Cheating Phillip Dafter killed Diana Dafter, 36, on October 7, 2022, in a “moment of insanity” after the couple rowed to get their car MOTed, a court heard. An ex-soldier who stabbed his wife to death with such a frenzy the blade snapped, then boarded a train to London, was convicted today of his murder.
Jurors at Northampton Crown Court took just two hours on Wednesday to convict Dafter, who was arrested at London Euston station after telling a conductor that he needed to speak to the police because he was “wicked and bad”.
Prosecutor Gordon Aspen QC said the couple had been on the verge of divorce after Ms. Dafter discovered that he had been messaging a younger woman in his homeland of Malawi, following previous infidelities.
Dafter took a train to London after stabbing Diana five times in her Northampton flat. After other passengers had departed at Euston, a driver arrived to help the unsteady Dafter onto the platform. Dafter told him to call the police. Asked by the driver why, Dafter replied: “I am wicked and a bad man,” the court heard.
Philip Dafter Age
Philip Dafter is 32 years old.
Philip Dafter Stabbed his wife to death when she found he had been messaging a younger woman
He later told British Transport Police officers that he had killed his wife. Transport policemen then alerted their colleagues in Northamptonshire, who discovered Mrs. Dafter’s body in the kitchen. Dafter admitted to manslaughter, arguing that his responsibility was diminished, but he denied murder.
The court heard that Dafter and Diana were born in Malawi and, after finishing school in Africa, moved to the UK, where they met and married. Dafter had spent some time in the British Army and, following his discharge, became a bus driver and then a heavy vehicle driver.
CCTV footage was shown in court of Diana leaving and returning to her apartment on the morning of Friday 7 October; this was the last time she was seen alive. Mr Aspden told the court that it was upon Diana’s return that “all the resentment and bitterness boiled over” and Dafter stabbed his wife repeatedly with a knife so strong that the blade broke from the handle.
A postmortem examination carried out on Diana’s body two days later at the Leicester Royal Infirmary found that she died of a single stab wound to the heart. She had a total of 17 wounds and cuts on her fingers that suggested she tried to save herself by pushing the knife in during the attack, she told herself.
After killing his wife, juries were told how Dafter left his apartment and exchanged pleasantries with a neighbor before heading to Asda and buying a set of kitchen knives. He then returned to the apartment and drank whiskey as his wife lay dead, before stabbing himself multiple times.
Northampton Crown Court listened to the Range Rover driver, Dafter, then proceeded to the town’s railway station and bought a ticket to London Euston. Jurors were told that after his arrest, Dafter told a psychiatrist that he knew what he had done and that his wife had pushed him to do it.
The court previously heard that Dafter was diagnosed with a recurrent depressive disorder and had become “withdrawn” and “irritable” in the months leading up to the murder. The senior investigating officer, Detective Chief Inspector Adam Pendlebury, said: “I am very pleased that Phillip Dafter was found guilty of murder today and that the jury did not accept his manslaughter plea.”
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“This was an extremely violent and prolonged attack that could not have happened without a very real intent to cause serious harm to Diana.
“It’s important to remember Diana Dafter for who she was. And that’s a lot more than Phillip Dafter’s wife. She was a loving mother, daughter, and friend. A nursing student with a true passion for care, hardworking and someone who is very easy to get along with.
“While today’s verdict will be little comfort to her family and those who loved her, I hope it helps to know that Phillip Dafter now faces an exceptionally long prison term for what he has done.
‘Finally, I would like to thank everyone at Northamptonshire Police for their work on this investigation, as well as our colleagues at the British Transport Police for their help. Together we have secured justice for Diana and put Phillip Dafter where he belongs: behind bars.
Dafter will be sentenced on May 19. Ms. Dafter was a mother of two and a nursing student. She also worked as a caretaker. Vinit Kotecha, from the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “The tragedy of this case is that Diana was attacked and killed in her own kitchen, in her home, where she should have been safest of all.
Dafter’s intent was clear in her actions: the violence of her attack and her movements after the murder.
“Throughout the evidence gathering in this case and the efforts we have made to bring Philip Dafter to justice, what is abundantly clear is the impact of this tragedy on the rest of his family. ‘His children by him must now grow up without his mother and the knowledge of how she died. “I would like to offer all of Diana’s loved ones my deepest condolences.”
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