Ilkeston carpet fitter ‘callously’ dumped ex-partner he’d murdered, court told

A carpet fitter murdered his ex-partner and "callously" dumped her body in woodland close to a lay-by near the M1, a jury has been told. A trial heard that after killing Sarah Henshaw, 36-year-old Darren Hall then set about covering his tracks by taking her belongings to a recycling centre. The Ilkeston[1] woman's dressing gown and slippers were later found in a skip, a prosecutor said.

And a necklace 31-year-old Ms Henshaw "never took off" was discovered on the floor in her home by a witness. Hall, of Rodney Close, is on trial for murdering Ms Henshaw. He denies the charge, claiming she died as a result of accidentally falling down the stairs, the prosecution told the jury.

Prosecutor Michelle Heeley KC[2], opening the trial, told the jury: "Ladies and gentlemen, on June 26, this year, Sarah Henshaw's body was discovered in woodland off a lay-by on the A617. She had been murdered.[3] "The Crown says it was this defendant who had killed her a few days previously and callously dumped her body. He says she died accidentally when she fell down some stairs.

We say you can be sure she didn't die accidentally, but rather at the hands of this defendant." Join us on WhatsApp to get the latest news straight to your phone[4] Miss Heeley said Hall and the victim had been in a relationship for some years.

She said the two had been together for a period of time, before separating and then rekindling their relationship. By the time of the alleged killing, they had fully separated and were living at different addresses in Ilkeston. She said: "It was not a happy relationship, punctuated by arguments, separation and reconciliation and friends and relatives of Sarah Henshaw had previously witnessed injuries to her, caused at the hands of this defendant.

"At the time of Ms Henshaw's disappearance she had wanted the defendant out of her life, but he still had a key to her home and would let himself in." The defendant said on June 20, Ms Henshaw went for lunch with a friend. She said they returned to the victim's home address in Norman Street, and when they got there, the defendant was present at the address, having let himself in with a key earlier that day.

Miss Heeley said: "Sarah was annoyed that he was there, and had let himself in. He refused to leave. [Her friend] saw Sarah asking him to leave. The defendant was pleading with her and did not leave.

Having arrived sometime before midday the defendant remained at the home all afternoon, and into the evening. "At 6.33pm, Sarah was caught on CCTV purchasing some food from a local One Stop. She returned home.

Her friend remained at the house until 9pm, when she returned home. Whilst there [Sarah's friend] witnessed first-hand the defendant arguing with Sarah Henshaw. She made it plain on more than one occasion that she didn't want him there, but he would not listen or leave, and the atmosphere throughout dinner was tense."

Miss Heeley said later, after Miss Green left, a witness later told police[5] they heard banging and arguing coming from the house. She said a couple of minutes later that witness heard heavy footsteps on the stairs and what she thought were black bin liners being opened. She said later a broken necklace, which witnesses later told police Ms Henshaw "never took off," was found on the floor at the bottom of the stairs.

The prosecutor said: "No one heard from Sarah again." She said: "A neighbour had heard banging coming from the address at 1.50am. She then saw the defendant at the back of his work van and then sent a message to Sarah asking if all was OK.

"She received a reply saying it was. It is the prosecution's case that the defendant replied using Sarah's phone, she was already dead when he sent that message. He was already covering up what he had done, pretending to be her.

Thereafter her phone was turned off and the police never recovered it. "The defendant left [Sarah Henshaw's home address] at 1.56am and he drove to the A617 some 20 miles away and there he paused. He was driving, travelling out of Ilkeston, towards the M1 where it came off at junction 29 of the M1 and drove onto the A617 towards Chesterfield.

"The police later analysed his phone which placed the defendant at a layby on the A617 for nine minutes. Phone evidence shows that he stopped in a layby, his phone disconnected from the van's Bluetooth, and he began to walk. The torch on his phone was turned on.

He was out of the van for nine minutes before getting back in and driving back to Ms Henshaw's home address. "Subsequent searches some days later of the precise site that his phone was stationary revealed Ms Henshaw's body. The defendant's van was seen to travel back from the site where Ms Henshaw's body was found, returning to Norman Street at 3.15am.

The Crown's case is that he had murdered her, and then dumped her body." Miss Heeley said Hall did not report Ms Henshaw as missing and instead "was calculated, calm and covering his tracks", telling people that Ms Henshaw had simply left. She said between June 20 and 23, when the matter was brought to the attention of the police, the defendant went to Ms Henshaw's home and removed a number of items from it and disposed of them.

She said: "Subsequent investigation found that the defendant had visited a recycling centre and a skip two consecutive days after Sarah Henshaw had gone missing. He was seen disposing of items in them. "Police were unable to retrieve the items from the recycling centre as it had been emptied by the time they had checked his phone, movements and CCTV, but when they searched the skip that the defendant had gone to they found Sarah Henshaw's dressing gown and slippers and a duvet.

He was trying to portray that she had gone missing, and he deliberately removed items from her home." Miss Heeley said after Ms Henshaw was reported as missing three days after she was last seen alive, police forced entry into her home. She said Hall was arrested just before midnight on June 23 and gave a number of accounts in interview, but maintained he was not responsible for her death.

She said a pathologist later examined Ms Henshaw's body but as it had been outside for a number of days it had partially decomposed. She said: "The prosecution cannot say precisely how Ms Henshaw died, but what we can say is it was not from natural causes. Something happened to her that killed her.

"The prosecution's case is that this defendant was in the house when Ms Henshaw disappeared. (A witness) heard arguments and loud banging, bin liners being rustled. There was the broken necklace. He then told people lies.

"If this was an accident, as we now understand he claims, then he had multiple opportunities to call for help - ambulance, police - to tell people, and explain himself. "We now understand the defendant will say Ms Henshaw accidentally fell down the stairs, as he was defending himself from her. There is no evidence that he was panicking in the aftermath of this offence, on the contrary, he was lying to her friends, using her phone to send messages, disposing of her body and then her clothes.

"There are no marks on the stairs to indicate that she fell down them, but police did notice a bruise around her neck when they found the body, she also had bruising just above her right clavicle, that appeared to be inflicted. What they didn't find was any evidence that she had accidentally fallen down the stairs, and died as a result. "The reality is Darren Hall had murdered Sarah Henshaw and then he disposed of her body.

He knew exactly where she was, lying amongst the trees and bushes at the side of the A617, where he had dumped her. He spent the next few days disposing of her personal items, including the dressing gown. Why would he do that unless he had killed her?

"The Crown says the defendant murdered Sarah Henshaw in that he assaulted her. He meant to cause her really serious harm. His actions killed her, and then he set about covering up his tracks.

He was a man in control of his actions, covering up the crime he had committed.

She did not die accidentally, she died at the hands of this defendant, and you can be sure he is guilty of murder."

The trial, which is expected to last two weeks, continues.

References

1. ^ Ilkeston (www.nottinghampost.com)
2. ^ Prosecutor Michelle Heeley KC (www.nottinghampost.com)
3. ^ She had been murdered. (www.nottinghampost.com)
4. ^ Join us on WhatsApp to get the latest news straight to your phone (www.nottinghampost.com)
5. ^ police (www.nottinghampost.com)