Accused showed no emotion

By Sally Chidzoy
Home Affairs Correspondent, BBC Look East

Sandra Weddell was found dead in the garage of the family home

You would not have guessed Garry Weddell was a senior police officer as he sat flanked by security guards at his first appearance before magistrates in June 2007.

He was dressed casually in a white sweatshirt and jeans. His thick neck and shaved head gave him a hard look as he sat in the Luton court.

The 47-year-old police inspector watched proceedings through security glass.

He showed no emotion as he listened to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) lawyer give details of the Crown's case against him as he was accused of murder.

His wife Sandra, a nurse and exam invigilator, had been found dead in the garage at the family home in Dunstable five months earlier on 31 January.

The 44-year-old had been strangled; a cable tie had been pulled around her neck.

Up until his arrest the day before his court appearance, Mr Weddell had carried on working for the Metropolitan Police. He was in charge of the custody suite at Barnet police station.

Gary Weddell's body was found in woodland

The CPS lawyer alleged Mr Weddell had faked his wife's suicide, that he had written a suicide note on his home computer and deliberately taken his neighbour round the house as an alibi during the "shock" discovery of the body.

The computer-generated suicide note had been studied by linguist experts. It was suggested that Mr Weddell was the true author.

The hearing went on for about an hour when the lawyer representing the defence asked magistrates to consider giving him bail.

One of the arguments for freeing Mr Weddell was that he had been a serving police officer for 25 years and that he would get a hard time from prisoners if he were locked up.

It was also put to the bench that he was unlikely to breach any bail conditions the court would be minded to impose because he had complied with the police.

Application rejected

Sitting in the public gallery was Mr Weddell's brother Geoffrey, a barrister who specialises in claims against the police and professional negligence cases.

Geoffrey Weddell offered to put up £200,000 and went into detail about the relatively small mortgage outstanding on his expensive Surrey property.

He repeated the defence lawyer's words, emphasising that his brother would comply with all bail conditions and that he would not be alone in his home as there would always be a relative there with him.

The magistrates rejected the application for bail.

Then, in September last year, Mr Weddell was freed on conditional bail by a Judge John Bevan. Among the conditions were the £200,000 surety placed by his brother.

But, four months after his release, the issue was thrust back into the public gaze after Mr Weddell apparently killed himself and his mother-in-law while on bail.

His body was found near Broomhills Shooting Club, in Markyate, Hertfordshire, on 12 January.

The body of Traute Maxfield, 70, was found on the same day 10 miles away in Gustard Wood. Both had been shot.