Royal Mail worker 'stabbed his wife 32 times over texts then called her father round to show him the body'

VICTIM

A jealous Royal Mail worker stabbed his wife 32 times and then called her father round to show him the corpse, the Old Bailey has heard.

Richard Otunga, 37, is accused of repeatedly knifing Shamin Gabriel, 33, after confronting her about text messages she was receiving from other men.

The court heard Miss Gabriel's father Gabby went to the couple's flat in Northolt, west London, last December and found his daughter lying in a pool of blood on the kitchen floor,.

Otunga, who had a history of domestic violence, claimed he 'lost consciousness' during an argument with his wife.

The court heard he later told officers: 'I killed her. She was getting text messages from men at work, we both work for Royal Mail.

'We argued and she went to the kitchen and picked up a knife and said she would kill herself, so I took it and killed her.'

Prosecutor Timothy Cray told jurors that the attack was 'brutal, unnecessary and beyond any excuse that the law may provide'.

He said: 'The allegation against Richard Otunga is that he murdered his wife, a lady called Shamin Gabriel. They married in 2003 and had a daughter in 2005.

'Shortly before 5am on Sunday, 29 December 2013 the defendant made a telephone call to his father-in-law Gabby Gabriel.

'He said that he had argued and fought with Shamin but there were no serious injuries.

Richard Otunga

'Mr Gabriel, getting a call like that, perhaps like any father would, caught a taxi to Northolt, arriving at 6.40am.

'He found the defendant in the hallway and noted two things - that all the internal doors were closed and that a mobile phone had been smashed into pieces in the hallway.'

He added: 'The defendant told Mr Gabriel that Shamin had been talking to another man and was always being praised for her beauty by other men.

'He said that he had lost consciousness and control, that he was very sorry about what he had done and what had happened to Shamin.

'Otunga opened the kitchen door and Mr Gabriel saw that his daughter was lying on the floor. She had been stabbed many times and the kitchen was covered in blood.'

Mr Gabriel asked Otunga: 'Is this what you called me for, to show me the body of my daughter?' but Otunga made no reply, repeating that he was 'very sorry', the court heard.

The jury heard Otunga later told police officers his wife came at him with a knife and he was trying to defend himself. The postmortem revealed she had been stabbed 32 times.

Mr Cray described Otunga as a controlling and possessive husband who regularly checked his wife's phone.

'There had been previous incidents of domestic violence by the defendant,' he said.

'They show a pattern of controlling and jealous behaviour on his part.

'They also suggest that the fatal attack was not some sudden or unusual event but rather a culmination of violent behaviour on the part of the defendant towards his wife, including previous threats to kill her - he had thought about it before.'

Ms Gabriel had repeatedly complained to her family about his jealous behaviour, the court heard.

In one allegedly incident in July 2013 Otunga held a knife to her throat and threatened to kill her, Mr Cray said.

A few months later he threatened to run the man who was texting his wife over with his car and murder Ms Gabriel as well, it is claimed.

Otunga, of Northolt, west London admits manslaughter but denies murder.

CULLED