London - A cross-dressing former Royal Opera House employee bludgeoned his fiancee to death after discovering she was having an affair, a court heard.
Roderick Deakin-White, 38, murdered Amy Parsons, 35, with a metal bar when he learnt that she was planning to leave him, jurors were told.
After hearing about Miss Parsons’s affair with James Saunders, who worked with her at a City insurance firm, Deakin-White sent a flurry of angry messages to friends.
He described his Australian girlfriend, a secretary, as a ‘sneaky b****’ and a ‘nasty, nasty person’, saying ‘I’m going to do something stupid’, jurors heard.
The freelance graphic designer, who had previously worked for the Royal Opera House, decided that ‘if he couldn’t have her no one can’ after discovering love messages between Miss Parsons and Mr Saunders, the court was told.
A message from Miss Parsons to Mr Saunders in the days before the killing read: ‘I’m scared of what’s going to happen. You make me feel happy, comfortable, safe, wanted and needed, all wonderful things.’
She was battered to death in April while showering at the flat she shared with Deakin-White in Whitechapel, East London. Deakin-White has admitted manslaughter but denies murder.
Gareth Patterson QC, prosecuting at Snaresbrook Crown Court, said: ‘Unwilling to accept that she was going to leave him, the defendant used a metal bar to hit her repeatedly around the head. He caused horrific injuries.’
He added: ‘Before the defendant met her, he had had little in the way of relationships with other women and the evidence suggests he became extremely dependent upon her.
‘The flat in which they lived was owned by Miss Parsons. The defendant did not go out to work and Amy provided him with financial support. He had had depression, although he had chosen not to take medication. His dependency on her appears to have been both emotional and financial.’
Mr Patterson said messages to witnesses who knew the couple ‘discussed Amy’s increasing unhappiness’ with the relationship. ‘For example, she was unhappy about the fact that he liked to engage in cross-dressing – dressing in women’s clothing – when they were being intimate together,’ the prosecutor said.
He told jurors Deakin-White began stalking Miss Parsons in a bid to see her with Mr Saunders and also used her laptop to monitor her activities.
After the killing, Deakin-White fled the scene and rang his father, who dialled 999. The trial continues.