Jamie Stewart's evidence
The next witness is one of Ian Stewart’s sons, Jamie Stewart.
Jamie said he made a number of statements to police when Helen was reported missing, and a further one ‘when it became plain’ that Helen’s body was found in the cesspit of the garage.
He said: “The first few statements I gave was when I thought Helen was still alive bit missing, the next few I knew she had died.”
Jamie said he had lived at the £1.5m Royston house with Stewart, Helen, and his brother Oliver for two years.
“On the weekend before April 11 I was at home all weekend. In the evenings Helen was definitely home but during the day I think she had been out to do some shopping.
“Helen wasn’t a confident driver, when I first came to know her she had a small Fiat 500. Moving into the countryside she struggled with confidence whilst driving and a few weeks before she went missing she got a large car, a White Jeep, to give her a little bit more confidence.”
Ian Stewart visited son's bowls club on day of alleged murder, court hears
“My dad told me that on the Monday [April 11] Helen had come home saying she never wanted to drive again.
“On a Monday I normally get up at 7.30am, and I did the same this Monday. We have an alarm at the house.
“When I got up I was going to work in Royston. After work I had a bowls match in Cambridge, and planned to go directly from work to Cambridge.
“I got through to the final of the competition, it was an important match.
“Dad and I had spoken over the weekend over whether he was coming, and he wasn’t sure whether he was going to come or not.
“I got to the bowls club and he was just walking in in front of me, I was surprised to see him there but I was happy.
“In the game I lost and was disappointed. Coming back from Cambridge, I went straight home and dad said he would get me a Chinese to cheer me up.
“There’s one we normally use on the market hill in Royston. I saw him next at home.”
No sign of Helen or Boris at family home
“I got home between 9-10pm. I only had chance to speak to him for five minutes after the bowls match, nothing was said about Helen at that point.
“When I got home I only saw my dad. We had a Chinese in the living room whilst watching TV and talking how the game had gone. Nothing was said about Helen at that point. I’d assume she was home as both of her cars were there, her Jeep was outside.”
“The following day, on April 12, I saw the Jeep was still outside and hadn’t moved.
“Normally when you come home and walk through the front door Boris (the dog) comes bounding up to meet you saying hello. I remember that didn’t happen [on this day].
“I remember looking in the garden for them but couldn’t see any sign of Helen or Boris.
“When I’d seen they weren’t there, I saw my dad and asked if Helen and Boris had gone for a walk.
“He said Helen had gone to Broadstairs to get some time to herself, and left a note to say not to contact her.”
Stewart was "visible more stressed out"
Jamie Stewart’s evidence continues.
“Dad said he couldn’t get in touch with Helen as her phone was turned off”, he said.
“Throughout that week he began to get visibly more stressed out and was spending a lot more time with myself and my brother, just wanting to be around us generally.
“As a family dad would spend more time with Helen, but during the course of that week he spent a lot more time with me than normally would be the case.”
When Helen went missing'
“On the Friday (April 15) I had a lot of missed calls from my dad. He told me not to worry when I got home but there were quite a few police cars at the house as Helen had been reported missing.
“The dog wasn’t at home either. He (Boris) was the most important thing in her life, she had him since he was a puppy, she got him before her previous husband passed away. There was a very close bond between them.
“When Helen was missing, I thought she’d be in Broadstairs. I didn’t initially have concerns about any of her clothes. After she was reported missing police had searched her house and asked if anything was missing. We thought there was some wellies and a rain coat of Helen’s that wasn’t there, as well as the most commonly-used dog’s collar.
“If she went out walking she would always take that raincoat and her phone with her.”
Stewart's illness 'caused him to be tired' during public search for Helen
There were searches locally and Jamie said he knew there was widespread coverage of Helen’s disappearance in the media.
“I found out they were engaged after a conversation with police officers after Helen was reported missing.
“Around that time Dad had been in hospital. On the week of April 11, he had been recovering well but still spent a lot of time resting.
“He’d come to Cambridge and I thought it was the first time he’d traveled that distance. He told me his stitches were sore from sitting in the car for so long.
“I visited him in hospital several times. On occasions Helen was more than concerned about him being in hospital.
“He had an operation on his intestines but he also has a long-standing illness which weakens the muscles around his throat. This can cause breathing difficulties. Generally the illness caused him to be tired at times.”
Stewart 'became frantic trying to help the police'
From Monday April 11 to Friday April 15, there had been no conversations about Helen being absent, Jamie told jurors.
“I was told there was going to be police at the house, and there were. Dad said Helen’s brother and her parents in Northumberland were all concerned about how Helen was.
“To me it appeared Dad was concerned and had made various searches and attempts to contact Helen, but couldn’t find her.
“Through the week he got more and more stressed. The following weekend he became frantic trying to help the police find her.
“Dad asked whether Helen had been in contact with me - she hadn’t.”
Jamie Stewart thought Helen might have committed suicide
“I was told right from the start that Helen had left a note. Dad said he thought he’d thrown the note out with the rubbish. I never saw it.
“I left trying to contact Helen to other people.”
