Cheshire Police/CPSA husband has been sentenced to life behind bars after beating his wife round the head with a crowbar more than 30 times.
David Pomphret, 51, is said to have snapped after ‘years of abuse’, bludgeoning Ann-Marie Pomphret, 49, to death in their Cheshire stables on November 2.
He initially protested his innocence, maintaining he’d found his wife’s body after going to the stables to check on her. However, his lies were undone when a speck of blood on his socks proved he was at the scene.
Watch David speak to police after Ann-Marie’s body was discovered:
Footage showing the Barclays IT executive in the back of an ambulance, telling the emergency worker, ‘she was just lying there.’
But, in reality, Pomphret had beaten his wife in a ‘frenzied attack’ after she allegedly mocked his erectile dysfunction.
Today (October 15), he was handed a minimum of 20 years in prison at Liverpool Crown Court after being convicted of murder.
As per Sky News, the judge branded Pomphret as an ‘accomplished liar’, calling his attempts to cover up the murder a ‘web of deceit and lies’.
Cheshire PoliceJudge David Aubrey QC said:
It was a ferocious attack causing catastrophic injuries.
She had defensive injuries to both her hands and she must have been pleading and begging for it to stop.
You didn’t. You continued to strike her and then left her there on the path.
A family has been destroyed. A daughter has lost her mother. Murdered by her father who is about to commence a sentence of life imprisonment.
During the trial, Pomphret claimed he suffered abuse at the hands of his wife, who had been suffering from depression, was having treatment for cancer and been diagnosed with an autistic personality disorder.
The couple had gone to pick up tools to fix the shower at their home on November 2, last year, when Pomphret claimed his ‘volatile’ wife began ‘ranting’ at him.
He says she was screaming at him, calling him a bad parent and ‘limp and f*cking useless.’
Cheshire PoliceThe 51-year-old said he was embarrassed because he was ‘not performing well’ and finally lost it when she slapped him across the face.
He then bludgeoned her to death with a crowbar and attempted to cover up his heinous crime.
In a bid to cover up his atrocities, he launched the murder weapon into the pond and switched his and his wife’s cars around and texted Ann-Marie a number of times asking where she was, before phoning the police.
When asked what happened, Pomphret said:
Couple of hours ago, wife comes down the stables on her own.
She said she’d forgotten something.
I don’t know whether it was something to do with the horses or why she came down.
I thought she was taking her time. Tried to text her, got nothing back. Tried to text her again, a little bit longer, nothing back. Thought she’d got a problem with the horses.
We’ve had it in the past where people have crashed through the fence or the horses have got out.
So, I brought some torches down, and she’s just lying there.
Oh God, she’s just lying there.
Pathologist Dr Alison Armour ruled Ann-Marie died from severe head injuries caused by multiple blows to her head. The attack caused brain injuries and damage to her skull and significant blood loss.
Pomphret admitted manslaughter but denied murder – claiming to jurors his wife had launched into a vile rant about their daughter Megan.
Cheshire PoliceHe said he felt ‘terrible’ about battering Ann-Marie to death, adding:
I killed the woman I love. A horrible thing to do.
However, jurors didn’t believe his story and convicted him of murder last week.
Detective Inspector Adam Waller, who was in charge of the investigation, said:
His lies and deceit caused anguish for Ann-Marie’s family and prompted one of the biggest investigations the Constabulary has seen in recent years.
The injuries sustained by Ann-Marie were horrific and all those involved in this investigation were determined to find her killer and ensure they were brought to justice for their actions.
What Pomphret did that day ripped a family apart and he will now have to face the consequences of that behind bars.
If you have experienced a bereavement and would like to speak with someone in confidence contact Cruse Bereavement Care via their national helpline on 0808 808 1677.
Emma Rosemurgey is an NCTJ trained Journalist who started her career by producing The Royal Rosemurgey newspaper in 2004, which kept her family up to date with the goings on of her sleepy north east village. She graduated from the University of Central Lancashire in Preston and started her career in regional newspapers before joining Tyla (formerly Pretty 52) in 2017, and progressing onto UNILAD in 2019.