Man 'stabbed wife in frenzied attack'

A FORMER Ipswich man stabbed his wife to death in a cold-blooded frenzied attack with their children in the house because of greed, a murder trial in Fiji heard today.

Raymond Singh, formerly of Grove Lane , has denied murdering his wife Wendy, 39. His trial began overnight in the Fijian High Court in Suva.

State prosecutor, Aca Raiyawa, said: “The accused on the early hours of May 11, 2008, in cold blood, inflicted multiple stab wounds on Wendy Linda Singh's body and throat causing her to go into shock, and instantly killed her.”

Covering the case, Fijilive.com reported that neighbour Tomasi Bulai told the court that on the night of May 10, he could hear the couple arguing.

“My wife called me to the balcony and after she had heard Wendy Linda Singh shout out 'please stop stop', I could see Raymond moving in the house. He came out with the baby in his arms with the three-year-old following him and drove off with them. I came down to the driveway and saw Wendy Linda lying on the floor face up, that's when I called the police. They were there within five minutes.”

Another neighbour, Sean James Koihoi, 21, told the court that he also heard Wendy shout 'please stop' and that was the last he heard from the couple on the early hours of May 11.

“I could see Raymond through the kitchen window and he was staring at the floor. He then came out of the house with the baby in his arms, he opened the driver's side of the car and threw the baby onto the back seat and forced the small boy onto the back seat before driving off,” Koihoi said.

Earlier prosecutor Raiyawa had told the court that on the eve of the killing, the couple had been arguing over Wendy's inheritance.

“It all started when Wendy's 15-year-old son from a previous marriage, George Barrot, joined the couple and their two children at Head Works Caf�, Suva,” he said. “Raymond Singh objected to George being there. The couple had been consuming wine while sitting at the caf� and later on went to a restaurant to have dinner with a friend where Wendy had declared her intention of giving some of her assets to George and another elder child who was in England.”

Raiyawa told the assessors that the argument had intensified in the restaurant and came to a point where George challenged Singh to a fight and a scuffle took place between the two.

The prosecution team met strong objection from the defence on the use of the caution interview by police as evidence.

Defence counsel Haroon Ali Shah said Singh, who was 29 at the time of the tragedy and had worked as a sub-editor for the East Anglian Daily Times and Evening Star, had not made any statements to the police.

The trial continues.