The son of murdering ex-Ukip councillor Stephen Searle who discovered his father had been sleeping with his girlfriend has forgiven his partner – but refuses to extend the same forgiveness to Searle, who is in prison for murdering his wife.
Garry Searle, 44, stood by his partner of nine years Anastasia Pomiateeva, despite her infidelities, and hit out at his estranged father who murdered Anna Searle, 62.
Disowning his father, Garry said: ‘When I found out it was heartbreaking. I just couldn’t believe the man I absolutely idolised and worshipped had done something like that to me.’
Former Ukip councillor Stephen Searle, pictured left and right in a mugshot, has been found guilty of murdering his wife of 45 years
The former soldier who served as a Royal Marine like his father told the Mirror: “But me and Anastasia just love each other so much that if anything this has brought us closer together.
We will be together for the rest of our lives, until we are old and grey. We have all done things in our lives we are not proud of.’
The former Ukip councillor revealed he killed his wife in a 999 call to police.
Stephen told the call handler ‘I’ve..er..just killed my wife’ and that he ‘had been a naughty boy’ after choking her to death last December.
Anne Searle, 62, was found strangled to death at their £400,000 home in Stowmarket, Suffolk on December 30.
When police eventually arrived, Searle greeted them by saying ‘Ah, hello buddies’ before telling them he had acted in self-defence because she had ‘attacked him with a knife’ in a row over his affair with their son Garry’s partner.
Searle, pictured wielding a machine gun, is believed to have killed his wife with a choke hold learned from his days in the Royal Marines
Anne Searle, left with her husband, had learned of his affair months before her death but stayed with him because she was ‘too old to start again’, the court heard
Prosecutor Andrew Jackson said Searle had probably placed his wife in a choke hold that he had knowledge of from his military training.
Searle showed no reaction as the verdict was read out on Tuesday following a six-day trial.
Mr Jackson told the trial that the Searles’ marriage had been under strain since Mrs Searle discovered her husband’s affair with their son Garry’s partner Anastasia Pomiateeva, who was mother to at least one of their grandchildren.
This was discovered around June 2017, he said.
In a 999 call made on December 30 last year and played to jurors, Searle told police: ‘I’ve just killed my wife,’ and ‘I’ve been a very naughty boy’.
Officers attended their home in Stowmarket, Suffolk within minutes of the call made at 10.19pm, and found Mrs Searle dead.
‘The prosecution case is that on that Saturday night there had probably been yet another row between the two of them and in anger the defendant strangled his wife to death,’ Mr Jackson said.
A post-mortem examination recorded that Mrs Searle died of compression of the neck.
Forensic pathologist Dr Benjamin Swift said Mrs Searle would have lost consciousness after about eight to 15 seconds of pressure being applied to her neck, and death required further sustained pressure for a period of minutes.
Searle had been married to his wife for 45 years and they had three sons together.
Mr Jackson said that at Christmas last year Mrs Searle wrote on Facebook: ‘Happy Christmas to you all. Hope you are doing well. Have a good day. I hope I will still be here in 2018. We will see.’
Mrs Searle, pictured, was choked to death days after writing on Facebook ‘I hope I’m still here in 2018’
Searle, pictured wielding a machine gun, had been in a relationship with his son’s partner and his wife had learned of the affair months before her death
Searle is to be sentenced by the Honourable Mr Justice Green.
In the 999 call played to the court Searle told police: ‘I’ve just killed my wife.’
Asked how he killed her, he said: ‘Suffocation really. Bit of a bizarre situation, but never mind.’
The call handler then asked: ‘Are there just the two of you in the house?’
‘Well, just the one of us now,’ he replied.
In the call made at 10.19pm, Searle said it happened ‘about an hour ago’ and added he had considered going to sleep and calling police in the morning
Searle was elected a UKIP councillor for Suffolk County Council in 2013 but later lost his seat.
He worked at a bowling alley alongside one of his sons, Garry.
