Ian Stewart murder trial jury is played 999 call he made when wife 'had a fit' and collapsed

Ian Stewart was accused of murdering his wife, Diane, after being convicted of killing children's author Helen Bailey.
Ian Stewart is accused of the murder of his wife Diane in 2010

The 999 call made by a husband who is accused of murdering his wife has been played in court as their two sons sat in the public gallery.

Ian Stewart, 61, is accused of killing Diane Stewart, 47, at their home in Bassingbourn, Cambridgeshire, in 2010.

Her cause of death was recorded at the time as Sudden Unexplained Death in Epilepsy (SUDEP). Police investigated the case after a jury found Stewart guilty in 2017 of murdering children's author Helen Bailey the year before.

In the 2010 emergency call, which was played to jurors on Tuesday, the defendant tells the 999 operator: "My wife had a fit. She's in the garden."

Asked by the call handler if his wife is breathing, he replies: "No, I don't think so, no."

Helen Bailey with Ian Stewart

When asked if he thinks she has suffered a fit he says: "I think so, she does have epilepsy."

Stewart adds: "She hasn't had a fit in a long, long time."

The operator tells Stewart to "pump the chest hard and fast at least twice per second", adding: "We're going to do this at least 600 times or until help arrives."

The call lasts around 20 minutes, and for several minutes of it Stewart is heard counting "one, two, three, four".

Diane Stewart died at her home in Cambridgeshire in 2010.

At one point he asks the call handler: "Do I just keep going?"

She replies: "I will tell you when to stop. You need to go at least 600 times."

Sat in the dock at Huntingdon Crown Court while the call was played in court, Stewart at times leaned forward with his head in his hands, shook his head, and looked up at the ceiling.

Their sons Jamie and Oliver Stewart, and Diane Stewart's sister Wendy Bellamy-Lee, sat in the public gallery in court as the call was heard.

Later in the call, the operator gives Stewart instructions to perform mouth-to-mouth on his wife.

He says: "It's difficult as I think she's been sick. I'm trying to clear it out."

Later the operator tells Stewart to "quickly go and open the door... then come straight back to the phone" to let paramedics through when they arrive".

He replies: "I've got the gates open."

Eventually sirens are heard in the background of the call, and Stewart is heard telling the arriving paramedics: "I think she's had a fit."

Stewart denies the murder of his wife.

The trial continues.