Murder accused 'was cheated on'

Mr Chenery-Wickens denies killing his wife and dumping her body in woods

A spiritualist minister who denies murdering his make-up artist wife has told Lewes Crown Court she slept with a colleague while working abroad.

David Chenery-Wickens, 52, of Duddleswell, East Sussex, said his relationship with Diane, 48, came under strain when she cheated on him.

In the witness box on the first day of the defence, he said there was "no way" he was involved in her death.

It is claimed he killed her and dumped her body in woodland last January.

Defence barrister Simon Russell-Flint QC asked Mr Chenery-Wickens to describe the early years of the relationship.

Mr Chenery-Wickens told jurors they were introduced through a mutual friend while she was working on the BBC series The Brittas Empire.

She asked him to tell her fortune with a tarot reading, with which she was "very happy", the court heard.

My marriage was over. To the outside world you'd think we had the perfect relationship David Chenery-Wickens

Mr Chenery-Wickens said she then asked to join his healing circle, and the pair became friends before starting a relationship.

They were married at a register office in June 1997, had a spiritual wedding in Dorset, and lived in a flat in Battersea, south London, where "the first year was absolute bliss," he explained.

But in 1998, Mrs Chenery-Wickens went to Turkey to work on a film called Arabian Nights, where she she slept with someone else, the court was told.

Mr Chenery-Wickens admitted that he then had sexual encounters with several other women.

He said the couple moved into separate bedrooms but they continued to share the cottage they moved to in 2000.

"My marriage was over. To the outside world you'd think we had the perfect relationship," he added.

'Psychic powers'

During the hearing, jurors also heard that Mr Chenery-Wickens had worked for his father's haulage business when he left school, but he had also developed an interest in spiritualism from his mother and sister.

That led him to set up a painting and decorating firm where he used "psychic powers" to help clients find colours, the court was told.

He later started to get paid for tarot readings, delivering "exorcisms", and holding services in spiritual churches.

He became certified as a spiritualist minister in 2002, jurors heard.

Mr Chenery-Wickens told the court the spiritualist church had basic principles which said one should not take another's life or their own, nor hurt any other person, be it by "words, actions or deeds".

When asked by Mr Russell-Flint if these guidelines extended to extra-marital affairs, Mr Chenery-Wickens said: "If it was a true loving marriage then I would say that's correct.

"But when it's not then I would say no."

'Health problems'

Mr Chenery-Wickens told the court that he always knew he had a spiritual side, even as a child growing up in Beckenham, south London, and used to hear voices whispering to him and mysterious footsteps during the night.

He told the court many of the women he is alleged to have had affairs with had come to him for help.

"Divorce and relationship problems are the bulk of my work," he said.

He admitted some of the women had lent him large sums of money, sometimes up to £21,000.

He used some of the money for healthcare because he suffered from heart problems, diabetes, malaria, suspected prostate cancer and had undergone a hernia operation in recent years, the court heard.

But he also said some women had tried to become intimate with him, but he had refused.

The trial was adjourned until Friday.

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David Chenery-Wickens, 52, is accused of murdering his wife Diane Chenery-Wickens