Husband kept wife’s body in freezer after killing her with hammer, court hears

A husband killed his wife with a claw hammer and then searched for escorts and emptied their bank accounts while her body was stored in a chest freezer, a court heard.

David Barraclough, 46, kept up an elaborate facade for almost two weeks to conceal the fact that his wife Carolann Barraclough, 37, was dead at their home in Horbury, Wakefield, Leeds Crown Court heard.

During that time, Barraclough also downloaded a dating app, exchanged explicit messages on the internet and even used Mrs Barraclough’s phone to convince her daughter that she was exchanging messages with her mother in hospital.

On Friday (Oct 9), Barraclough was jailed for life by Judge Andrew Stubbs KC, who ordered him to serve a minimum term of 22 years and one month.

Judge Stubbs said it was “a brutal attack with a hammer whilst she lay in bed in the house you shared with her three children who were all present in the house at the time”.

The judge outlined how Barraclough went into a police station on March 5, saying he had killed his wife on February 20 and claiming to have been a victim of domestic abuse.

But the judge told him this account was “riddled with lies” and explained how it was the defendant who had subjected his wife to years of domestic violence and abuse.

Barraclough refused to come into court for his sentencing from the cells.

The judge said he wanted to use new legislation that meant defendants could be brought to court using reasonable force, or be jailed for two years for not attending.

But he was told that these new powers are not yet in force.