Man fatally stabbed partner and tried to blow up their London home, court hears | UK news
A woman was fatally stabbed by her partner before causing a gas explosion at their east London home last summer, a court heard.
Clifton George, 45, is accused of murdering Annabel Rook, 46, during an argument at their home on Dumont Road, Stoke Newington, on June 17, 2025.
George admitted manslaughter but denies murder.
Opening the case on Wednesday, prosecutor William Emlyn Jones KC said the stabbing occurred during an argument between the couple. “During the argument, he first punched the woman, then tried to strangle her, then went to the kitchen and got a knife, then came back with a knife in his hand and stabbed the woman to death.
“He was undoubtedly very angry with her, and we will see why he was so angry. He lost his temper and in his anger… he killed Annabel.”
The court heard Rook was stabbed at least 22 times, including in the heart, before the explosion.
Emlyn Jones said Rook’s body was found after the explosion, while George “was found in the backyard, bleeding heavily and trying to stab himself with a piece of broken glass.”
In the police interview, George said he “lost it” when he found out Rook had “lied to me”.
Emlyn Jones told jurors: “I would say initially the defendant does not deny stabbing his partner to death. He does admit to killing her.”
The court heard the couple were not married but had lived together for just over a decade.
George’s charge of involuntary manslaughter was pleaded not guilty and he remains charged with murder, the prosecutor said. He said jurors must determine the motive for the fatal stabbing, including consideration of their “sometimes difficult” relationship.
Regarding the explosion, Emlyn Jones said George opened the valve on a propane gas canister, the type used for camping and barbecuing, in the basement to “try to blow up the house.”
Following the explosion, a fire inspector found that George “attempted to turn the circuit breaker switches in the basement on and off, but if this was an attempt to create a spark to ignite the gas, it did not work.”
He continued: “He had left all the gas rings on the stove open – but that wasn’t what ignited the hissing gas from the canister in the basement. In the end, the defendant had started a fire in the basement…it was that fire that caused the gas in the canister to explode.”
“The force of the explosion lifted floorboards, shifted furniture and caused significant damage to the property and the house next door. It also caused a large explosion.”
The couple’s next-door neighbor, Rhys Sullivan, recalled “a huge explosion that looked like a mini-earthquake” and ran outside with his partner, Harriet Cosby, to check what was happening.
Cosby found George lying on the kitchen floor covered in blood and broken glass, the roof of the kitchen extension blown off. The court heard neighbors shouted at George to “get out” of the house but watched in horror as he began stabbing himself in the neck.
Rook, the daughter of retired Old Bailey judge Peter Rook, was the co-founder of London-based social enterprise MamaSuze, which supports refugee and migrant women with arts and drama events and workshops.
The trial continues.
