Nigel Wright murder: Pair jailed for kicking husband to death in Peterborough

Melanie Wright and Barry Chapman's trial heard that when a police officer asked if anyone else was in the house, Wright replied "not as far as I'm concerned"

A woman and her lover who "decided to satisfy their lust for sex" after kicking her husband to death have been sentenced to life in prison.

Nigel Wright, 64, died after an attack in his living room on Park Road in Peterborough in May.

Prosecutors said Melanie Wright and Barry Chapman had "been flirting... for some period of time" before the attack.

Wright, 48, and Chapman, 34, were been found guilty of murder at Peterborough Crown Court last month.

Chapman, previously of Paynels in Orton Goldhay in the city, was sentenced to a minimum term of 17 years, while Wright received a minimum term of 14 years.

Nigel Wright was kicked to death by his wife Melanie Wright and Barry Chapman

The court heard Chapman was a lodger with Wright and her husband, but things became tense during lockdown while Mr Wright was shielding.

Prosecutor Karim Khalil QC said Mr Wright had "confided in [a friend] that he thought Melanie Wright and Barry Chapman were having an affair".

On 25 May, Chapman's birthday, a neighbour called police and when PC Joe Woolf arrived Chapman said: "Hang on a minute, let me get dressed."

Jurors were told the officer asked if anyone else was in the flat and Melanie Wright, now of South Parade in Peterborough, replied: "Not as far as I'm concerned."

Mr Khalil said the officer was "confronted by the sight of Mr Wright spread-eagled across the floor, a pool of blood around his head".

'Dark cloud'

In a statement to the court, Mr Wright's niece Kelly said: "They have taken away not only my uncle Nigel, but my person to talk to when I was feeling low. He was my idol.

"I never knew my real dad and Nigel stepped up to the plate and filled that hole for me.

"He always said he would give me away at the aisle but now he will never get the chance."

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