Carol Morgan trial: Margaret Morgan's ex-husband gives evidence

Margaret Morgan’s ex-husband Michael Spooner said he confronted her lover Allen Morgan in his shop to tell him it was over.

Giving evidence he said he was “shocked” and “disappointed” when he learned of the affair.

Allen and Margaret Morgan, now living in Woodingdean, Brighton, deny hiring a hitman to kill Carol Morgan.

Mr Spooner said he went round to Morgan's Food Fare in Finch Crescent in Leighton Buzzard at 5.30am, adding: “She [Margaret] said she wanted to end it. I went round to his shop and told him in no uncertain circumstances that he was not to see my wife any more.“

The prosecution allege that during a year-long affair Margaret had been having sex at their home with Allen Morgan while Mr Spooner was out at work in London.

Allen and Margaret Morgan deny hiring a hitman to kill Allen’s wife Carol Morgan at her shop in Linslade, Leighton Buzzard, on the evening of August 13, 1981.

The prosecution at Luton Crown Court say Allen, now 73, and Margaret, 75, wanted to be together but Allen could not divorce Carol. It is alleged that she had brought money into the marriage and if they divorced he would be unable to support himself and Margaret.

Carol Morgan (Image: PA)

Before Christmas 1981, around four months after the murder, Margaret left Michael and moved in with Allen, who she subsequently married.

Mr Spooner had custody of their two sons, who he said had not seen their mother for over 30 years. He was granted a divorce from Margaret on the grounds of adultery.

Mr Spooner, now 75, said he and Margaret had moved to Camberton Road in Linslade from Thornton Heath in South London in 1975.

He said: “We had our papers from the corner shop and we did socialise with them (Allen and Carol) on one or a couple of occasions. I think they came round or we went round there. I can’t remember which.”

He told Luton Crown Court Allen Morgan had been visiting his home while he was in London working for British Telecom. Margaret did not have a job but helped out at a playground.

He said: “I had no knowledge what was going on when I was at work.

“He [Allen] was helping out with an extension we were having built. They were as necessary to dig foundations - that is all I thought was going on at the time.

“In June 1981 Margaret admitted to me she was having an affair with Allen.

“We were having marriage difficulties and she told me openly she had been unfaithful."

When he confronted Allen Morgan he said Carol was not in the shop. “He [Allen] said very little at all. He seemed surprised I knew all about it.”

But four weeks later, he said Margaret went to the shop to talk to Allen. He said the conclusion they came to was that if Allen could free himself from his wife and sell the shop she would live with him.

He said: “I was not happy with the situation and decided to spend a week on my boat. I was alone on the boat.

“When I returned she said things had changed and said she preferred to live with me as I could offer more security than Allen could.

“She said she would be best off to forget the affair and stay with me.

“We tried to get on with our lives and to try to put our marriage right. From what I remember I felt she was going to try to stand by what she said.”

But Mr Spooner said Allen Morgan rang Margaret at their home to tell her of Carol’s murder. He said: “I was shocked. It came as such a surprise. I was thinking now Carol was no longer there Margaret would leave me and go off with him. The obstacle had been removed.“

He told the court that before the murder Margaret had made withdrawals of £50 or £100 from their joint accounts. It could have amounted to two to three hundred pounds, he said.

Prosecutor Pavlos Panayi KC said the couple had “a passionate, but forbidden and adulterous love affair” and hatched a plot to kill Carol.

A killer, who has never been caught, used an axe or machete to attack 36-year-old Carol in the storeroom of Morgan's Food Fare before escaping with cash and cigarettes.

The couple of Stanstead Crescent, Woodingdean, deny conspiracy to murder Carol.

The trial continues.