Mortgage Broker’s Debt Led to Wife’s Murder

A mortgage broker who was drowning in debt has been found guilty of murdering his wife to claim her life insurance policy. Robert Hammond, 47, was in a “surging mountain of debt” and had spent months lying and creating excuses to delay payments to HMRC and a financial company.

A mortgage broker’s financial woes led to a deadly outcome

The court was told that Hammond faced about £300,000 of debt and had a history of dishonesty, using excuses to delay payments. His wife Sian Hammond, 46, was found strangled on 30 October last year at their family home in Histon, Cambridgeshire. The life insurance payout was for £450,000.

A Web of Lies

Prosecutor Christopher Paxton KC told the trial that Hammond paid off the arrears on his wife’s life insurance policy just days before her murder. This was a crucial piece of evidence in the case against him. Hammond’s lies and excuses eventually caught up with him, and he was found guilty by a unanimous verdict.

The financial pressures led to a tragic outcome

At the time of her death, Hammond was around £300,000 in debt, with about £200,000 of this owed to Legal and General. A post-mortem examination established that Sian Hammond had been strangled and sustained other injuries, including to her vagina.

A Greedy and Fearful Mind

Detective Inspector Richard Stott, from the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Major Crime Unit, said Hammond was a “competent liar and the large debts and financial pressures he was under became clear”. Hammond’s greed and fear of losing his public standing led him to murder his wife to benefit from her life insurance and to continue to hide his debt and lies.

A mortgage broker’s desperate actions led to tragic consequences

Hammond will be sentenced on 23 July. The case serves as a stark reminder of the devastating consequences of debt and financial stress.

Our thoughts go out to the family and friends of Sian Hammond; she was a loved and well-liked person and an active and successful businesswoman.