Mortgage broker GUILTY of murdering wife, 46, at home to cash in on £450k life insurance after facing mountain of debt
A MORTGAGE broker has been found guilty of murdering his wife to cash in on her life insurance after spiralling into a mountain of debt.
Stephen Hammond, 47, was set to gain £450,000 in the event of wife Sian’s death.
On October 30 last year, Hammond called 999 to report he had found the 46-year-old face down on the bed not breathing.
Sadly mum-of-two Sian could not be saved and was declared dead at the family home in Histon, Cambridgeshire.
Cambridge Crown Court was told a post mortem showed she had been “strangled and sustained other injuries”.
Hammond has today been found guilty of murder following a harrowing trial.
The court was told the monster spun a web of lies after strangling his wife to death.
He told police he had sex with Sian, showered then went downstairs at about midnight while his wife stayed upstairs to sleep.
Hammond then claimed he found the mum-of-two not breathing in bed so he administered CPR in a bid to save her.
But a paramedic who attended concluded no CPR had been carried out.
Hammond was also snared by a fitness device that showed a “spike” in his heart rate between 11.56pm and 12.19am.
The data then stopped recording – suggesting the equipment had been taken off.
Prosecutor Christopher Paxton KC said this data “suggested the defendant was involved in some sustained physical activity at a time he claimed to be on the sofa watching television”.
At the time of her death, he ran a business called Hammond Mortgage Services that was in around £300,000 of debt.
Around £200,000 of this was to Legal and General, with Hammond telling an agent to call him on the day of his wife’s death “suggesting something may have changed by then”.
When the agent called back on October 30, he told her his wife had died that morning and “even though they were divorcing she was the mother of his children”.
Hammond spoke to the agent again on November 3 and asked if he could pay the debt off quicker as he would be receiving life insurance and whether the firm could review the interest payments.
Mr Paxton added: “Sian Hammond had been dead barely a week and this was the defendant’s focus.”
Hammond paid his wife’s life insurance policy, also with Legal and General, up to date on October 26 to ensure he would benefit.
How you can get help
Women's Aid has this advice for victims and their families:
- Always keep your phone nearby.
- Get in touch with charities for help, including the Women’s Aid live chat helpline and services such as SupportLine.
- If you are in danger, call 999.
- Familiarise yourself with the Silent Solution, reporting abuse without speaking down the phone, instead dialing “55”.
- Always keep some money on you, including change for a pay phone or bus fare.
- If you suspect your partner is about to attack you, try to go to a lower-risk area of the house – for example, where there is a way out and access to a telephone.
- Avoid the kitchen and garage, where there are likely to be knives or other weapons. Avoid rooms where you might become trapped, such as the bathroom, or where you might be shut into a cupboard or other small space.
If you are a victim of domestic abuse, SupportLine is open Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 6pm to 8pm on 01708 765200. The charity’s email support service is open weekdays and weekends during the crisis – messageinfo@supportline.org.uk.
Women’s Aid provides a live chat service – available weekdays from 8am-6pm and weekends 10am-6pm.
You can also call the freephone 24-hour National Domestic Abuse Helpline on 0808 2000 247.
Detective Inspector Richard Stott, from the Beds, Cambs and Herts Major Crime Unit, said: “The pathology played a key part in this investigation, and this started to show how Mr Hammond had lied about how his wife had died.
“Once the investigation progressed it showed Hammond to be a competent liar and the large debts and financial pressures, he was under became clear.
“His greed and fear of losing his public standing led to him murdering his wife to benefit from her life insurance and to continue to hide his debt and lies.
“Our thoughts go out to the family and friends of Sian; she was a loved and well-liked person and an active and successful businesswoman.”