Man who claimed he killed wife because she taunted him over erectile dysfunction found guilty of murder

Computer expert beat Ann Marie Pomphret 30 times with crowbar

Ann Marie Pomphret died in November 2018. (Cheshire Police)

A man who beat his wife to death with a crowbar has been found guilty of murder.

David Pomphret claimed he killed his wife after she taunted him about his problems with erectile dysfunction.

The 51-year-old beat Ann Marie Pomphret more than 30 times over her head with the blunt weapon on 2 November 2018.

The pair had been arguing in stables near their home in Cheshire.

At first Pomphret claimed he discovered his wife lying dead in a pool of blood.

“There is brain and blood everywhere, and it looks like she has had her head beaten in,” he said in a 999 call.

But police officers discovered his wife’s blood on a pair of Pomphret’s socks, placing the 51-year-old at the scene of the crime.

The computer expert then admitted killing his wife but denied murder, by claiming a special defence of a temporary loss of control.

“She ranted at me for being a bad parent, calling me f****** useless. Called me limp and useless,” he told Liverpool Crown Court during the trial.

“Bit embarrassing – we have been having, I have been having, erectile dysfunction. I was not performing very well.”

After killing his wife, the computer expert had burnt his bloodstained clothes, disposed of the crowbar in a lake and told police officers he was innocent.

He failed to destroy his socks, which prosecutors described as a “huge mistake”.

“One huge, huge mistake – this man did not get rid of his socks,” Gordon Cole QC, prosecuting, told the jury.

“Without the socks, there is no forensic evidence linking him to the scene.

“The huge mistake was he did not get rid of his socks. There was airborne blood that put him at the scene of the murder.

“Now he’s at a scenario he was at the scene. What’s the next least worst alternative? Loss of self-control.”

The 51-year-old was convicted of murder by a jury on Friday, following a 10-day trial.

Additional reporting by agencies