Derby dad’s ‘brutal and needless killing’ of wife as their son slept upstairs, court hears

A Derby father carried out “a brutal and needless killing” when he stabbed his wife to death while their 11-year-old son was asleep upstairs, a jury heard. Conrad Iyayi attacked half-naked Katy Harris in the kitchen of their Littleover home after taking drugs and drinking brandy, the prosecution claim.

The 46-year-old then called the police telling them what he had done before later claiming he’d ingested what he believed was the opiate methadone he’d bought from the dark web. He said he then walked past the kitchen the following morning and found his art teacher wife’s body and that what he thought was a dream “must have been reality”.

Iyayi is on trial at Derby Crown Court for murdering Ms Harris. He denies the charge. “During the night of February 5, 2022 into the early hours of February 6, this defendant murdered Kathryn by stabbing her to death in the kitchen of their family home. While he was doing so their 11-year-old son, Theo, was upstairs in his bedroom asleep.

“Mercifully, that boy heard nothing so knew nothing about his mother’s death. It is not necessary to prove this defendant’s precise motive and in truth only two people knew.

“One of them, Kathryn, is dead and this defendant has consistently refused to reveal the truth. However there is evidence you will hear that drugs and alcohol he had chosen to take prior to the murder played a part in his actions. Ultimately all we are left with is a brutal killing and a quite needless death.”

Ms Harris, who had three children, had worked at St Clare’s School in Mickleover until her death It is a community special needs school for children with learning difficulties, autism and physical impairment.

The prosecutor said Iyayi made a 999 call at 7.17am on February 6 from a telephone kiosk at the bottom of Oak Crescent. It was played to the jury and in it, the defendant asks to be put through to the police and when the call handler answers he says: “Just get the police here straight away. Get the police here, I have killed somebody.” Asked who he has killed, Iyayi replies: “My wife.” He then hangs up and makes a second call six minutes later demanding to know where the police are. Mr Aspden said: “Uniformed officers arrived and he met them in the street. He had a deep cut to hs left hand and he had heavily blood-stained clothing. They asked him what had happened and he said ‘I think my wife might be dead, I am not saying anything I want to see a solicitor’.”

Mr Aspden said: “Police officers entered the house using the conservatory door and inside the property police found Kathryn Iyayi’s dead body. It was face down on the kitchen floor in a large pool of blood, she was wearing just a black t-shirt. Three large kitchen knives were found close by, the knife block on the kitchen hob was empty. Each knife was blood-stained.”

The prosecutor said police and paramedics tried in vain to save Ms Harris but she was pronounced dead at the scene. He said: “Theo was asleep in the bedroom and was woken by the police officer and removed from the house so he did not see what we have just been looking at.”

Police body cam footage has been played to the jury including Iyayi’s arrest on suspicion of murder and his transportation to St Mary’s Wharf police station. While in the police car he asks: “What am I under arrest for?” to which the officer replies: “Murder.” The defendant then says: “Oh right.” At the police station he tells those present that he uses methadone which Mr Aspden explained to the jury is a prescription opiate given to people who are recovering drug addicts. Iyayi also said he had been drinking brandy.

Mr Aspden said while Iyayi was in custody he made a number of remarks which were noted down by officers but which the defendant refused to sign later. He said they included him saying “I buy methadone on the dark web,” “I woke up this morning and it was like a dream” and “now you have got a murder, that’s the danger of drugs”. The prosecutor said he was interviewed four times in the presence of a solicitor on February 7, 2022 and answered “no comment” to the questionms he was asked. Mr Aspden said at the beginning of the third interview, Iyayi gave a prepared statement to the police in which he said he had bought what he believed was methadone online which he ingested sometime after 10.30pm on February 5 and realised it was not what he thought it was. He said: “I was hallucinating, my heart was beating making me think I was going to die. I woke up the next morning and walked past the kitchen where I saw my wife. What I thought was a dream must have been reality and I contacted the police. I had no intention of harming Kathryn, prior to this incident we’d had a nice evening cooking together and watching TV.”

The trial continues