'Get the police here to arrest me': Nurse's harrowing 999 call after she stabbed her husband to death in bed
7 September 2022, 16:38
Essex Police release 999 call made by Rebecca Searing
This is the harrowing 999 call made by a nurse shortly after she stabbed her husband to death while he slept.
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Rebecca Searing, 52, was sentenced to life with a minimum term of 17 years in prison for the murder of her husband Paul Searing, 57.
"I've just stabbed my husband twice," she told the call handler.
When the call handler asked her to repeat herself, Searing calmly said: "You heard, I stabbed my husband twice."
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Later on in the call Searing appeared to realise how seriously hurt her husband was.
"No, he's not really awake mate, I think he's dying," she said, sounding increasingly distressed.
"You need to get the guys here now, get the guys here now, the police to arrest me.
"And the EMS.
"I need the cops here now... oh God, I think I've killed him."
Searing attacked Mr Searing early on February 12, several hours after he returned from the pub to their home in Harlow, Essex, Chelmsford Crown Court heard.
Judge Christopher Morgan said the defendant, who had also been drinking, helped her husband upstairs then returned downstairs at their home in Ryecroft.
"Shortly before 2.30am you took a knife from the kitchen, you made your way upstairs and you stabbed your husband as he lay in bed," said the judge.
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He said Searing had later said: "Tonight I took my chance."
She had also sent a message to someone saying "it's time to kill".
The judge said the defendant's husband had "presented no threat" and "in all probability he was asleep".
He said Searing had suggested that her husband called her "worthless" or "useless".
The judge said: "At whatever stage, those words were no justification for what you were to do later on."
Searing was found guilty of murder following an earlier nine-day trial.
Prosecutor Allan Compton QC read a statement from Mr Searing's sister Karen Krokou, in which she said he had "worked hard as a cabinet maker and took pride in his work".
She described him as "happy go lucky and football mad, he loved Tottenham Hotspur".
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Mr Searing, who had children, was an "exceptionally loyal man, caring, warm and kind", Ms Krokou said.
She described the defendant's 999 call as "chilling", adding: "She may have been a good nurse but that doesn't make her a good person."
Sasha Wass QC, mitigating, said the married couple had a "complex relationship".
She said: "She loved him despite the complexity of that relationship and she still loves him."
Ms Wass said it was "a relationship that involved regular domestic violence".
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Searing, who wore a grey prison-issue tracksuit, looked straight ahead as the judge sentenced her to life in jail.
She must serve 17 years before she can be considered for parole.
