difficult day. Can you let your other halves know please?
‘I don’t need anything, I just want you to know. James’
Deborah Bevis, who met Mrs Hammond about 15 years ago when her children attended the same school, said she and her husband were shocked by the message.
Mrs Bevis told the jury she “didn’t believe it” and she and her husband went to see their old friend three days later, where the banker was bragging about his sexual exploits with his late wife.
Hammond allegedly told Ms Bevis that the couple had gone to Aldi to buy steak for dinner before working out at their home gym.
He also said that because Sian was very sporty, he had treated sex like exercise.
Hammond, 47, was around £300,000 in debt and had already been “telling lies”, including a false cancer diagnosis, to keep creditors off his back.
Mrs Hammond (pictured) had numerous abrasions and bruises around her head and bleeding on her face and neck, a post-mortem examination found.
Mrs Hammond was found dead in her £1.2million detached home she shared with her husband.
Christopher Paxton KC told Mrs Bevis: ‘He (Hammond) said they had gone to bed but you don’t know what time it was.
“He said he and Sian had a cwtch (it’s a Welsh word for hug) and James told you that he had sex with Sian and described Sian as a gym bunny and that Sian had used him for exercise.”
Mrs Bevis replied: “Yes, I think he said that.”
The prosecutor asked Ms Bevis if she had asked any questions about this and she said it “didn’t seem appropriate at the time”.
Paxton asked if it was “normal for Sian or James to previously talk about their sex life”, and Mrs Bevis replied “no”.
She agreed that Hammond said he “went downstairs to let Sian sleep because she was snoring a lot”, and that when he later went upstairs he found her lying face down and “knew immediately something was wrong”.
Karim Khalil KC, defending, asked Ms Bevis if she thought Hammond “had said he was going to bed at midnight or was simply indicating that it was late, or was being picky about things”.
Mrs Bevis said: “I think he was just indicating that it was late.”
He described Hammond as a “fun, sociable, pleasant man” and that he “didn’t see him not being calm.”
Mr Khalil said: “Did she (Ms Hammond) ever indicate that they were under any financial pressure?”
Mrs Bevis replied “no” and gave the same answer when asked if Mrs Hammond had ever indicated that there was “any tension between her and her husband”.
He agreed with Mr Paxton that the couple’s daughters “swimmed at a very high level” and that Mrs Hammond would pick them up from venues and take them to school.
The prosecutor asked Ms Bevis if Ms Hammond “occasionally took diazepam, especially if someone in the family traveled by plane”.
Mrs Bevis replied: ‘I know I would accept it if I were flying.
“I don’t know if I would accept it if someone else was flying or not.”
The trial had previously been told that one of the couple’s teenage children was due to fly home from Switzerland later on the day of Mrs Hammond’s death.
Mrs Bevis said she had met Mrs Hammond for lunch on October 27 and when asked if Mrs Hammond had raised any problems or issues on that occasion she replied “no”.
“He said maybe one day in the future he could get an apartment in Menorca, but that was not in the near future,” Mrs Bevis said.
Despite Mrs. Hammond’s plans for the future, her husband was hiding serious spiraling debt.
Prosecutors claim he acted after his debts soared to £300,000 and that he had already been “telling lies”, including a false cancer diagnosis, to keep creditors off his back.
“While the Hammonds were undoubtedly very wealthy, with numerous properties and held in high esteem by many, the defendant found himself in a bind, not only because of the debt and money, but also because of the status it gave them,” he said. Mr. Paxton.
Suspicions arose after Hammond claimed his wife fell out of bed while he was performing CPR.
The Crown says this could have been the first step in covering up the injuries she received when she was strangled, describing it as “part of his facade, his act as a grieving and anxious husband.”
A paramedic also questioned whether CPR had been performed when he arrived ten minutes after receiving the 999 call.
Police were called to the townhouse and noticed suspicious “bruises and marks”, the court was told.
A subsequent post-mortem examination found that Mrs Hammond had numerous abrasions and bruises around her head and stabbing haemorrhages to her face and neck, indicating there had been “pressure on the neck”.
The wounds on his hands suggested they were caused while defending himself.
An investigation by Cambridgeshire Police found that Hammond owed £200,000 to Legal and General and another large sum to HM Revenue and Customs.
During a conversation with a Legal and General staff member seeking payment, Hammond is said to have mentioned that his wife had died and they were in the process of getting a divorce.
But when police interviewed him, he said they were “happily married.”
In another conversation with the Legal and General Affairs employee on November 3, Hammond is said to have asked if the company would review interest on his debt balance when he received a £450,000 life insurance payout.
‘Sian had been dead for just a week and this was on the defendant’s mind. “She had her eyes on the prize payment,” Mr. Paxton said.
“We say that the defendant saw Sian’s death as a way out of the debt crisis he found himself in.”
The court heard that the couple, who have two teenage daughters and together earned £90,000 a month, had recently separated their businesses.
Sian, 46, was a director of Lime Tree Financial Services based in Cambridge, while her husband, who denies murder, runs Hammonds Mortgage Services in Huntingdon.
The trial continues.