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Church treasurer killed wife in car crash after she 'couldn't cope with his sexual demands'
Ian Walters drove his 4x4 into a tree, killing his wife Tracy, as the couple returned from a 'make or break' weekend, court hears
A church treasurer killed his wife by deliberately crashing his 4x4 into a tree at 84mph after she was unable to cope with his insatiable sexual demands, a court heard.
"Angry" Ian Walters, who also worked as a driving test examiner, veered off the M1 on the way back from an unsuccessful "make or break" trip with wife Tracy, jurors were told.
The 51-year-old's Mitsubishi L200 Animal ploughed through undergrowth before hitting the tree - leaving keen horse rider Mrs Walters with serious injuries. She was flown to hospital by helicopter but died two days after the crash in March last year.
Walters, who was also badly hurt in the incident, was charged with his wife's murder two months later - ten days after her funeral.
Leicester Crown Court was told the couple had a "troubled" relationship, with Mrs Walters telling relatives and police her husband had been abusive to her. She had also made an an application under "Claire's Law" to discover if he had a violent past.
Ian and Tracy Walters on their wedding day (Raymonds)
And Charles Miskin QC, prosecuting, said that an hour before the crash, the 48-year-old had texted one of her sons from a previous marriage to say she wanted to report Walters to the police - but was too terrified.
The couple, who had met through their jobs when Mrs Walters worked as a driving instructor, were returning to their home in Swindon, Wilts, from a stay in the Yorkshire Dales.
Mr Miskin told jurors the holiday hadn't gone well, with Mrs Walters making an "unconnected 999 call" from their cottage, and telling relatives he had abused her.
The court heard that as they travelled near junction 22 of the southbound M1 at Markfield, Leics, Walters suddenly swerved off the carriageway and into a tree.
Mr Miskin said tests revealed the black Mitsubishi was travelling at between 74 and 84mph when it hit the tree, and the weather and road surface were "good". Technical experts also found nothing wrong with the vehicle.
Ian and Tracy Walters (Raymonds)
He added: "The prosecution say the defendant deliberately caused the crash, not for any virtuous reasons like saving members of the public who were passing motorists.
"The prosecution says he was an angry man. He was in trouble with his wife; he was in trouble with his wife's wider family and he was in trouble with the police.
"He probably felt all this was a combination which humiliated him. Theirs was a troubled and abusive relationship."
Mr Miskin said Walters, who denies murder, had purposely crashed because he "wanted to show her who was in charge, who was in control."
He told jurors: "The principal issue here appears to have been sex. It seemed he wanted sex all of the time and she couldn't cope with his demands. It seems he was using sex with her as a sort of sedative."
In police interviews after his arrest, Walters, a former Parochial Church Council treasurer at Christ Church in Swindon, claimed he couldn't remember anything about the incident - but added he wouldn't have done anything to intentionally hurt either his wife or himself.
The court heard each had been married once before, and had grown-up children from their previous relationships. They couple started dating in 2011, and married a year later in Cyprus.
But Mr Miskin claimed the abuse started almost straightaway, with Mrs Walters showing relatives bruises she said her husband had inflicted.
He added that after Mrs Walters' death, police found text messages between the pair which 'gave a clear inside track of a troubled relationship.' One described how she was 'scared' of her husband and "very unhappy".
The court heard Walters would often turn to violence if his wife was unwilling to satisfy his sexual demands, often retreating to to the spare bedroom in their home. But there were also 'frequent reconciliations', and the couple had sought marriage counselling.
However, Mr Miskin said Mrs Walters had asked for a divorce on several occasions, and during one violent episode, just weeks before her death, she had locked herself in the bathroom and called the police. But when officers arrived, Walters denied being violence, only admitting he was "annoyed" because his wife had refused him sex.
And jurors were told Mrs Walters was reporting the volatile nature of the relationship to relatives until just minutes before the crash that claimed her life - texting one of her sons just an hour before to say: 'I need him arrested when I get back, but I am scared because he is so volatile and I don't want to wind him up'.
The trial continues.