Man 'murdered wife and fled to Spain'

A husband who feared financial ruin murdered his wife and used his son and mistress to cover his tracks, the Old Bailey heard today.

Garry Malone fled to Spain with two young children to start a new life under a new name.

He even failed to return to Britain for his dead wife's memorial service and had to be extradited to face justice.

Trainee teacher Sharon Malone's body was found nearly four months after the murder in remote woodland near North Mimms, Hertfordshire, in March 2000.

Malone, his girlfriend Paula Fiddes and his son Gareth by his first marriage were trapped by mobile phone cell site evidence on the night of the murder, the court heard. Malone, now 50, was 16 years older than Sharon and their marriage was in ruins, said Stephen John, prosecuting.

He was overdrawn on his bank accounts and credit cards and faced paying 28-year-old Sharon a " substantial amount of money" in what have been their divorce settlement.

He had been having an affair with Fiddes, then 29, and, most importantly said Mr John, faced losing his two children by her, aged four and two.

Mr John continued: "Malone killed his wife on a Sunday night, probably at his home. It's impossible to say whether it was planned in advance or whether there was some sudden outburst of temper which led him to kill.

"Then he acted in a cool and calculated way to dispose of her body that night by taking it to a remote wood. He encouraged the police in the belief she had simply walked out of their home that evening.

"But, at a later stage, he decided he was coming under suspicion of murder and it was a matter of time before he would be arrested.

"He made careful plans to leave the country with his two very young sons and he left a false trail of lies and deception to give the false impression a stranger had been responsible for the killing and he was in some way at risk if he remained in this country." Sharon had lived with him in Potters Bar and worked as a research officer before beginning teacher training in Hoddesdon.

On the night of the murder Malone's phone was used within hundreds of yards from where Sharon's body was found, and to repeatedly call Gareth and Fiddes' phones, the court heard.

Malone, of Potters Bar, has pleaded not guilty to murder in November 1999. Gareth Malone, now 23, of Basildon, denies attempting to pervert the course of justice and assisting an offender.

Fiddes, now 34, of Barnet, has pleaded not guilty to attempting to pervert the course of justice and assisting an offender.

The case continues.