Wife told husband 'I will kill you tonight' - court

A woman accused of killing her husband and hiding his body in a bag told him, "I will kill you tonight", a court has heard.

Maureen Rickards, 50, denies fatally stabbing Jeremy Rickards, whom she was married to for 27 years.

His body was hidden under grass cuttings in Ms Rickards' garden in St Martin's Road, Canterbury, last year, prosecutors claimed.

At Canterbury Crown Court on Thursday, audio recordings of Ms Rickards allegedly threatening to kill her husband were heard.

The recording was played to the court in which Ms Rickards allegedly said: "I will kill you tonight, give me 5 minutes. I will kill you."

In the recording, her husband replied: "Please stop hitting me love. Please stop, please."

During cross-examination, Ms Rickards told jurors: "Something scary is going on. I'm being set up. This is spooky, this is scary."

The prosecution claim Mr Rickards was killed sometime after 7 June 2024.

The remains of the 65-year-old were discovered by police on 11 July, six days after he was reported missing by his stepdaughter.

Ms Rickards initially stored his body in a cupboard in her bedroom, before wrapping it in bin bags, putting it in a large holdall and moving it down two flights of stairs, the prosecution claim.

The jury were also shown a text message allegedly sent by Ms Rickards to her daughter on 28 June last year, claiming Mr Rickards had taken his own life.

"Jeremy is dead. He took his own life. There were witnesses. I was asleep," it said.

Seven hours later, the daughter messaged her father: "Mum said last night before I had to block her again that you're dead and you killed yourself.

"So I don't know if this is really you or just her having taken over your phone again."

When the authorities recovered Mr Rickards' phone, the messages had been deleted, which Ms Rickards denies.

She also denied stabbing Mr Rickards.

The trial continues.