Debt-ridden husband jailed for murdering wife for life insurance payout at Histon home

Matthew Hudson reports for ITV News Anglia outside Cambridge Crown Court

A debt-ridden mortgage broker who murdered his wife to get her life insurance pay-out has been jailed for a minimum of 24 years.

Robert Hammond had paid off the arrears on the life insurance policy days before he killed his wife Sian at their home in Histon, near Cambridge.

The 999 call Hammond made to emergency services, in which he claimed to just have found her lying on the bed unresponsive, was released by police following his sentencing.

The 47-year-old had been faced a “surging mountain of debt and financial pressures” when his wife was found strangled, a trial at Cambridge Crown Court was told.

On Tuesday he was jailed for life with a minimum term of 24 years.

Prosecutor Christopher Paxton KC said that Sian Hammond’s life insurance policy was for a £450,000 payout in the event of her death.

Hammond denied his wife’s murder but he was found guilty by a unanimous verdict last week.

Hammond had dialled 999 just before 2am on October 30 last year and told the operator he had found his wife Sian face down on the bed and not breathing.

• Listen to the abridged 999 call Robert Hammond made to the ambulance service

Sentencing him, Judge Mr Justice John Cavanagh described Hammond as "a habitual and accomplished liar, lying whenever it suited your purpose to do so".

He said that the couple, who had two daughters, had appeared to have an "enviable life, recently buying a holiday home, and assisting your daughters in their sporting achievements. But, behind this façade, cracks were beginning to show."

To hold off creditors who were demanding repayment, Hammond lied about having suffered from cancer and having taken time off work, having had a mental breakdown, having relapsed, having separated from his wife, and also that she had been unwell and in hospital.

"You even lied to a representative of HMRC that you were awaiting a call from your oncologist in order to bring an awkward conversation to an end," said the judge.

"None of this was true."

The judge said Hammond had taken steps to conceal the dire state of their finances from his wife, and she was unaware of the trouble the couple were in.

He described Sian Hammond as "kind, bubbly and very friendly".

"She had a large circle of friends. She was a wonderful mother, devoted to her two daughters, and extremely proud of them. She was a loving wife to you."

He added: "Sian was hardworking and an academic highflyer, and, following a degree in biochemistry, had enjoyed a successful career as a research scientist, of which she was rightly proud, before giving it up to look after the girls and then to join you in the businesses.

"She was much loved by her daughters, her mother and sister, and by her many friends. Sian's murder has caused anguish and sadness to many people."

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