A jealous husband who went medieval in an act of “grotesque savagery” will likely spend the rest of his life behind bars – after he decapitated his wife’s head before flushing it down the toilet

A husband was sentenced to two decades behind bars after being found guilty of a heinous crime – cutting off his partner’s head. The crane driver beheaded his wife-of-30-years after becoming enraged when she admitted she had been seeing other men.

Dempsey Nibbs, 69, at the time of the crime was found guilty of murder Meals On Wheels worker Judith Nibbs, 60, in a London court. Nibbs claimed he had acted in self defence, but a jury found him guilty of murder following an Old Bailey trial which saw his crime described as His lawyer Ian Henderson QC told the criminal proceedings that his client acknowledged that his ill health meant he would die in jail.

Nibbs’ lawyer Ian Henderson QC told the court that his client conceded that his ill health meant he would die in jail after being diagnosed with prostate cancer. The Recorder of London, Nicholas Hilliard QC sentenced Nibbs to life with a minimum term of 21 years.

According to The Irish News, Hillard told Nibbs: “I’m sure you don’t regret your wife’s death save for its effect on your own comfort and well-being.”

The court heard how on the evening of April 10th 2014 – Nibbs attacked the mother of his two children at their flat in Hoxton, east London. He reportedly knocked her out with an iron bar before cutting her head off, smashing it up with a mallet and disposing of the pieces in the lavatory.

Afterwards, the murderer wrote a note to his 30-year-old son Kirk and called 999 to say police would find two bodies at the property. A police officer broke down the door when he saw Judith Nibbs’ headless body through the letterbox before taking a shotgun and knife from Nibbs as he attempted to stab himself in the bathroom.

Later, Nibbs said he killed his wife because he thought she was a “snake” – but jurors were told he had shown no signs of mental illness. Prosecutor Crispin Aylett QC had informed an Old Bailey jury that the couple’s relationship soured in the spring of 2014 after Nibbs suspected his wife of having multiple affairs.

During a row on April 7, Mrs Nibbs, who was originally from Kirkham – near Preston – Lancashire, admitted to her husband that she had been involved with other men.

The next day, the mother of five predicted her own killing as she left work, with the chilling words: “If I’m not in Friday, I might be dead.”

Judith Nibbs’s sister Frances described the mother-of-five as a “very kind and caring person” in a statement she read on behalf of the family.

She said: “Whatever problems there were in her relationship, Judith did not deserve to die in such a callous and brutal way.” Judith’s sister added how “shocked and devastated” the family had been about the murder.

Judith Nibbs’ son Kirk had been greatly affected by the trial and did not feel able to submit a victim impact statement, the court heard.