UK UK - Sarah Wellgreen, 46, Kent, 9 Oct 2018

[Spy Versus Spy]

Morning! ALYCE!!!

Live updates as Sarah Wellgreen's ex-partner goes on trial accused of her murder

DAY 11. Trial Continues.......

10:49

Ben Lacomba says he 'didn't know' where Sarah had gone

Ben Lacomba is being questioned over where he thought Sarah was on the morning of Wednesday, October 10, 2018 when she was nowhere to be seen in the house. He tells the court:

I didn’t actually know where she (Sarah) was but in my mind a realistic possibility was she’d gone back to see Anthony who she saw the night before because when she came back with the bike, she said that she’d had to rush to see him so I thought maybe she had gone back or he had picked her up.”

The court heard yesterday how Sarah had picked up a bike from Anthony on the evening of October 9 before she returned home to 22 Bazes Shaw in New Ash Green.

Lacomba explains why he went to get his car washed on October 10

Ben Lacomba's taxi was allegedly seen to be dirty on the morning of October 10, 2018

But later in the day on October 10, CCTV caputred it clean. ( see attachment)





The 39-year-old says he gets his car washed before he goes to pay his taxi rent on a Wednesday. He says:

I will go and wash my car before I pay my radio rent - that way I don’t get moaned at.”

Normally he does this at a car wash in Burnham Road in Dartford where cab drivers get around half-price cleans.

This is where he went on the morning of Wednesday, October 10 to get his car cleaned.

He then went to the All Night Cars office to pay his rent.

 

[Spy Versus Spy]

11:14

Lacomba questioned over 'different shoes' he was wearing on October 10

On the morning of October 10, Lacomba went into the All Night Cars taxi office. Upon arrival, he said he “couldn’t find a pair of jeans” so “had to wear these today (looks down at shoes)“.

A colleague at the taxi office looked at his shoes and said: “Where on earth you get those shoes from mate?”

Lacomba then says “I can’t find my brown ones anywhere”. These are brown leather slip-ons he usually wears whenever he tends to go in the office.

He says he found the brown shoes but he “can’t remember where” on the day that he was arrested on October 16.

A photo of Lacomba at Northfleet police station on that day is shown to the jury which show him wearing brown shoes. He says it is the same pair he has owned for a couple of years and was unable to find that morning (October 10).

 

[Spy Versus Spy]

11:41

What Lacomba did on October 10 - the first day Sarah was uncontactable

When Sarah was nowhere to be seen on October 10 but her car was still outside and two of her phones were in the house, Lacomba says he checked them for messages.

He says he saw Sarah’s grey Samsung Galaxy and white Samsung Galaxy phone but couldn’t see her black iPhone 4. He explains:

The main number I text her on, I wasn’t sure what handset that sim card would be in.”

So he decided to text her at 11.32am while at work instead of calling her so he can check whether that message is received on a handset that was at home. He continues:

I thought if she was with Anthony, she wouldn’t pick up.”

Lacomba drops a passenger off in Blackheath at 11.15am and has another job after that at 11.50am. He then finishes working at around 2pm. He returns home and looks at both phones and notices there is no text message from himself on the phone he had messaged while out.

He looks at a white phone and sees messages between Sarah and Anthony Garnham, “a guy called Joe” (Eleini), and also between Sarah and Neil.

He tried to look at the other phone but it was pin protected. He finds out the pin and he then looks at messages and missed calls from Sarah’s family but Lacomba’s message was not there. Lacomba “assumes she had her iPhone with her”. Lacomba says:

Some of the messages were explicit so I thought she was seeing Anthony in a relationship way so that’s why I didn’t ring her.”

All the calls and messages on the other phone were from family who she was “more likely to answer to” which is why Lacomba didn’t try calling. Lacomba is sick later that day so he goes to sleep in his bedroom.

He later speaks with Lewis on the phone and says he hadn’t seen his mum.

They agree that Lacomba will report Sarah as a missing person if he doesn’t see her by the next morning.

 

[Spy Versus Spy]

11:41

What Lacomba did on October 10 - the first day Sarah was uncontactable

When Sarah was nowhere to be seen on October 10 but her car was still outside and two of her phones were in the house, Lacomba says he checked them for messages.

