Airline pilot denies murdering estranged wife at her south Warwickshire village home - The Leamington Observer

Airline pilot denies murdering estranged wife at her south Warwickshire village home

Leamington Editorial 15th May, 2018   0

AN AIRLINE pilot smashed his estranged wife with a saucepan, then punched, kicked and stamped her to death in a rage because she refused to drop the asking price on their former home.

Despite the brutality of the killing, Andrew McIntosh, a pilot with the Tui holiday company, has pleaded not guilty to his wife Patricia’s murder at her home in Knightcote near Gaydon.

The jury at Warwick Crown Court heard the defence case is that 54-year-old Mr McIntosh, who was living in a cottage at Woolscott Manor, Woolscott, Rugby, was suffering from diminished responsibility.

Prosecutor Peter Grieves-Smith said the McIntoshs, who had both been married before, had married in 2012, but separated in June last year, and divorce proceedings had begun.




Their home, Grass Yard in Knightcote, where Patricia had continued living after Mr McIntosh moved out, was put up for sale.

But by November there had been little or no interest from buyers and Mr McIntosh wanted to drop the sale price but mum-of-one Patricia did not.


On November 15 she was again asked to drop the sale price, and declined, which angered the defendant.

He was earning more than £100,000 a year, but said he was under financial pressure and complained about Patricia having ‘expensive tastes’ – although Mr Grieves-Smith observed he had chosen to buy and drive a Maserati and a Range Rover.

Despite being on standby that day, the defendant was drinking during the afternoon before deciding to drive to Knightcote to talk to Patricia, a nail technician, without any warning.

Patricia, who had been to a spa facility with a friend that day, was back at home and preparing a meal when he arrived.

Mr Grieves-Smith said: “He was to tell the police that he asked her to change her mind. She declined to do so, and told him to leave.

“He then grabbed her and attacked her. To use his terms, ‘I lost control.’”

The jury was told he picked up a saucepan containing water and peas, and ‘smashed her with it,’ before also attacking her with his fists and feet, kicking her and stamping on her.

“She died on her kitchen floor. The defendant did nothing to help her after he had finished the attack. He didn’t try to give her first aid, or call 999, or anything.

“He left her lying on the ground, with blood surrounding her head and on the kitchen surfaces and elsewhere.”

What he did do, said Mr Grieves-Smith, was pull down the kitchen blind and turn off the cooker before leaving.

Mr McIntosh drove home to Woolscott where he drank a bottle of wine and contacted friends in Norfolk, admitting what he had done and telling one of them: “I’ve just murdered Trish in a rage and am just waiting for the police to arrive.”

Meanwhile the other person he had contacted, asking for his bank details so he could pay some money into his account, had alerted the police.

But rather than waiting for them, the defendant drove to the Green Man pub in Dunchurch where he spoke to a friend who worked for the police, and told him he had ‘punched her and kicked her and stamped on her head.’

He then had another drink at the pub before driving into Rugby, where he was stopped by police and arrested.

The trial continues.

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