Shobhna Jethwa death: Marriage 'very happy' for 25 years

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Shobhna Jethwa
Image caption,
Shobhna Jethwa had 20 stab wounds to her neck and upper body

The husband of a Luton woman who was having two affairs when she was killed has told a court the first 25 years of their relationship was happy.

Shobhna Jethwa, 45, was found with 20 stab wounds at her home in Butely Road on 9 September 2011.

Rajesh Jethwa told St Albans Crown Court his marriage went downhill when she became "mixed up" with the man who is alleged to have stabbed her.

Sultan Khan, 51, of Durbar Road, Luton, has denied murder.

'Money row'

Mrs Jethwa was found slumped on the sofa by her 12-year-old son and 16-year-old daughter when they came home from school.

The prosecution alleges she was killed by Khan during a row over compensation money from an accident he had on a building site.

Mr Jethwa, a Virgin train manager who had an arranged marriage to Shobna in 1985, told prosecutor Sam Mainds: "Since she met this fellow life has changed.

"She would hide the phone and I would ask who it was. She said it was a girlfriend. I tried to speak to her, but I got no response,.

'Ignored everything'

"I couldn't get close to her. She was a different person. She forgot about other relationships.

"Our love life went out of the window in the last two years. I ignored everything. I didn't want to upset the children."

Mr Mainds said Mrs Jethwa had a "high libido" and she was also having a relationship with a restaurant worker, Ashiq Hussain.

The jury was told Mr Khan and Mrs Jethwa had been in an intense relationship for two years.

In the days before the killing there were a "great number of calls" between them.

"The son heard rows between her and the defendant in which she demanded half of his accident money because she had helped him," Mr Mainds said.

He said the prosecution did not believe it was a planned murder, but "when he was there he lost his temper" and attacked her during a row.

The case continues.

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