Ben Lacomba convicted of crime although mother-of-five’s body has not been found

This article is more than 10 months old

This article is more than 10 months old

The former partner of missing mother-of-five Sarah Wellgreen has been found guilty of murder, more than a year after she was last seen alive.

The 46-year-old beautician had been living a “happy life with much to look forward to”, but disappeared without a trace in October 2018.

Despite extensive searches across a huge area, Wellgreen’s body has never been found.

The pair had split up in 2014 but still lived together at their home in New Ash Green, Kent, at the time of her disappearance.

On Monday, her ex-partner Ben Lacomba was convicted of murder despite his attempts to evade justice.

The 39-year-old, who stood in the dock wearing a dark suit, shirt and dark blue tie, showed no emotion as the guilty verdict was read out.

It took the jury three-and-a-half hours to reach its verdict.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Taxi driver Ben Lacomba, 39. Photograph: Kent Police/PA

Lacomba’s trial at Woolwich crown court heard that he killed Wellgreen in a “calculated manner designed to avoid detection, to leave no trace” and to “remove her from his life forever”.

The couple met online in 2004 but by the time of her disappearance their relationship was marked by “tensions and problems”, the court heard.

They had split up but were still living under the same roof and it “appears that potential loss of that family home, that property, and his children motivated his actions”, prosecutor Alison Morgan QC told the jury.

Taxi driver Lacomba said he was asleep in bed on the night of the alleged killing.

The prosecution alleged that Lacomba switched off a CCTV system in the middle of the night and parked his car in an unusual spot in order to evade detection.

Giving evidence during the trial, Lacomba said it had been “unusual and weird” when he woke up one morning to find she was not at home.

A date for sentencing has yet to be decided.

Neil James, Wellgreen’s partner at the time she was murdered, said he hoped that her killer would reveal where her body was. Speaking outside the courtroom, James said he was relieved after Lacomba was found guilty of murder.

He said: “It is relief for the family and especially for the kids. It is a relief for all of her friends. The right decision has been made and hopefully he will let us know where her body is. Only this morning my daughter was asking where her mummy was.

“I think the police and the barristers have done an amazing job and so it is a big thank you to them.”

DCI Ivan Beasley, of the Kent and Essex serious crime directorate, said: “Sarah had every reason to live. She had secured a new, better-paid job days before her disappearance, was looking forward to one of her children’s birthdays and was getting into position to buy the family home outright.

“While we are yet to locate Sarah’s body, it is clear to us that Sarah is no longer alive due to the inactivity of her bank and phone accounts, no contact with friends or family and the fact she left the home without any of her personal items or shown any plans to leave. She didn’t even take her car.

“But when you look at Ben Lacomba, knowing what we know about Sarah and you begin to prove his account of what happened is untruthful, that he had reason to kill Sarah to avoid being left behind by her, it leaves us with little choice but to conclude he killed her.”



