Wisbech carer ‘stabbed girlfriend to death, then wrote letter apologising for mess’, court hears

Steven Stocks, 44, allegedly 'lost the plot' and attacked his long-term girlfriend Laraine Rayner, 52, with a kitchen knife at her flat in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire.

He then stripped her down to her underwear, dragged her into her bedroom and built a 'shrine' for her, it is claimed.

Stocks, who is on trial at Southwark Crown Court in London for murder, later wrote a letter addressed to 'my dearest princess'.

The note said: 'Sorry babe, at least it was quick. You're the best woman I've ever had.

'Sorry about the mess in your flat - if you saw the mess you would kill me.'

Stocks has pleaded guilty to preventing lawful burial after apparently leaving Ms Rayner's body rotting in her flat for more than two weeks.

Prosecutor John Farmer said the defendant knifed her multiple times in the face, through the nose and neck during a row on April 6.

Stocks left her to bleed to death on the floor before 'carrying on with his ordinary life'.

The prosecutor added: 'The defendant was in a considerable state of fury by the time of the period before the killing.

'He lost his temper, armed himself with this knife and, if you stab a knife like that into someone's neck and into someone's nose, at the time you do it you must at the very least intend to do very serious harm, if not to kill the person.'

Ms Rayner's body was discovered in the bedroom of the property in Mill Road on April 24 after her father called the police.

Stocks was also found inside the flat, naked, and having apparently overdosed on prescription drugs.

Ms Rayner was described as a 'fragile' and 'vulnerable' woman who suffered from a number of mental and physical health problems which left her housebound and reliant on crutches.

Stocks, of North Brink, Wisbech, denies murder and an alternative charge of manslaughter.

He allegedly claimed he was acting in self-defence when he stabbed Ms Rayner to death.

The trial continues.