Man 'killed prostitute wife'

An aspiring model was working as a prostitute in a massage parlour when she met her future husband who is accused of murdering her, a court heard today.

Paul Grabham, 25, of Rosehill Terrace, Swansea, married Kirsty within three months of meeting her in autumn 2007.

He moved into her Swansea flat where both worked as prostitutes, the jury was told.

But the couple had a violent relationship and were at "loggerheads" with each other from the beginning, Greg Taylor QC, prosecuting, told the jury as a four-week trial opened at Swansea Crown Court.

Mr Taylor said they would hear evidence of Grabham lifting his wife off the ground by the neck with one hand during an argument.

His wife was also known to be violent towards him and he occasionally sported facial cuts assumed to have been inflicted by her.

Her body was discovered in a suitcase dumped under a bridge near the M4 at Bridgend on April 6 last year.

The 24-year-old had been reported missing by Grabham a week before and had last been seen after a night out in Swansea.

Grabham denies a single charge of murder.

Mr Taylor briefly sketched out how the couple met and lived together as he opened the case against Grabham today.

He said they met in a massage parlour in Bridgend where Grabham was a customer and his future wife a working prostitute.

Grabham soon moved into the flat she had previously shared with a former husband but would "make himself scarce" when customers visited his wife.

"Paul Grabham also offered himself as a prostitute, offering several services to both men and women," Mr Taylor said.

He said the couple had a joint website where they also sold their services together and separately.

"Their relationship was stormy. Paul gave the impression that he was possessive, often cuddling her."

He said they were often heard arguing in the thin-walled flat they lived in by neighbours who became used to their rows.

On one occasion the couple were at a party in a friend's home and got into a violent argument after both had taken drugs.

Grabham was then seen to hold his wife off the ground with one hand around her throat as he jammed her against the front door, Mr Taylor said.

He said one friend was so frightened that Mrs Grabham would be killed that she pleaded with Grabham to let her go.