Kent woman missing for almost a year allegedly murdered by her former partner

Sarah Wellgreen's body still not located despite extensive police searches

A mother-of-five who has been missing for almost a year was murdered by her former partner, a court heard.

Sarah Wellgreen was said to be in high spirits before disappeared and has not been spotted since she vanished from the house she shared in the Kent village of New Ash Green with Ben Lacomba, last October.

Her body has still not been located despite police carrying out extensive searches.

Mr Lacomba, a 39-year-old taxi driver denies murdering her on 9 October last year.

Prosecutors told Woolwich Crown Court that he killed her in a “calculated manner designed to avoid detection, to leave no trace” and to “remove her from his life forever”.

Alison Morgan QC said Ms Wellgreen disappeared in the early hours of 10 October, 2018.

“That night, she was not abducted and murdered by a stranger. She did not leave her home voluntarily, abandoning her children for whatever reason, never to return," she said. “She was murdered by this defendant, her former partner. He then disposed of her body. Only this defendant knows where it is and exactly what he did that night.”

The evidence provides a “compelling picture from which you can be sure that Sarah was killed by him and he then disposed of her body”, Ms Morgan added.

The court heard the couple met online in 2004 but by the time of the alleged murder their relationship was plagued by “tensions and problems”.

They had broken up but were still living under the same roof and it “appears that potential loss of that family home, that property, and his children motivated his actions,” Ms Morgan said.

While Mr Lacomba says he was asleep in bed on the night of the alleged murder, a witness in the house says neither he nor Ms Wellgreen were there, the court heard.

Ms Wellgreen’s iPhone, wallet, car and keys remained at the address.

Mr Lacomba switched off the CCTV system in the middle of the night and parked his car in an unusual spot to evade detection, the prosecution allege.

Ms Morgan said if he had parked in his usual spot it would have been “game over” and his actions would have been seen.

The prosecution say Mr Lacomba’s car is seen in other CCTV footage and he went down country lanes “somewhere we will never be able to identify and that’s why Sarah’s body has never been found”.

CCTV shows Mr Lacomba’s car was muddy the morning after Ms Wellgreen’s disappearance and a large shovel was uncovered by police at the family home, the court heard.

He also disposed of his mobile phone in the days after the disappearance and had been “out in the middle of the night getting soaking wet, desperately getting rid of something,” Ms Morgan said.

She said Mr Lacomba had told “very significant lies” about his movements on the night of the alleged killing and “he has been lying ever since to cover his tracks”.

When Mr Lacomba reported Ms Wellgreen missing on 11 October, he described her as having a “weird lifestyle” and was perhaps trying to “create a particular impression of her” to the police call operator, the prosecution suggested.

Ms Wellgreen had started seeing other men after breaking up with Mr Lacomba in 2014 and the court heard how she came home one night to find the locks on the house had been changed.

She had sought treatment for depression but was in good spirits – with Ms Morgan saying “there is nothing to suggest that she was anything other than in a positive frame of mind and looking forward to her future” in October 2018.

Ms Wellgreen wanted to buy Mr Lacomba out of the family home and was working on getting a mortgage. She had done the school run on the day she was allegedly murdered, the prosecution said.

She had sent an email accepting a new job and carried out beauty therapy treatments for private clients, who described her as being in a “friendly and chatty” mood, the court heard.

One of the last messages anyone received from her was a goodnight text she sent to an old friend where they made a plan to meet a week later, the jury heard.

“There is always something to look forward to, you just need to open your eyes a bit more and dream,” the message said.

The trial continues.

Additional reporting by Press Association