An ex-Royal Opera House designer allegedly bludgeoned his fiancee to death after she told him she didn’t like his cross-dressing fetish and admitted she had cheated on him, a court heard today.
Roderick Deakin-White, 38, caused ‘horrific injuries’ as he repeatedly struck 35-year-old Amy Parsons with a two foot long metal bar on April 25, jurors heard in an extraordinary day of allegations on Wednesday.
The graphic designer allegedly fled the scene in Tower Hamlets, east London, but told police he was a ‘murderer’ after handing himself in the following day.
Jurors at Snaresbrook Crown Court heard Deakin-White had blamed himself after Ms Parsons admitted she had cheated on him with another man, and they had clashed over his cross-dressing fetish which she confessed made her feel uncomfortable.
Roderick Deakin-White, 38, caused ‘horrific injuries’ as he repeatedly struck 35-year-old Amy Parsons with a two foot long metal bar in April 25, jurors heard. He fled the scene in Tower Hamlets but told police he was a ‘murderer’ after handing himself in the following day
Prosecutor Gareth Patterson QC told Snaresbrook Crown Court: ‘On Thursday 25 April of this year he attacked his partner and fiancée, a woman called Amy Parsons.
‘Unwilling to accept that she was going to leave him, he used a heavy metal bar to hit her repeatedly around the head while she was showering in the Docklands flat which they shared.
‘By his blows with that bar he caused her horrific injuries and fractures to the head and to her face and to her brain.
‘He left her lying in her own blood in the bath of her flat and walked out of the flat doing nothing to help her or to get her any treatment.’
Miss Parsons was left lying in the bath of her flat and took more than 30 minutes to die, jurors were told
Jurors heard Miss Parsons had received a WhatsApp message from her new lover, James Saunders, 58 minutes before CCTV captured Deakin-White leaving the flat following the attack.
Miss Parsons had been brutalised in the shower and took more than 30 minutes to die after he left her, the jury were told.
Following the attack, the jury heard Deakin-White waded into the Thames to kill himself, but turned round and came back to the river bank.
Mr Patterson said: ‘She survived for a short time probably something in the region of one hour, most likely more than 30 minutes.’
The next day the defendant allegedly told police while in custody that ‘he went to the Thames near the Prospect of Whitby pub.
Jurors heard the pair had been in a relationship for several years but he was ‘dependent’ on his girlfriend, who was born in Australia but had been living in the UK for many years
‘He said he considered killing himself but when he went out into the water he decided against it and returned to the bank of the river.’
The prosecutor said Deakin-White had drunk four beers and champagne with Miss Parsons on the night of the killing but answered ‘no comment’ when asked if he was drunk at the time by police.
Jurors heard the Miss Parsons and Deakin-White had been in a relationship for several years but he was ‘dependent’ on his girlfriend, who was born in Australia but had been living in the UK for many years.
The prosecutor said: ‘Before the defendant met her he had had little in the way of relationships with other women and the evidence that you will hear suggests that after he met her and the relationship began that he became extremely dependent upon her.
‘The flat in which they lived was owned by her. He did not go out to work. She provided him with financial support, working as a Personal Assistant to a manager in an Insurance Company in the City.
‘It was Amy who paid the rent for the flat every month. The evidence suggests he was reliant on her.
‘At times he had had depression in the past but he had chosen not to take medication and the dependency on her appears to have been both emotional and financial.
‘You will hear evidence about the nature of that relationship from witnesses who knew them both and from witnesses with whom they exchanged messages.
‘With those various witnesses they had both discussed the relationship. Amy became increasing unhappy. ‘
He continued: ‘One bone of contention was he like to engage in cross dressing. She was unhappy about this and this was something he often wanted to do when they were together and they were intimate. She didn’t like it.
It was heard that one bone of contention was he like to engage in cross dressing. Prosecutors said: ‘she was reportedly unhappy about this and this was something he often wanted to do when they were together and they were intimate. She didn’t like it’
‘A few weeks before her death Amy Parsons began to become increasingly fond of a colleague at work, a man called James Saunders.
‘Their feelings and affections for each other developed to a sexual relationship.
‘Amy Parsons did tell the defendant about this. He told a friend that he blamed himself somewhat feeling that he had pushed her to him. But he became unhappy and told people he felt hurt.
‘The evidence suggests that he felt he was losing Amy.’
The jury heard the pair had rowed after Miss Parsons told her fiance of the affair with Mr Saunders, a colleague of hers.
Mr Saunders told the court he ‘inferred’ she was about to break up with him.
The pair slept together at his home the night before and he WhatsApped her to say: ‘I’m glad I can do something to help you through this’, the court heard.
Miss Parsons was pronounced dead at the scene and a post-mortem examination revealed she had been struck several times
Jurors were told Miss Parsons sent a message to Mr Saunders just before 8pm that said: ‘Home for the final round. Oh yes, god yes.
‘He’s gone to the shop, he’s trying to make all these changes and grand gestures and I’m like, ‘no I don’t want it.'”
Mr Saunders allegedly replied: ‘If you need to get away you are welcome to stay here,’ and she replied: ‘I’m all over the place.’
Prosecuting, Mr Patterson QC, told the court in light of the evidence: ‘You will hear from people he spoke with and exchanged messages with. It appears there were rows between the defendant and Amy.
‘As time went on his unhappiness deepened and it developed into jealousy of the other man and anger.
‘He described the new man in her life as a ‘bast***’, a ‘creep’, a ‘scumbag’, a ‘bloody k*** head’, a ‘complete tool’ and a ‘f**king twat’.
‘He messaged him saying ‘back off’. He began stalking Amy, following her home from work and going to a restaurant to try to see her with this new man James Saunders.
‘He tried to monitor what she was doing, accessing her laptop and studying on her account her use of Uber taxis.
‘He described her as a ‘sneaky b***h’ and as a ‘nasty, nasty person’. He wrote to one friend ‘why are women so horrible?’ and called her ‘a f*****g liar’ and wrote ‘I hate her’.
‘To another friend he messaged: ‘I’m going to do something stupid, I just know I am.’
Summarising his argument, Mr Patterson QC said: ‘He does accept that he caused Amy Parson’s death but his case is that he is not guilty of murder but the lesser offence of manslaughter.
‘He will say however that he was provoked. We anticipate that he will tell you that he lost self control, that any reasonable and sober man in t his circumstances might equally have lost self control and acted in the same way.
‘We say (this) is wholly unrealistic.’
The trial continues.