Jamie is asked about how Helen and Stewart normally dried bedding. He said it would be put over dining room chairs and wouldn’t be put in the tumble dryer. Jamie said Helen was in good health.
“One of the possibilities when Helen went missing, I thought Helen might have committed suicide but I discounted that. I didn’t say this to Dad.
“Boris had a yellow collar which was the go to collar when he was taken for walks. We couldn’t find that anywhere.”
On July 15, after Helen’s body was discovered, Jamie made another statement to police. He said he was shocked that her body was found.
Dad was arrested on July 11, 2016, and was released a few days later.
“Dad was very stressed out and concerned about what was going on, and why”, Jamie told jurors.
On December 17, Jamie was interviewed again by police and was asked specifically about a number of questions.
Jamie said he was never made aware of two men called Joe and Nick, and denied his Dad had spoken to him and told him that the two men had taken Helen away.
“He didn’t tell me that one of the men had attacked him. He never said these two men were responsible for placing Helen’s body and the dog in the cesspit.
“He never mentioned to me that he was tasked to find Helen’s phone, and that he was told to take that phone to Broadstairs.
“He never said that my personal safety was at risk from these two men.”
Jamie Stewart's cross-examination begins
Jamie Stewart said he would normally expect to see Helen in the evenings, but on the week of April 11 he did not see her.
He told the court on the evening of April 11 he assumed Helen had gone to bed, and the dog Boris was with her upstairs.
He is now being cross-examined by the defence.
Jamie said Helen lived at an address with himself, his brother and Stewart, in Bassingbourn for six months before all of them moved to the Royston address.
He said his dad was also fond of the dog, Boris, and both Helen and Stewart would go on walks with him.
“I first met Helen in 2011, I was very happy to move into the Royston house.
“Dad didn’t work became of his ill health, he spent quite a lot of time making things for around the house.”
Ian Stewart was treated for 'cancerous lump'
Jamie, now 24, said his dad had been ill since he was about seven or eight years old.
On the weekend before Easter 2016, Stewart was in Addenbrooke’s as it was believed he had some form of cancerous lump, the court was told.
There were complications and he was moved to intensive care - this was quite a shock to Helen, Jamie said.
“Dad was in a lot of pain after this. It was three or four weeks later that he sat behind the wheel of a car again.
“The weekend before April 11 there was nothing unusual at all. We spent the Saturday night watching TV. It was hard to remember what happened because it was so normal.
“Helen had made a cottage pie for us all. There was nothing untoward at all about that evening.”
Christmas and Valentine's Day cards found in couple's bedroom
In the house during the site visit on Friday, there was a Christmas card, from Helen to Stewart, addressed to ‘my fiance’ in the couple’s bedroom, the court was told.
There was also a Valentine’s card along the same lines.
Jamie said: “During the week of April 11, dad rang me while I was at work to say himself and Helen had arranged tickets for us to go to the snooker championships. My birthday was a few weeks after.
“In the end we went while Helen was missing. We wanted to get away from the house as it was very different without Boris there”, he added.
Jamie reiterated to the court that there was nothing unusual about his dad on the evening of April 11 - the date of Helen’s alleged murder
Ian Stewart 'was becoming very forgetful'
Jamie said in the week of April 11, his dad was becoming very forgetful, and was forgetting things such as Pin numbers. He wanted to make a note of things like that in case he did forget them.
He said during the first search of the house, after Helen’s disappearance, there were ‘a lot’ of police officers searching the house and garage etc, together with police dogs.
“Dad had been saying he wanted to go down to Broadstairs and look for Helen himself, just in case there was something someone else might not have noticed. A note at the house said ‘Gone to Broadstairs. Ring me. Love you xx’ I thought that was Helen’s scrawling writing, it turns out this was a note Dad had written in case Helen came back while he was in Broadstairs.”
Key items missing from the house
Jamie said he thought a green wax coat, some wellies, a distinctive yellow collar and a ‘go to’ lead were all missing when he and his brother searched the house to see if any of Helen’s things were gone.
“We looked round after police asked us if anything was missing.
“Boris (the dog) didn’t wear a collar at home because his legs would get stuck in it, but obviously he needed a lead for outside”, he added.
Stewart 'too ill to move a body'?
Jamie said to police ‘I can’t see how my dad would have moved her (Helen)’ as his dad was still struggling due to ill health and struggled to reach some of the cupboards in the house.
He told police: “I couldn’t imagine him wanting to harm her at all. He’s not someone who gets angry, he walks away from any confrontation.”
“There were various stages where dad appeared to me to be confused. There were stages where he acted like he was quite unaware as to where Helen might be.
“There was never any word or slipped comment at all as to where Helen might be.”
Jamie Stewart completes his evidence
Being re-examined by the prosecution, Jamie said he wasn’t aware that his dad had been to a waste disposal site on the afternoon of April 11, 2016.
He said it surprised him to find out his dad had been there.
When Helen was missing, Jamie was asked possible reasons by the police as to why Helen might have gone, including suicide or whether someone might have hurt her.
In that context Jamie was asked about whether his father could harm Helen, which is when he made the above comments.
Jamie Stewart has now finished giving evidence.