An Egyptian hockey coach who stabbed his wife six times and claimed she had taken her own life has been jailed for at least 21 years for her murder.
Mohamed Samak, 43, told a jury his wife Joanne Samak, 49, had stabbed herself in the chest and stomach after he woke up at around 3am on July 1 last year at their home in Droitwich Spa in the West Midlands.
But he was found guilty of murder on Wednesday after a retrial. The jury at his first trial, earlier this year, had failed to reach a verdict,
Prosecutors at Worcester Crown Court said Samak, a former Egyptian international hockey player and coach who worked with the Wales under-18s team, killed his wife because he was suffering financial problems and had become interested in another woman.
The defendant claimed during the trial that his wife stabbed herself and was struggling with alcohol and mental health problems.
But friends and family said they had no concerns about her and she had things to look forward to.
Jailing him for life on Friday, Judge James Burbidge KC said Samak’s actions were “wicked beyond comprehension” and he had destroyed the lives of Joanne’s family.
He said: “The emotion you disclose is either feigned or emotion based on self-pity. I cannot accept you are remorseful because you still deny responsibility and put Jo’s loved ones through the trauma of two trials.
“You sought to besmirch her name by saying she drank to excess and was not in control of her mental faculties. Nothing could have been further from the truth.”
Wiping away tears, Joanne’s mother Penny Vale told the court her family and friends will “never get over” the loss of the “irreplaceable” interior designer, who was looking forward to starting a new job and celebrating her 50th birthday.
“She had everything to live for. As her mum, I am utterly heartbroken and not a day goes by where I don’t think of Jo and cry,” said Ms Vale.
“She was my baby. I watched her grow into a beautiful, confident, caring adult. We have had to listen to false allegations about her character and lifestyle.
“The truth is very different to the story that has been told. She was a hardworking and devoted mother.”
The trial heard the couple met in 2011 when Joanne stayed at the hotel in Taba, Egypt, where Samak worked in entertainment.
The couple would make regular trips to see each other before they married in 2014 and settled together in Worcestershire.
But they had suffered issues in their 10-year marriage and slept in separate bedrooms.
Samak had admitted he had rekindled contact with a woman from France who he had met in 2009.
Joanne had also confided in a friend that she did not love her husband and wished she could divorce him.
Samak claimed he was woken up by a scream from his wife and went out on to the landing at their home to see her stabbing herself.
But he called the emergency services at 4.10am, more than an hour after neighbours say they heard a 10-second scream.
He told the call handler he had gone to the bathroom and decided to check on his wife, and found her slumped on the bed with a knife in her stomach.
Samak told the trial he had lied at first because he panicked and feared he would be blamed for her injuries.
The call handler told him to start CPR but he admitted he did not, despite being trained in the procedure and having a first aid kit in his bedroom.
The judge said Samak had the presence of mind to reinforce his “frankly wicked” story that Joanne had taken her own life by hiding bloodstained clothing in the loft – items which were only found by police during his second trial.
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