Man 'stood in front of train after stabbing wife'

A father of two stood in front of a speeding train after stabbing and asphyxiating his wife as she prepared to end their relationship, an inquest heard today.

Ambrose Armstrong, 37, held up his slit wrists just before he was hit at a level crossing last November – less than 24 hours after the murder in the ferry port of Larne, Co Antrim.

His wife Cathy, 37, had been having a five-month secret relationship with a man she met over the internet and had only met him for the first time in Scotland four days before she was killed.

But mystery surrounds precisely what tipped Armstrong over the edge, as he didn’t leave a note to explain his actions, which left the couple’s 14-year-old son and six-year-old daughter orphans.

A close friend, Dawn Nelson, told Belfast Coroner’s Court that Mrs Armstrong’s marriage was in difficulty and that she did not enjoy the physical side of her relationship with her husband.

At the same time she was exchanging frequent texts, emails and mobile calls with Stewart Spinks, whom she met in an internet chatroom.

Ms Nelson said: “She would even have a bath every night so she could be alone to text Stewart.”

The court heard Cathy travelled to Scotland by ferry on November 8 last year to meet Mr Spinks, a married man who was on a golfing break.

She returned to Northern Ireland two days later and met her friend to tell her about the trip.

A tearful Ms Nelson told the inquest: “During this talk she told me that Stewart met her in Scotland.

“They went to a cottage and had lunch. There was a dozen red roses for her in the cottage. They talked for a long time and had a physical relationship.

“She said it was perfect and that she did not feel guilty at all.”

Ms Nelson said Cathy had been trying to decide whether she should end her marriage after she returned home.

On the night before she was murdered, the friends spoke for the final time.

Ms Nelson said: “During my last conversation with Cathy she was still debating what to do.

She added: “She never told me that John (Mr Armstrong) was violent towards her.”

Earlier that day Mr Spinks said Mrs Armstrong told him she was going to split up with her husband.

In a statement read to to the inquest, Mr Spinks recalled the conversation.

Mr Spinks said: “Cathy told me that her and her husband were going to split up and that it was a natural progression.

“She said she was going to look for a home for her husband on the Friday and that she may not be in contact.”

But Mr Spinks spoke again with her on the morning of November 12, after she had dropped her daughter off at school, and recalled she was in good spirits.

Eyewitness Margaret Murray saw Mrs Armstrong talking to Mr Spinks on her mobile, shortly after 9am, and told the inquest she was smiling and laughing.

But minutes after she arrived back at her Recreation Road home Armstrong attacked her with a knife in their bedroom.

He stabbed her six times in the chest and asphyxiated her by wrapping tape around her head and neck.

After the brutal murder the welder dialled 999.

Shortly before 10.30am, Armstrong told the operator: “There has been a bit of an accident.”

Asked what had happened, Armstrong hesitated and then said: “Just get someone,” before he hung up.

Paramedic Gus Geddes told the inquest he was confronted with a horrific scene in the main bedroom of the house.

He told the court: “I saw a woman lying on her back on the bed.

“Her arms were above her head and the palms were facing the ceiling.

“She was wearing a black tracksuit and had stab wounds to her chest.

“There was tape around her throat and head.”

Mr Geddes added: “I remember blood splattered around the walls and the telephone had blood on it.”

The following morning, shortly after 7.30am, Armstrong stepped in front of a Belfast-bound train at Robinsons level crossing, Glynn, Larne.

Train driver Michael Moore said he was travelling at 45mph and did not get the chance to sound his horn.

Mr Moore told the inquest: “He stood with his arms raised, looking towards me.

“He made no attempt to get out of the way.”