Robert Lee armed himself with a baseball bat and two knives before frogmarching his wife from her cleaning job in South Yorkshire to some garages where he beat her and stabbed her to death in broad daylight.

It came just weeks after a court freed him on bail after he strangled Jane Lee until she lost consciousness, while repeating he was going to kill her.

The 51-year-old was saved after neighbours raised the alarm. But despite Lee being arrested on charges of causing grievous bodily harm with intent and against the advice of the Crown Prosecution Service, magistrates two days later freed him on bail subject to a number of conditions, including one that he did not approach his wife.

He was re-bailed a week later by a Crown Court judge who was not told police had received a complaint that he'd breached these conditions by telephoning her.

Sheffield Crown Court today heard police had been called to Mrs Lee's home on a number of occasions as their marriage broke down following Lee's heavy drinking.

The father-of-five had a previous conviction for common assault on a former partner during which he tried to strangle the woman, and other former partners interviewed by police also claimed he had tried to strangle them.

Lee admitted murdering his wife on November 30 at Royston, Barnsley last year and assaulting her occasioning actual bodily harm on October 20.

Judge Alan Goldsack jailed him for life with a minimum term of 19 years.

After the hearing Det Supt Martin Bates who led the inquiry said: "It was a horrific crime and a horrific scene. I can only describe the crime as an execution and a public one at that."
Full story in Wednesday's Yorkshire Post