Wife 'lost composure' over alleged pregnancy

A woman accused of murdering her husband lost her composure in an argument about his girlfriend's alleged pregnancy, a court has been told.

Amy Pugh threw pregnancy tests at her husband, Kyle Pugh, before he died from compression to his neck and fractures to the structure of his neck, as well as a fractured nose and eye socket, jurors heard on Thursday.

The 34-year-old told the court that she went to a shop to get two bottles of orangeade and a bottle of vodka before he told her his girlfriend might be pregnant, which "progressed into a bit of an argument" on 22 March 2022.

Ms Pugh, of Stafford Road, Wolverhampton, denies a charge of murder and is on trial at Stafford Crown Court.

She told the jury: "I was trying to ignore him and ignore the situation. When he said to me that she said she can't do a pregnancy test until her next missed period, I lost my composure."

Mr Pugh was in a new relationship with another woman but was visiting his children at the family home on Aston Drive that he had shared with the defendant.

Ms Pugh said he was "backing up to the front door" as she threw pregnancy tests at him.

"I said to him, if it comes back negative, come back and make sure nothing like this happens again.

"If it comes back positive, I will sign the divorce papers before the week's out."

Pugh said she saw her husband leave through the front door, and she believed he was "going to sort it out" and "see if she was pregnant or not".

She told the court that later that evening, she opened the back door to let her dog out when she saw Mr Pugh hanging, and his right hand came in through the door.

She said of his hand: "It was a different colour, it was almost like he had been playing with ink or something. I instantly knew something was wrong.

"It did not look like Kyle; he was a different colour.

"Almost looked like he was a bit swollen, like everything was bigger."

She told the court tearfully: "He was not waking up like he normally does. He was not doing what normally happened. He was not moving, he was just there.

"I was screaming, I was shouting. I was repeating, 'He's dead, what do I do? He's killed himself'."

The court heard that paramedics were able to restore Mr Pugh's pulse, but he died in hospital the next day.

The trial continues.

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