He says he saw Sarah’s grey Samsung Galaxy and white Samsung Galaxy phone but couldn’t see her black iPhone 4. He explains:

The main number I text her on, I wasn’t sure what handset that sim card would be in.”

So he decided to text her at 11.32am while at work instead of calling her so he can check whether that message is received on a handset that was at home. He continues:

I thought if she was with Anthony, she wouldn’t pick up.”

Lacomba drops a passenger off in Blackheath at 11.15am and has another job after that at 11.50am. He then finishes working at around 2pm. He returns home and looks at both phones and notices there is no text message from himself on the phone he had messaged while out.

He looks at a white phone and sees messages between Sarah and Anthony Garnham, “a guy called Joe” (Eleini), and also between Sarah and Neil.

He tried to look at the other phone but it was pin protected. He finds out the pin and he then looks at messages and missed calls from Sarah’s family but Lacomba’s message was not there. Lacomba “assumes she had her iPhone with her”. Lacomba says:

Some of the messages were explicit so I thought she was seeing Anthony in a relationship way so that’s why I didn’t ring her.”

All the calls and messages on the other phone were from family who she was “more likely to answer to” which is why Lacomba didn’t try calling. Lacomba is sick later that day so he goes to sleep in his bedroom.

He later speaks with Lewis on the phone and says he hadn’t seen his mum.

They agree that Lacomba will report Sarah as a missing person if he doesn’t see her by the next morning.

The phone he text her on obv went with her!! Or he got rid of later but ledt the other 2.Im assuming LE know if he did text her or not. Which is either why he text her or why he has to say he text her and explain the phone being missing. But why then later get rid of other 2 phones?

 

[Spy Versus Spy]

11:53

Lacomba asked about CCTV cameras

CCTV cameras outside 22 Bazes Shaw, the home of Ben Lacomba and Sarah Wellgreen (Image: Jim Bennett)
The CCTV cameras at 22 Bazes Shaw were found to have been turned off shortly after midnight on October 10. Lacomba says he only realised they weren’t on when he returned home from work later that day (afternoon of October 10). He explains:

When I got back home that afternoon, I actually noticed that the CCTV had been switched off.”

Lacomba says he told this “truth” to the police that he accidentally turned it off when trying to charge his phone, something he had “sometimes” done before.

He also claims “the cameras had been playing up” and would make a beep so sometimes he would switch them off to rest. He then says “it’s possible” but “not likely” that he switched it off himself.

 

[mrazda71]

@deugirtni You in Canada? I followed the Nathan o'Brien & his grandparents murders and I can honestly say, I will never ever forget it.

Here, people on the jury, I can't think of any that have spoken publicly about any part of it to be honest. They may talk about it with friends and family but not publicly.

Edited because my auto correct was on a wild one!

 

[Spy Versus Spy]

12:04

Lacomba calls 999 to report Sarah missing

On the evening of October 10, Neil James, Sarah’s boyfriend, asks Lacomba if he had seen Sarah but he did not reply to this. Lacomba explains why:

Some of the things that Sarah had told me about Neil since she had come back to live with me concerned me.



“I checked Sarah’s phones and I’d seen all the messages from the family so I thought if I talk to Lewis he could talk to Neil.”

He describes the rest of the evening as “uneventful” and his mother Marilyn stays over at the house.

October 11, 2018: Lacomba calls 999 to report Sarah missing

Sarah hadn’t been home so Lacomba tells her son Lewis that he would call the police later that morning. He calls 999 at 9.55am while in his car at the back of his office in Suffolk Road near the Orchard Theatre. He says:

Because I felt at that time that she was missing and it concerned me and I wanted to find her.



“The woman kept asking me questions and I was trying to think of everything that was going on in Sarah’s life that could be helpful.”

PC Rachel Manley arrives at 22 Bazes Shaw at around 11am on October 11. He attempts to show her messages from the white phone and says PC Manley looked at messages on the other larger phone. Lacomba says:

That’s when I explained that Sarah had an iPhone that wasn’t around.”

A small suitcase in the boot of Wellgreen’s car belonged to Lacomba and was “surprised” that Sarah took without asking him. It was full of “boys clothing” which Lacomba claims not to have recognised.

Police attended once again later that evening.

 

[Spy Versus Spy]

12:10

Police enter and search house on October 12, 2018

Police searched the house on Friday, October 12(Image: Jim Bennett)


On Friday, October 12, 2018, Ben Lacomba sleeps in through the morning ahead of a night shift.

