Skydiver, 55, guilty of murdering beauty salon owner girlfriend after bedtime row over teenager's rape allegations
25 April 2023, 16:14 | Updated: 25 April 2023, 17:00
A skydiver has been found guilty of murdering his fellow freefall instructor and beauty salon owner girlfriend, after the couple had a blazing argument over allegations he raped a teenage girl while at work.
Ashley Kemp, 55, a fellow skydiver, strangled partner Clair Armstrong, 51, to death after she became "hysterical" and attempted to end the relationship following a row over allegations he'd raped a teenage girl while at work.
A court heard how the argument, which prosecutors claim escalated following a bedroom disagreement on Saturday, November 5 last year, saw Kemp headbutt his girlfriend repeatedly before throttling her to death.
Prosecutors at Grimsby Crown Court spoke of how Kemp "snapped" following the row, leaving Ms Armstrong gasping for air while slumped in a wardrobe.
In response to the allegations, Kemp later told police: "Clair being Clair she liked to have the last word."
Kemp had admitted manslaughter following his arrest, but continued to deny murder, claiming he acted in self-defence.
The court heard how Kemp waited hours after the killing to dial 999, leaving the front door of Ms Armstrong's house open for emergency services.
After making police aware of the murder, Kemp told the call handler: "I've killed my girlfriend. We got into a fight and I ended up strangling her.
"She is upstairs on the bed in the main bedroom. We just had an argument, that was all, and it just got heated. She just started thrashing out and I just reacted. I never react... I pinned her down and just choked her."
When the emergency services arrived at the property in Hibaldstow, North Lincolnshire, they found Ms Armstrong's body lying in bed beneath the covers, with rigor mortis having already set in.
Resuscitation was not attempted because she was so obviously dead, witnesses told the court.
Kemp was arrested by police on a grass verge in the early hours of November 6 after crashing his car into a tree on a country lane, 8 miles from his girlfriend's house.
He had driven through fog before colliding with a tree the court heard, having drunk wine and taken a large quantity of pain killing tablets before attempting to take his own life earlier that night.
The jury took less than four hours to find Kemp guilty of the murder of his girlfriend.
Kemp is now set to be given a mandatory life term, however, Judge John Thackray, KC said sentencing would be adjourned for legal reasons.
'I just did not know what I was doing,' Kemp continued to assert throughout the case.
In response, the prosecutor replied: "If you were not going to have her no one was going to have her. You took it out on her. How dare she tell you to leave. She was struggling for her life wasn't she?"
Kemp replied: "I thought she was still trying to attack me."
Earlier, the court heard how the couple had had a "normal day - a chilled out day" according to kemp, adding: "There was some tension when we went to bed."
"I was saying the bail being extended was a good thing because they have not been able to find anything yet.
"I was saying 'relax and not think about it' but you cannot tell Clair to 'relax and don't think about things' because she won't.
"It got heated. She advised me to start packing. She was quite hysterical. She went down the stairs and grabbed some black bags. I jumped out of bed," he continued.
"When I moved towards her she lashed out. She had the bags. I jumped out to try and stop her. She just started lashing out at me.
"Because she was pushing me and hitting me, I leant forward and head butted her."
"I just snapped. I wanted her to stop and calm down. That was the only way I could do it - so I did."
Adding he "grabbed her" before he once again "butted her on the forehead", Kemp says she "just recoiled and came back harder."
During the case, prosecutor Richard Thyne, KC, told the court their two-year relationship had become "strained" in recent months, with Ms Armstrong telling friends she expected to be single imminently.
However, the court heard how following the argument, Kemp is said to have grabbed her throat and "squeezed it as hard as I could until she stopped struggling".
"She was still at at the end of the bed. She fell into the cupboard. She was struggling for breath. I watched her. She was gasping for breath and then she stopped," the court heard.
Kemp continued to protest and deny he had "pinned her down" throughout the case - despite saying he had done so earlier during his 999 call.
If you have been affected by any of the issues raised by this article, for confidential support call the Samaritans on 116123 or visit a local Samaritans branch, see www.samaritans.org for details.
