Girl 'called for murdered mother'

Kirsty Wilson's body was set alight with petrol, the court has heard

A daughter of a Mercedes executive allegedly killed by her partner cried "I want Mummy" as the girl was taken away from the scene, a court has heard.

Alan Jermey, 41, denies murdering 34-year-old Kirsty Wilson at their home in Woking, Surrey, in August last year.

Mr Jermey is said to have strangled the mother-of-two and set fire to her body with petrol after learning she planned to leave him for her married boss.

The Old Bailey heard a neighbour saw him help his daughters flee the fire.

Juliet Monk told the court she opened her front door just before midnight to see what was going on after hearing a child's voice calling out.

The hearing was told how Mr Jermey had climbed onto the flat roof of an extension at the back of the four-bedroom house with the couple's two daughters.

Child 'calmed'

Mrs Monk, who no longer lives at the address, said: "The child was screaming something to the effect of 'I want Mummy, I want Mummy'.

"At one point the child made a dash as if running back to the bathroom window and the father was obviously trying to keep the child calm."

Mr Jermey did not make any calls for help, she added.

"At that point it all seemed sort of surreal, I couldn't understand what on earth you'd be doing on a flat roof because I couldn't see any smoke or any evidence of fire," she said.

The jury has been told Miss Wilson had told Mr Jermey she was leaving him and that the house in Greenmeads was about to be put on the market.

She had been having an affair with Simon Goddard, her boss at the Basingstoke Mercedes dealership in Hampshire.

The trial continues.