Murdered Basingstoke woman's 999 call 'one of most harrowing'

A police worker who took a 999 call from a woman as she was stabbed to death has said it was "one of the most harrowing calls" of his career.

Stanley Elliott, 53, denies murdering 61-year-old Geoffrey Hibbert and his wife Michelle, 29, last June.

Winchester Crown Court previously heard Mr Elliott was babysitting while the couple went out in Reading, Berkshire.

He attacked them when they returned to a property in Buckland Avenue, Basingstoke, the jury was told.

The court also heard Mrs Hibbert used Mr Elliott's mobile phone to make the call in the early hours of 20 June.

Call handler Christopher Charles said in a statement read to the jury: "A female voice said words to the effect: 'I have been stabbed and my husband has been stabbed'.

"My immediate reaction was the female seemed really calm. I remember asking the female who had done it and the female replied, I believed, 'Tam Elliott'.

"I thought this was an unusual name so I repeated it back to her, from recall there was no reply to this question."

He said he asked Mrs Hibbert about the level of her injuries and she started screaming.

"I didn't get anything further from her," Mr Charles added.

He said that he heard over the phone police officers arriving at the scene and added in his statement: "I have never heard an officer sounding so scared, and that's what really sticks out."

He added: "It's one of the most harrowing calls I have taken but I have tried not to dwell on it."

The court has heard that Mr Hibbert died as a result of 58 stab wounds and blunt force injuries while Mrs Hibbert died of multiple stab wounds.

Sarah Jones QC, prosecuting, previously told the jury that Mr Elliott, from Sherborne St John, Hampshire, might have believed that Mr Hibbert was going to link him to a £28,000 burglary at a bingo hall, which the victim had been accused of committing.

She said a court document naming Mr Elliott was found in a bin at the couple's home following the murders.

The trial continues.

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