Youngest son Stevie, pictured with his wife outside court today, said he was devastated to lose both his father and his mother
Garry Searle was in a relationship with a woman who worked there, Anastasia Pomiateeva, and they ‘had children but never married’, Prosecutor Andrew Jackson said.
Mr Jackson told the court that Searle began to pursue his son’s partner Ms Pomiateeva and, while he was serving as a Ukip councillor for Suffolk County Council, he invited her to the council building.
Mr Jackson said Searle began a sexual relationship with Ms Pomiateeva in April 2017, and this was kept hidden from the rest of the family.
He gave her the nickname SBG, Steve’s Beautiful Girl, and called his wife a ‘piece of s***’, Ms Pomiateeva said.
The affair ended last August after Mrs Searle found intimate text massages that her husband and his lover had sent each other, after guessing his PIN number on his phone which was 4545 as he had served in 45 Commando.
Searle claimed that he had to stand between his wife and lover after Mrs Pomiateeva turned up on his doorstep and the pair hurled abuse at each other.
Mrs Searle later told work colleagues at a sushi manufacturing company that she did not want to end her 45 year marriage because she was ‘too old to start again’.
But prosecutor Andrew Jackson said that the affair had put ‘a considerable strain’ on their marriage.
The couple’s other daughter-in-law Victoria Searle, who is married to their son Stephen, said her mother-in-law was ‘feeling down and unhappy’ and told her that she had been ‘arguing every night’ with her husband.
She said Mrs Searle had confided in her that her husband who lost his UKIP seat on Suffolk County Council in May last year, had threatened her, saying: ‘I will kill you, I will’.
Mrs Searle had told her she had replied: ‘You wouldn’t do that. You are a weak man. You would not be able to do that.’
Colleagues of Mrs Searle said she had told them that Searle had grabbed her arms, causing bruising during a fight, and had threatened to throw her down the stairs in another bust-up.
One work colleague claimed that Mrs Searle had also told her that her husband had thrown their Christmas Day dinner of roast chicken and all the trimmings in the bin before she could cook it.
She was also upset that he had only bought her a £14 knitted hat and scarf from Asda for Christmas while she had bought him an expensive present.
When police arrived at his house, Searle told officers: ‘Sorry, I have been a very naughty boy.’
He later added: ‘She cut me with a knife. She tried to get me in the stomach first, but I only have a couple of nicks.’
As he was being taken away in a police van, a camera recorded him as saying: ‘Everyone has their breaking point.’
Searle told the court that he and his wife had ‘gone back to normal’ after he promised to end the affair.
He said they had been fine together over Christmas last year, even though he had little contact with his son Garry. He claimed that he ha donly thrown away the chicken giblets rather than the whole meal
Searle said had gone to fetch another beer on the night of December 30 after they had both been drinking heavily when she suddenly stabbed the arm of a sofa in a rage.
The killer, pictured, rang 999 and told police ‘I’ve just killed my wife’ before telling the call handler he was in a ‘bizarre situation’
Stevie, second left, said he was glad justice was done for his mother but that he had ‘lost his best friend’ after his father was jailed
He claimed that she swore at him when he asked what she was doing.
Searle said he was later leaving the toilet when she confronted him with a serrated steak knife and tried to stab him in the stomach
He told the jury he was left with minor prick injuries to his stomach after the knife penetrated through three layers of clothing and a cut to his hand from where he tried to grab the blade.
Searle claimed they both fell over and he landed on top of his wife as she ‘struggled frantically’.
He described how he gripped her right arm with his left hand and then put his right hand around her neck in ‘a pinning movement’.
Searle said he was concentrating on trying to disarm his wife while he held her in the grip for possibly 20 to 25 seconds.
He said: ‘Eventually she stopped struggling and I said thank ‘f’ for that. I said I am going to have a fag and got up to go into the conservatory. She didn’t reply.’
Searle said he then bandaged his hand after realising there was ‘quite a lot of blood’ and smoked two cigarettes
He said: ‘I was expecting her to kick off again. When she didn’t, I thought she had gone to bed, and that it would be fine in the morning.’
