Murder trial hears of acid threat

Jayne Brocklesby's mother Valerie (l) died in the attack

A Frenchman who tried to kill his estranged British wife had previously threatened to throw acid in her face if she had an affair, a court has heard.

Cherif Doua, 42, made the threat soon after marrying Jayne Brocklesby in 1999, it was alleged.

Mr Doua is charged with the murder of Ms Brocklesby's mother, Valerie, at her home in West Bromwich, West Midlands.

He is also charged with attempting to murder Ms Brocklesby. He admits both charges but denies premeditation.

'Possession'

Giving evidence at the court in Beauvais, about 60 miles north of Paris, a close friend of Mrs Brocklesby, Anne Griffiths, said she found Doua charming when she first met him.

He was drinking French wine and cooking at Mrs Brocklesby's home in Essex Avenue, Hateley Heath, and he and Jayne seemed to be in love, she said.

But Mrs Griffiths, a 62-year-old optician from Great Barr, Birmingham, said she began to have doubts later and thought Doua treated his wife like a "possession".

Following Doua's arrest in connection with a stolen car inquiry in France, Mrs Brocklesby also confided in her friend that she did not think he was a suitable husband for her daughter.

She also found out that Doua had been a suspect in the murder of his first wife's mother in France in 1988. Doua was never charged with the crime.

"At the start of the marriage, he mentioned that if he found out she was seeing someone else, he would throw acid in her face and cut her to ribbons," Mrs Griffiths told the hearing.

The trial is continuing.