But he wakes up to banging on the door and the police are there again.

Police enter the property and perform and “extensive search” of the house until about 6pm. Lacomba then goes off to work. His mother, Marilyn, calls Lacomba and says more police came to the house and did more searches until around midnight. He says:

I wasn’t happy about the impact it was having, but the priority was finding Sarah.”

There were further searches on Saturday (October 13) and Lacomba gives a witness statement which he says is a “very accurate account” before going to work at around 7pm.

 

[Spy Versus Spy]

12:15

Police return to house again on October 14, 2018

On Sunday, October 14, 2018, Lacomba is home and police return at 3pm. He asks if they could come back as his mum wasn’t there.

Lacomba was described to have “jumped up” when his mum did arrive at 22 Bazes Shaw. Lacomba says:

I was a little bit anxious and I was glad my mum was home.



“It could have been Sarah walking through the front door and I was hoping it was.”

 

[Spy Versus Spy]

He asks if they could come back as his mum wasn’t there.

SBM

They obviously said 'No' ?!

 

[Spy Versus Spy]

12:22 KEY EVENT

Lacomba explains why he refused to give police his phone on October 14

Ben Lacomba refused to allow officers to take his phone when they requested to do so while visiting on October 14, 2018. On not consenting to deleted information being recovered from his phone by police, Lacomba says:

I felt that if I deleted it, it was for a reason and there’s lots of things that I deleted off my phone that are personal to me and I’d be embarrassed about other people looking through.



“I panicked. There were things racing through my mind that was on my phone. The two main things were lots of messages that I’d composed in response to a lot of Sarah’s actions and messages that she’d sent me over the years, especially when we were going through the acrimonious court battles.



“I’d usually receive these while I was at work and they would be provoking a response. They were usually quite nasty messages and so to deal with that I would normally compose in notepad form nasty messages back to Sarah as shed annoy me with what she’d written deliberately trying to provoke me.



“She would send me texts that were very personal and nasty and to deal with that I would compose these messages in reply which were equally nasty but in a cathartic way I would leave these messages until I calmed down and then delete them.”

He feared this would make the police “think bad” about him and “not accurate” of who he is. He continues:

If Sarah’s missing, I didn’t want the police thinking it was me and I could have had anything to do with her disappearance.



“I could potentially be some kind of suspect in their investigation.



“I don’t particularly trust the police to not do something if it was important to the investigation. I thought priority would outweigh the consent.”

Another reason he gives is:

Past conversations and messages that I had with Sarah that would include allegations regarding my father and I didn’t want any potential risk that could be brought about him and have potential consequences for my father.”

 

[Websleuther08]

Hi all,

I've been following the case as it's in my county.

I think the evidence all quite leads to BL being the perpetrator.

The fact that he refused to hand over his phone is a biggie. If I were under suspicion for murder or the disappearance of someone, I'd be mortified and would do anything possible to clear my name (if innocent!) and only oblige to hand over my phone to them. Police have seen it all and a few *advertiser censored* sites or whatnot, they wouldn't bat an eyelid to.

Then the spade and conveniently buying it for his mum but it's left in his shed when he has artificial grass.

The whole car going off CCTV and coming back dirty, then being immaculately cleaned... He obviously knows a secluded area well. Along with the dodgy fashion crime shoes and SW was about to buy him out of the house is all way too suspect for me. The CCTV outside of the home and aptly being switched off on that night is also another eyebrow raiser along with him asking to check the neighbour's CCTV of his home. It all seems very premeditated which is scary knowing someone was plotting for a while to murder you in your home together.

I did at first wonder if it could be another man that she was seeing, but if you look at the front door it has various bolts and locks on it along with the police statement that even BL struggled to open the front door. And say if he is wholly innocent and another of the men crept in and did it, it's the risk of the children waking up and seeing or BL hearing commotion or someone coming in. Whereas if BL did do it, he lives in the house and only has to go down to the second floor.

I think that suitcase he was going to make look like SW did a running disappearance along with the picture frames.

No speaking ill of the missing or dead here but the whole dynamic is odd. Sarah seeing multiple men and texting BL if she isn't going to be home or what she's upto. She told BL that she was going to Richmond for the day with one of the men. If I lived with an ex I wouldn't be texting him what I'm upto, I'd live my life separately.

