Murder of Anne Searle

Anne Searle was killed by her husband, Stephen Anthony Searle, shortly before 10:30pm on 30 December 2017 at their home on The Brickfields in Stowmarket, Suffolk. Stephen Searle, then 64, was a former UK Independence Party (UKIP) member of Suffolk County Council for Stowmarket South, having served from May 2013 until losing his seat in May 2017, and had also stood as UKIP's candidate for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich in the June 2017 general election, finishing last of five candidates.

Searle called 999 and told the operator "I've just killed my wife," describing the situation as "a bit of a bizarre situation," and later told attending police "I've been a very naughty boy" and "everyone has their breaking point." When paramedics arrived, Anne Searle was found unresponsive and was pronounced dead at the scene. A post-mortem conducted the following day determined the cause of death to be compression of the neck. A forensic pathologist testified that Anne Searle would have lost consciousness within eight to fifteen seconds of neck pressure and died after further sustained pressure lasting minutes; Stephen Searle had learned a choke-hold technique during military training. He was charged and remanded in custody on 2 January 2018, with the case sent directly to the Crown Court due to its severity.

Evidence presented at trial described a pattern of prior abuse. A former partner of the couple's son recounted an incident from the 1990s in which Stephen Searle threatened Anne with a gun in front of a pub full of people. Anne's colleagues testified to seeing bruises on her arms in 2017, which she attributed to her husband, though she did not press charges, reportedly believing she was "too old to start again." The wife of another son stated Stephen had threatened to kill Anne weeks before the killing and had previously tried to push her down the stairs, and that in the days before her death he repeatedly argued with her about his affair and disrupted the family's Christmas lunch.

The killing followed the discovery of an affair between Stephen Searle and Anastasia Pomiateeva, the partner of his son Gary and mother of his grandchild, which began in the spring of 2017 while the two worked together at a bowling alley in Ipswich. Anne Searle discovered explicit messages and images between the pair, in which Pomiateeva was referred to by a nickname.

At trial at Ipswich Crown Court in July 2018, the prosecution argued Searle asphyxiated his wife using a choke hold for several minutes. Searle claimed self-defense, alleging his wife had attempted to stab him with a steak knife. On 17 July 2018, a jury convicted him of murder after roughly three-and-a-half hours of deliberation, and he was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 14 years. The sentencing judge stated Searle had "caused devastating waves of pain and anguish" to his family. The case drew public comment from domestic violence charities after a former UKIP colleague expressed sympathy for Searle alongside his late wife.