A court was today shown the moment an ‘elaborate’ CCTV system at the home of ‘missing’ mother-of-five Sarah Wellgreen was switched off in the hours she was allegedly murdered by her ex-partner and her body disposed of.
The security system on a neighbouring property captured the infrared light disappearing from a network of cameras attached to the side of the beautician’s home in New Ash Green, Kent.
A jury at London’s Woolwich Crown Court was told they were turned off at 12.12am on October 10 last year. The mains switch was said to be in a converted loft bedroom used by her taxi driver ex-partner, Ben Lacomba, 39, who is accused of murdering her.
The security system on a neighbouring property captured the infrared light disappearing from a network of cameras attached to the side of Sarah Wellgreen’s (pictured) home in New Ash Green, Kent
It is claimed he later told one of Ms Wellgreen’s adult sons from a previous relationship that he ‘accidentally’ switched the plug off when he charged his phone.
But the court heard the same cameras were switched off on two other occasions, each for approximately 90 minutes and in the early hours, in the week before the 46-year-old disappeared.
It is alleged Lacomba killed Sarah in a ‘premeditated and calculated act’ before disposing of her body in the early hours of October 10.
The couple were living under the same roof but leading ‘quite separate’ lives, said prosecutor Alison Morgan QC at the start of the trial on Tuesday.
Ben Lacomba is on trial, accused of murdering his ex-girlfriend
Ms Wellgreen had just landed a new job with a good salary and wanted to buy him out of his share in the four-bedroom property.
The prosecution allege Lacomba was motivated to kill her by the potential loss of his home and resulting limited access to his children.
Despite an extensive police investigation which saw approximately 22,000 hours of CCTV footage being seized from dwellings and businesses in a five-mile radius search, her body has never been found.
The jury was also shown the last moment Ms Wellgreen was seen alive on the same neighbour’s CCTV when she arrived home from seeing beauty clients at 7.57pm on October 9.
Footage alleged to capture Lacomba’s Vauxhall Zafira taxi heading along isolated country lanes in the early hours of October 10 was also played.
They also saw images said to show the moment his vehicle was locked, having returned to the property, at 4.52am, and then a light inside his home going off seven minutes later.
No actual images were available from the CCTV system at the couple’s home as a fault with the hard drive meant it had not recorded since 2017.
But Miss Morgan said Lacomba may not have known this, and images from the cameras continued to show in real time.
They gave several views of the car park adjacent to their home and where they usually parked their vehicles, as well as paths leading to and from their front door.
It is alleged that on the night Lacomba murdered his former partner he ‘unusually and quite deliberately’ chose to leave his taxi with distinctive All Night Cars logo on the side, in a second car park which was not covered by his CCTV.
The court heard that the control box system was in Lacomba’s bedroom in a converted loft but no monitor was attached for the actual camera views to be seen.
The infrared lights emitted were only visible to a certain type of camera, as that fitted on his neighbour’s bungalow, and not to the naked eye.
Police at the former couple’s home during in the days after her disappearance
The police investigation revealed that the cameras were switched on throughout August and September 2018 and up until October 3 when they were switched off at the mains at 11.25 pm before being turned back on at 1.06am on October 4.
They then stayed on, still capturing events in real-time, until off at 12.54am on October 9, before being switched back on at 2.30am.
The moment they were turned off for a final time at 12.12am on October 10 was shown in court, the infrared light clearly disappearing and throwing their view outside Lacomba’s home into darkness.
They then remained off until the CCTV system was seized by police on October 11.
Lacomba denies murder.The court heard other than Lacomba’s mother Marilyn leaving the house shortly before Sarah had returned from work on October 9, no one else was seen coming or going from the property, or in the area of their vehicles.
Footage alleged to capture Lacomba’s Vauxhall Zafira taxi heading along isolated country lanes in the early hours of October 10 was also played