Woman killed by partner at home in London feared ‘he was on the warpath’, court hears

The co-founder of a social enterprise who was fatally stabbed by her partner said he was “on the warpath” shortly before she died, in a voice message that was played during a murder trial.

Clifton George, 45, is accused of murdering 46-year-old Annabel Rook during an argument at their home in north London last June.

The court heard that Rook died after being punched, strangled and stabbed 22 times by George, before he started a fire which caused a gas explosion likened to a “mini earthquake”.

George admitted he was responsible for killing Rook, his partner of ten years, but denied the murder charge. Instead, he pleaded guilty to manslaughter, due to a loss of self-control – a plea which has not been accepted by prosecutors.

Rook told her father, a retired Old Bailey judge, George had been bullying her and flying into rages over “trivial things”. She described living with him as like “walking on eggshells”.

Snaresbrook crown court heard, just 17 days before she was killed, Rook left her sister voice notes saying she no longer felt the relationship was “tenable”.

“I fear there will be some more wrath to come,” she said in the message, which was played in court.

After seeking legal advice, she was told George did not have any claim to their £1.2m home in Dumont Road in Stoke Newington – which she had bought before they got together – because the couple were unmarried.

Jurors heard that, on the evening of the alleged argument, Rook was planning to offer George £50,000 to move out so he could put down a deposit on a flat nearby.

In another message recorded shortly before she died, which was played in court, she said: “He’s now on the warpath. It’s tinged with him going with half of the house which he’s got no legs to stand on. It’s going to get messy and it’s going to be horrible.”

It is alleged George became “very angry” with Rook during an argument in their living room, punched her and tried to strangle her.

An eyewitness allegedly saw George taking a knife from the kitchen and attacking Rook in the living room.

George said Rook had “lied” to him, and said the stabbing happened because of the shock he suffered during a temporary loss of control.

The court heard he set fire to the basement of the property – directly below the living room, where Rook’s body was lying – to trigger a gas canister explosion.

George, who has pleaded guilty to arson, was burned in the explosion, which the jury was told indicated he was walking away from the basement at the time.

Rhys Sullivan, the couple’s neighbour, recalled hearing and feeling a “massive boom, which felt like a mini-earthquake”. He rushed outside with his partner, Harriet Cosby, to check what had happened.

Cosby found George lying on the kitchen floor covered in blood and broken glass, while the roof of the kitchen extension had been blown off. The court heard that the neighbours shouted for George to get out of the house, but watched in horror as he then started to stab himself in the neck.