Wife wrote 'whore' on dead love rival's car

A JILTED wife scrawled "whore" down the side of her love rival's car and attacked the woman in her home before she killed her with a shotgun, an Old Bailey court heard yesterday.

Rena Salmon shouted: "I am going to get you, you bitch," during a confrontation, according to husband Paul Salmon.

Mr Salmon said his wife also turned on and hit him after discovering he was having an affair with beauty salon owner Lorna Stewart.

"My wife hit me on the head with a bunch of keys, slashed me across the chest and ripped my shirt. This was all happening in the garden. I told her to leave but she would not. I called the police."

He was giving evidence in the trial of Rena Salmon, 43, who has denied murdering Ms Stewart, 36, on September 10 last year.

He said he was talking on the phone to his sister at the matrimonial home in Great Shefford, Bucks, when Ms Stewart rang him.

"She said 'Paul, Rena is here'. Rena had said she was going to get a newspaper and milk. I could hear in the background Rena banging on the door shouting 'Lorna, Lorna, let me in, you bitch'.

"She managed to get in the door. I heard Lorna starting to scream because my wife had attacked her."

Mr Salmon said he jumped in the car and went to Ms Stewart's nearby home. A neighbour was there standing between Ms Stewart and his wife, he told the court.

Mr Salmon said on another occasion his wife had hit and bitten him. She had attempted suicide twice, he told the court.

Mr Salmon said he and his wife had occasionally socialised with Ms Stewart and her husband. They lived in the same village and had children.

"I knew Lorna was something in London but did not know where she worked. I went to see Lorna after a series of events chance meetings and things which were said.

"I rang her and said, 'I would like to see you in your office. There is something I want to say to you.'

"I went to see her in the September or October 2001."

He visited her salon Equilibrium in Chiswick, west London.

"I made my feelings clear. It developed very quickly, but there was no physical contact for a while."

They had e-mailed and sent each other text messages. Mr Clarke asked whether his marriage had still been retrievable after the affair became known.

Mr Salmon replied: "My marriage has been past the point of no return for years."