Father told 999 operator: 'I have murdered my entire family' » Communities » 24dash.com

A father told a police operator "I have murdered my entire family" after stabbing his two children, their mother and her brother to death, a court heard today.

Former taxi driver Neil Crampton, 36, knifed 12-year-old Abigail, Steven, aged five, their mother Olufunke Sobo (pictured), 36, and her brother Yemi Sobo, 41, in November 2006.

Newcastle Crown Court heard how he told police about the killings at the Sobo family road in Hawthorn Gardens, Kenton, Newcastle, in a 999 call.

Paul Sloan QC, prosecuting, told the jury: "On being connected to the Northumbria Police Northern Communications Centre, he immediately confessed to the operator 'I have murdered my entire family'.

"He went on to tell the operator that he needed somebody to come around immediately to 26 Hawthorn Gardens, Kenton.

"When asked to provide his details, he repeated 'just get somebody to come round please', and then hung up."

Crampton, of Huntley Crescent, Winlaton, Gateshead, denies four counts of murder.

Wearing a black T-shirt, he sat with his head bowed at the back of the packed court.

Mr Sloan said police were met by a scene which the defendant later described as "absolute carnage".

Officers knocked on the door but got no reply and found that the front door was unlocked.

"Nothing could have prepared them for what they were to discover upon gaining access to the house," Mr Sloan said.

"As the defendant himself was later to describe it when interviewed by the police, it was a scene of 'absolute carnage'".

Mr Sobo's body was found in the hallway. He had suffered 67 injuries, mostly to the head and neck, but some to his hands, indicating he had tried to grab the knife.

In another doorway was Miss Sobo's body. She had suffered 108 injuries - 67 stab wounds and 41 other knife injuries - again mostly to the head and neck and she also had hand injuries, the court heard.

Mr Sloan said: "It was clear from upturned and broken furniture in the rear dining room that a struggle had occurred in that area."

The children's bodies were discovered upstairs.

In the large front bedroom, partly covered by a duvet, was the body of Abigail Crampton.

She suffered a total of 105 knife injuries, many to the head and neck.

Her little brother was found on the floor in his bunk bedroom.

He had a total of 25 knife injuries, but there were no defence wounds.

Armed police were waiting for Crampton when he arrived at the house where he lived with his parents.

Mr Sloan said: "In due course, he was interviewed and admitted each one of the four killings."

Mr Sloan said Neil Crampton was an extremely volatile Jekyll and Hyde type character who was desperate to rebuild his relationship with his estranged partner Funke.

His attempts to rekindle their romance ended in "an unmitigated disaster" however, and he was made to feel unwelcome by Funke's mother Tunde he said.

The couple maintained an "on-off relationship" which continued even after Crampton admitted to beginning an affair with a prostitute when on holiday in Thailand.

But Funke at her mother's prompting had resolved to end the relationship and had moved with the children back to Kenton, the court heard.

Mr Sloan said: "While it is not suggested that he was ever violent towards her it became clear he had a bad temper, he would just flip when he did not get his own way and when he lost his temper he would hit out at inanimate objects.

"Funke referred to him as a Jekyll and Hyde.

"It was also clear that he was very possessive and jealous of Funke notwithstanding his own infidelities.

"He was always anxious and suspicious that she might be involved with someone else."

When Tunde Sobo left Newcastle for a holiday in Nigeria, Crampton used the opportunity to try and win Funke back the court heard.

"It is clear that the relationship between the mother and defendant was not good," Mr Sloan said.

"On one hand she did not approve of him and on the other he felt she was interfering and had come between himself and Funke."

Mr Sloan told the jury Crampton's legal team might advance a claim of diminished responsibility for their client arguing that at the time of each of the murders he was suffering an abnormality of mind.

But he said: "The prosecution case is that the defence of diminished responsibility does not apply to any of these four charges.

"The prosecution case is that in respect of each charge this defendant faces he is guilty of the offence of murder."

The case continues.

Crampton tried to kill himself after hacking his family to death, the court heard.

Mr Sloan said that on November 5 the couple had sex.

Ms Sobo immediately regretted what had happened and made it plain the relationship was over, Mr Sloan said.

"His hopes will inevitably have been raised, only to be dashed again," he said.

"He told her that he hated her and she had ruined his life."

The last time Ms Sobo was seen alive was on November 13, when she went to a local garage to buy petrol and soft drinks.

Some time between about 10.30pm and midnight, neighbours heard loud thumping or banging sounds coming from Hawthorn Gardens, the court heard.

Shouting and screaming could also be heard over a prolonged period, including the words "No, no".

Then there was silence.

The following morning, at 8.46am, Crampton phoned the police.

"By that time, as well as having stabbed his four victims to death, he had also harmed himself," Mr Sloan said.

"He had certainly cut himself and made some sort of attempt to hang himself. Moreover, he was subsequently to claim that he had tried, by various other means, to take his own life."

He said the 36-year-old bought a craft knife from the B&Q in Gateshead and then drove to Swalwell Woods where he harmed himself further.

Finally, he drove back to his parents' home, where he was arrested.

He was taken to hospital to be treated for his injuries and then interviewed by police.

He said he could remember little of what had happened except that he had argued with Ms Sobo in the kitchen and the back room.

"He was not sure what the argument was about, but said there had been a lot of animosity between them," Mr Sloan said.

"He could remember fighting with Funke and Yemi with a knife. He could not recall where the knife had come from."

His next recollection was of trying to hang himself from a bar in the garage, using a piece of clothing, Mr Sloan said.

"He lost consciousness and, when he came round, he was lying on the floor.

"He walked about the house and discovered that Funke, Yemi and the children were dead.

"He claimed not to recall how the children had died.

"He again attempted to take his own life by cutting himself, by trying to drown himself in the bath and by trying to electrocute himself whilst in the bath.

"He then changed into dry clothes and phoned the police."

The trial continues.