The other thing that strikes me as odd is the MIL bringing her own duvet but using SW pillowcases. Surely you would bring all your own bedding, not just a duvet cover? I'm wondering if BL's mum is behind perverting the course of justice on this one.

It all just points to BL too much for me and the fact one of the kids woke up and saw mum and dad not present yet he says he was asleep is another spanner in the works.

The wet bed? I personally believe she had a bath/shower, got into bed to be stranged/suffocated or have her drink spiked. Then there is no blood or dodgy DNA except the normal (skin cells, hair etc). Also he would have to be quiet with children about who could come down at any moment. I really believe she was sedated. Say if one of the children came down mid strangulation and she's trying to scream or gasping marking noises (sorry to he graphic) he is in trouble. Whereas if she is drugged he could blame it on mum being asleep and he was in her room "checking up on her".

 

[Spy Versus Spy]

12:36 KEY EVENT

Lacomba: 'I should have just given the police the phones - I might not be sitting here today'

CCTV footage from October 14 when Lacomba threw his phones in the River Thames


Officers had taken Lacomba’s phone from him on October 14, but he says he then “made up an excuse” that he would give them the phone the following morning in order for them to return his phone. He adds that he did intend to take it.

That evening (October 14), Lacomba goes for a walk around New Ash Green. He tells his mum, “I may just chuck them (his phones) in the river” and confirms that he did this about half an hour to an hour after the police officers attended his home.

He says he had the intention of going to work but then pulls over and was “chewing everything over and over in my mind the events of the past few days and the possible consequences of everything”. He tells the court:

I was panicking about everything. Had something bad happened to Sarah? Were the police already looking at me?



“I tried to do everything possible since the Tuesday I last saw her, to help the police. Letting them into my home and search wherever they want and was that putting myself at risk somehow?



“I’ve got to give these phones to them but I didn’t want to. I was panicking and winding myself up more and more so I thought ‘you know what, I’m just going to throw these in the river’.”

‘I made a massive mistake’

Lacomba admitted throwing his mobile phones into the river (Image: Jim Bennett)

Lacomba says he was in Green Street Green Road or “one of the country roads around there but I remember thinking I’d go to the river in Greenhithe”. He confirms he threw both his phones in the River Thames at Serenity Court in Greenhithe - as pictured on CCTV and played to the jury.

On why he went back and forth from the car, he said he was”having doubts, deciding what to do, whether I was doing the right thing or not”.

Before throwing them in the river, he snapped the phones on the wall with his foot and took the sim card out of his main phone to put it in another phone.

I think I was stupid and made a massive mistake. Obviously now I’m not panicky. I should have just given the police the phones. I might not have been sitting here today.”

Lacomba claims he wanted to deliberately be caught on CCTV:

I decided I wasn’t going to try and hide what I had done so I went to McDonald’s in Greenhithe and got a milkshake.



“I didn’t want them thinking that I was trying to hide something else.”

He then returned home and went to bed.

 

[Legally Bland]

Lacomba claims he wanted to deliberately be caught on CCTV:

I decided I wasn’t going to try and hide what I had done so I went to McDonald’s in Greenhithe and got a milkshake.

“I didn’t want them thinking that I was trying to hide something else.”

He then returned home and went to bed.

RSBM. Of course he wanted to be caught on CCTV.

 

[Legally Bland]

Hi all,

I've been following the case as it's in my county.

I think the evidence all quite leads to BL being the perpetrator.

The fact that he refused to hand over his phone is a biggie. If I were under suspicion for murder or the disappearance of someone, I'd be mortified and would do anything possible to clear my name (if innocent!) and only oblige to hand over my phone to them. Police have seen it all and a few *advertiser censored* sites or whatnot, they wouldn't bat an eyelid to.

Then the spade and conveniently buying it for his mum but it's left in his shed when he has artificial grass.

The whole car going off CCTV and coming back dirty, then being immaculately cleaned... He obviously knows a secluded area well. Along with the dodgy fashion crime shoes and SW was about to buy him out of the house is all way too suspect for me. The CCTV outside of the home and aptly being switched off on that night is also another eyebrow raiser along with him asking to check the neighbour's CCTV of his home. It all seems very premeditated which is scary knowing someone was plotting for a while to murder you in your home together.

