Ian Stewart: Murder accused was caring towards wife, court hears

Diane Stewart died at the home she shared with Ian Stewart and their two sons in Bassingbourn, Cambridgeshire, in 2010

A man accused of murdering his wife was "caring and gentle" towards her, a trial has heard.

Ian Stewart, 61, denies killing Diane Stewart, 47, at their home in Bassingbourn, Cambridgeshire in 2010.

A family friend told Huntingdon Crown Court that the couple "were both very gentle with each other" and "would work together as a nice team."

Her death was investigated after Mr Stewart was convicted of the 2016 murder of his fiancée Helen Bailey.

The cause of Mrs Stewart's death was recorded at the time as sudden unexplained death in epilepsy (SUDEP).

In 2017 a jury found Mr Stewart guilty of killing his fiancée, children's author Helen Bailey

A neuropathologist was asked to examine preserved parts of Mrs Stewart's brain, which had been donated to medical science.

He said he found evidence of a lack of oxygen to her brain for between 35 minutes and an hour before her death.

Earlier in the trial, jurors heard a forensic pathologist found it was most likely Ms Bailey, a successful children's author, was suffocated while she was sedated by drugs.

After the death of Mrs Stewart, the defendant received £96,000 - which he said was for their sons' future.

Dr Andrew Pullen said Mr and Mrs Stewart would "work together as a nice team"

Dr Andrew Pullen told the court he met Mr Stewart while they were both students in the 1980s.

He said they and their partners socialised together as a group of four, adding that the Stewarts became "our best friends in fact".

Amjad Malik QC asked Dr Pullen about Mr Stewart's manner towards his wife.

"Caring and gentle," he said.

"If we went round for dinner, Ian and Diane would be in the kitchen preparing together - just a really nice couple, very caring, just lovely people."

Dr Pullen told the court Mr Stewart's appeared "shocked" at his wife's funeral.

"He was just very numb," he said.

Diane Stewart had epilepsy but had not had a fit in many years, the court heard

Neil King, prosecuting, asked Dr Pullen about Mr Stewart's conviction for murdering Ms Bailey.

"That's a verdict of the trial," he said.

"I find it very hard to believe."

Dr Pullen's wife, Sallyann Pullen, said the Stewarts' marriage "seemed very settled, very stable, very happy".

"I never saw them arguing or disputing anything, just a very nice relationship and a very nice family unit," she said.

The trial continues.