Electrician faces life sentence for murdering judge’s daughter before blowing up their Stoke Newington home

An electrician who stabbed a judge’s daughter to death in a frenzied rage before blowing up their north London home in a gas explosion is set to be sentenced for murder.

Clifton George, 45, killed his partner Annabel Rook, 46, by stabbing her 31 times during a row at their home in Stoke Newington after she had said they should end their 10-year relationship.

In the aftermath of the killing, George started a fire in the basement in order to cause a gas canister explosion which ripped through the house.

George denied murder at a Snaresbrook Crown Court trial, but was convicted by a jury last week and will receive a life sentence from Mr Justice Constable KC on Tuesday.

His attempt to claim loss of self control as a partial defence fell apart during the trial, after jurors heard evidence of his short fuse, angry outbursts at Ms Rook, and at least one incident when he had been violent towards her.

Ms Rook, a charity worker who co-founded social enterprise MamaSuze to help refugees through arts workshops, is the daughter of retired Old Bailey judge Peter Rook.

She was punched, throttled, and then stabbed by George at their home in Dumont Road on the night of June 16 last year.

In the aftermath of the murder, George triggered the gas explosion – likened by neighbours to an “mini earthquake” – which ripped through the property and blew off part of the roof.

George was found lying on the kitchen floor covered in blood and then tried to stab himself with a shard of broken glass while Ms Rook lay dead in the living room.

In the aftermath of the killing, he admitted “I lost it” and the trial heard how he had lost his temper when he believed Ms Rook had told him a lie.

In his defence, George insisted he did not have a “short fuse”, but friends and family of Ms Rook gave evidence of his true character.

Ms Rook’s best friend, Sian Davin, told jurors she believed George needed therapy for his anger issues and described an incident when he pushed Ms Rook against a wall and grabbed her around the throat.

She said he had “unreasonable flashing rage anger” at times, would fat-shame and gaslight Ms Rook, and possessed a “tendency to over-react about small trivial things”.

Daniel Varani, a former flatmate of Ms Rook, described the joy of their time living together but said he decided to move out shortly after George moved in, because of his “angry outbursts”.

The court heard of an incident in 2024 when George stormed out of Glastonbury Festival after rowing with one of Ms Rook’s friend and then drunkenly haranguing his partner.

In another incident, George had flown into a rage when Ms Rook washed his chef’s knives and left them to drip-dry instead of immediately putting them away.

In 2023, Ms Rook tearfully confided in her father about George’s short temper, saying living with him was like “walking on eggshells” and first mentioning the possibility of a break-up.

She told her close friend Catherine Milne about the relationship difficulties while insisting there had been no violence and saying: “I don’t think he would do that.”

Ms Davin said her friend had acknowledged by summer 2024 that the relationship was “abusive” and a couple of weeks before her death Ms Rook left her sister a message saying the relationship was “not tenable”.

“I fear there will be some more wrath to come,” she said, but she went on to predict they would “get through this and will be stronger for it out the other side”.

Before the fatal stabbing, Ms Rook had told George that they should separate and he should move out of their home, which she owned.

“In the course of that argument he punched her, he then tried to strangle her, and then he went to the kitchen to get a knife, he came back with the knife and he stabbed her to death,” said prosecutor William Emlyn Jones KC.

“He lost his temper, and in his rage he murdered Annabel.”

George, who had been drinking red wine that night, tried to paint Ms Rook as the abuser in the relationship, despite “overwhelming” evidence that he was controlling and volatile.

Following the guilty verdict, CPS prosecutor Catherine Gould said: “Our thoughts are with the family and loved ones of Annabel Rook.

“It is devastating that her life was taken in such a violent manner in her own home by someone she should have been able to trust.

“She was a deeply caring and empathetic person who had set up a charity working with women traumatised by domestic and sexual abuse.

“Clifton George sought to minimise his actions by claiming he had lost control.

However, the evidence demonstrated that after assaulting Ms Rook, he retrieved a knife and returned to continue the attack, and the prosecution was able to prove the necessary intent for murder.

“We worked closely with the police to build the strongest possible case and to deliver justice for Annabel.

“We know that nothing can replace Annabel but hope that this verdict can bring some small measure of comfort to those who knew and loved her.”

George will be sentenced to life in prison, with the judge set to determine what minimum term he should serve before being eligible for release.