I did at first wonder if it could be another man that she was seeing, but if you look at the front door it has various bolts and locks on it along with the police statement that even BL struggled to open the front door. And say if he is wholly innocent and another of the men crept in and did it, it's the risk of the children waking up and seeing or BL hearing commotion or someone coming in. Whereas if BL did do it, he lives in the house and only has to go down to the second floor.

I think that suitcase he was going to make look like SW did a running disappearance along with the picture frames.

No speaking ill of the missing or dead here but the whole dynamic is odd. Sarah seeing multiple men and texting BL if she isn't going to be home or what she's upto. She told BL that she was going to Richmond for the day with one of the men. If I lived with an ex I wouldn't be texting him what I'm upto, I'd live my life separately.

The other thing that strikes me as odd is the MIL bringing her own duvet but using SW pillowcases. Surely you would bring all your own bedding, not just a duvet cover? I'm wondering if BL's mum is behind perverting the course of justice on this one.

It all just points to BL too much for me and the fact one of the kids woke up and saw mum and dad not present yet he says he was asleep is another spanner in the works.

The wet bed? I personally believe she had a bath/shower, got into bed to be stranged/suffocated or have her drink spiked. Then there is no blood or dodgy DNA except the normal (skin cells, hair etc). Also he would have to be quiet with children about who could come down at any moment. I really believe she was sedated. Say if one of the children came down mid strangulation and she's trying to scream or gasping marking noises (sorry to he graphic) he is in trouble. Whereas if she is drugged he could blame it on mum being asleep and he was in her room "checking up on her".

Welcome, great first post!

 

[Spy Versus Spy]

12:44

Lacomba claims he 'intended to tell police' about throwing away phones

After throwing his phones in the river, the following day (October 15), Lacomba asks his mum to withdraw £300 so there was a trace of that when he bought a new phone. He says:

I was intending to tell the police what happened with the phones and didn’t want there to be any suspicion.”

He looks in the window of Cash Converters and bought the unlocked Samsung Galaxy S8. He paid for it on his debit card. Lacomba tells the court:

I could have paid for it with the cash my mum had given me but again, I wanted to show the trace of me buying the phone. I put the cash my mother gave me in my bank account.”

Lacomba says he also left the cash converters sticker on to prove he “wasn’t trying to pass this phone off as my old one”. Lacomba adds he was planning to call the police to tell them he dumped the phone “the next day”.

They went back to the house and went to bed.

 

[Websleuther08]

Thank you!

 

[Spy Versus Spy]

Moo. Im wondering if the jury disbelieve BL, then ML could be facing a charge? Hence why no testimony coverage?

Eta... just as Websleuther suggested previously..doh!!

 

[Spy Versus Spy]

Thank you!

Nice Post. Welcome.

 

[Spy Versus Spy]

13:03 KEY EVENT

Lacomba describes moment he was arrested on October 16

Lacomba was arrested outside Dartford County Court on October 16, 2018 (Image: Google)


On the morning of October 16, 2018, Ben Lacomba put his old sim card into his new phone. He listens to voicemail messages from police officers and a message from his solicitor in relation to family court hearings.

Lacomba decides to go to Dartford County Court to deal with paperwork and tells DC Celia King that is his plan.

He then goes to Dartford Library to fill out some forms before returning to the court. He leaves the court just after 1pm to get some lunch from The Coffee Pot cafe next door to All Night Cars - the taxi office.

Ben Lacomba was in a cafe next to his taxi office on October 16 when he noticed police outside (Image: Google)


DC Celia King rings Lacomba asking where he is and he explains he is in a cafe in Dartford.

Lacomba rings his All Night Cars boss and gets him to meet him at the cafe as he “noticed there was police outside the office” and “wanted to explain what was really going on” to his employers.

The taxi firm boss tells Lacomba: “Mate, they think it’s you. They think you killed her, buried her and dumped her somewhere.” Lacomba says:

I was just shocked.”

He then returns to the court and is arrested at the entrances. Two plain clothed officers ran across the road and tell him “you’re under the arrest for the murder of Sarah Wellgreen”. Lacomba tells the court:

I just went ‘oh’.



“I was just in shock.”

Lacomba says he said “nothing” back to them as he thought the best thing to do was keep quiet until he could seek legal advice at the police station.