A jealous husband who decapitated his partner of 30 years and flushed her severed head down the toilet in an act of “grotesque savagery” will die behind bars.
Dempsey Nibbs, 69, became enraged after “vivacious and caring” Meals On Wheels worker Judith Nibbs, 60, taunted him as their relationship fell apart by saying she had been seeing other men.
On the evening of April 10 2014, Nibbs attacked the mother of his two children at their Hoxton flat.
The cancer sufferer claimed he had acted in self defence, but a jury found Nibbs guilty of murder yesterday following an Old Bailey trial.
His lawyer Ian Henderson QC told the court his client acknowledged his ill health meant he would die in jail.
The Recorder of London Nicholas Hilliard QC jailed Nibbs for life with a minimum of 21 years.
He told him: “I’m sure you don’t regret your wife’s death save for its effect on your own comfort and well-being.”
Judge Hilliard rejected Nibbs’s claim he only initially “tapped” Judith on the head with a metal bar to get her attention, and noted her tooth had been knocked out and swallowed with the root still attached during the attack.
Cutting her head off afterwards was an act of “grotesque savagery” in revenge for her perceived “treachery”, the judge said. Leaving her breasts exposed was intended to “humiliate her even in death”, he added.
During his trial, Nibbs had told the court he cut off her Judith’s head because she had “betrayed” him.
Nibbs said he had intended to “slap her about a bit” on the night because he believed she had been seeing another man and transferring his money to him, but said he did not intend to kill her.
“I was upset,” he said. “I started to call her every name under the sun – ‘you f****** traitor’, ‘you f****** snake, I’ll cut your head off’.
“Back in the day you hanged murderers and cut the head off a traitor,” he explained. “She betrayed me.”
Judith’s sister Frances described the mother-of-five as a “very kind and caring person” in a statement on behalf of the family.
Her son Kirk had been greatly affected by the trial and did not feel able to submit a victim impact statement, the court heard.
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