Searle choked back tears in the witness box as he described leaving the conservatory to see his wife on the floor in the position he had left her.
Taking the stand during the trial, he said he ‘never meant to hurt her’ and added: ‘I looked down and saw a blade going backwards and forwards. I just grabbed it.
‘It was a spur-of-the-moment decision. I thought I’ve got to stop this.’
The court heard the pair got into a struggle in which Searle claimed he was trying to grab the knife, leaving him with stab wounds to his right hand.
He told the jury: ‘It was just a blur. Eventally she stopped struggling and I went, ‘Thank ‘f***’ for that’.’
Under cross examination, he said he had not called for help immediately as he had been in shock.
Searle was also asked why he had not attempted first aid. He replied: ‘When I looked at my wife, I didn’t think I could get her back.. I knew I could not.’
The prosecutor said: ‘You were trying to give yourself more time to concoct a story?’ He replied: ‘No, sir.’
His youngest son Stephen, 29, said in a victim impact statement that his mother’s murder had caused him ‘absolute misery’.
He said he had turned to alcohol since her death and had been left depressed and suicidal.
The statement added: ‘I feel emotionally drained most days. It has taken its toll on my, my family and friends.
‘I have turned to alcohol as a released which has affected my relationship with my wife and family, physically and emotionally.
‘The relationship between me and my brothers has been torn apart. It has left a huge void in my heart which is something I will never get over.
‘Losing my mum has destroyed me. It has left me completely broken.
Searle, pictured with former Ukip leader Nigel Farage, left, was a county councillor for four years
‘I will never be able to hug my Mum or hear her sweet Scottish voice ever again.
‘If my dad had just admitted what he had done and been honest, it would not have had to go to court.’
Stephen Jr added in a statement outside court: ‘As you are all well aware, today there has been justice for my mum, Anne Searle. The thing is, this year not only have I lost my mum but my dad as well.
‘So now all I want to focus on is my family and friends who can help me through this year and more to come.
‘The part that hurts me the most is I lost my mum but the person who took my mum away was also my best friend, who was my dad.
‘So now it’s time to focus on my own family and kids and do the best I can for them.’
The senior investigating officer Detective Chief Superintendent Eamonn Bridger of Suffolk Police said: ‘Anne Searle’s death was a tragic crime and our sympathies remain with her family and friends.
‘Whilst crimes of this severity remain a rare occurrence in Suffolk the community can take reassurance that the man responsible has been brought to justice for his actions.
‘The investigation has been professionally handled by the Constabulary staff involved, leading to the right outcome at trial.
‘This started from the initial call handling, continued during the diligent investigation and we have worked hard to support the family through the challenging time that followed Anne’s murder.
‘Domestic abuse continues to take place behind closed doors. Suffolk Constabulary will take positive action against the perpetrators where we have the opportunity.
‘When victims of abuse come to us we will work with them to address their needs and make them and their families safe. Our focus is firmly on the needs of victims and we will continue to work closely with our partners in tackling this type of crime.
‘We have a dedicated team of domestic abuse specialists who ensure the correct response is provided to victims. They work closely with the Independent Domestic Violence Advisors (IDVAs), Victim Support and other local and national organisations in order to get the right advice and support for victims and help them break free from abuse.’
Searle will be sentenced at Ipswich Crown Court tomorrow.
Speaking after the guilty verdict, senior investigating officer Detective Chief Superintendent Eamonn Bridger of Suffolk Police, said: ‘Anne Searle’s death was a tragic crime and our sympathies remain with her family and friends.
‘Whilst crimes of this severity remain a rare occurrence in Suffolk the community can take reassurance that the man responsible has been brought to justice for his actions.
‘The investigation has been professionally handled by the Constabulary staff involved, leading to the right outcome at trial.
‘This started from the initial call handling, continued during the diligent investigation and we have worked hard to support the family through the challenging time that followed Anne’s murder.