Wife 'murdered after £800,000 divorce demand'

Adrian Prout, 47, fell in love with his housesitter as his marriage to former teacher Kate Prout fell apart, Bristol Crown Court heard.

Prout sent a text message to Diane Bellamy to tell her he loved her on November 5 2007, the morning of his wife's disappearance.

Prout, from Redmarley, Gloucestershire, denies Mrs Prout's murder. Her body was never found.

Opening the case at Bristol Crown Court, prosecutor Paul Dunkels told the jury that when Mrs Prout, 55, went missing, the couple's marriage was over and they were set to divorce.

He said: "Kate Prout wanted 800,000 as her share of the matrimonial assets. It was a sum he could only raise by selling the family home, something he did not wish to do."

Mr Dunkels told the jury Mrs Prout had a "volatile personality". He said: "She could be rude, had a short temper and she would have tantrums. This was reflected in the character of her relationship with the defendant."

The couple were living in Redhill Farm, in Redmarley, a 276-acre property purchased in 2004 for 820,000 and later valued at 1.2m.

The couple met and married in 2000, when Prout was living in a caravan, Mr Dunkels said. Prout owned a successful pipe-laying business and a commercial shoot and was able to pay off a "substantial" amount of the mortgage on Redhill Farm, the jury heard.

Mr Dunkels said: "Kate Prout felt he gave too much time to his work and too little attention to her. She was undoubtedly a demanding woman."

Prout moved his daughter from a previous relationship into the couple's home in 2006 – which created "friction".

Mr Dunkels said: "By late 2006, early 2007, Kate Prout was complaining the defendant had been threatening and violent towards her." She left diary accounts of arguments during which Prout, from Redmarley, Gloucestershire, allegedly threatened to kill her.

The trial continues.