GUILTY UK - Diane Stewart, 47, found dead, Bassingbourn, Cambridgeshire, 25 June 2010 *arrest in 2020*

[Moll]

From Moll's link above


Neil King, prosecuting, asked Dr Pullen about Mr Stewart's conviction for murdering Ms Bailey.

"That's a verdict of the trial," he said.

"I find it very hard to believe."


Dr Pullen being a friend of IS.

Of long standing, yes - the preceding section reads:
'Dr Andrew Pullen told the court he met Mr Stewart while they were both students in the 1980s.

He said they and their partners socialised together as a group of four, adding that the Stewarts became "our best friends in fact".

Amjad Malik QC asked Dr Pullen about Mr Stewart's manner towards his wife.

"Caring and gentle," he said.

"If we went round for dinner, Ian and Diane would be in the kitchen preparing together - just a really nice couple, very caring, just lovely people."

Dr Pullen told the court Mr Stewart's appeared "shocked" at his wife's funeral.

"He was just very numb," he said.'

His wife supports this view.

'Dr Pullen's wife, Sallyann Pullen, said the Stewarts' marriage "seemed very settled, very stable, very happy".

"I never saw them arguing or disputing anything, just a very nice relationship and a very nice family unit," she said.'

 

[Alyce]

dbm

 

[Beachdreams]

Neil King, prosecuting, asked Dr Pullen about Mr Stewart's conviction for murdering Ms Bailey.

"That's a verdict of the trial," he said.

"I find it very hard to believe."

Another one with an opinion. It’s a very good thing their opinions carry no evidential weight. Surely they’re at the bottom of that barrel they’re scraping now!!

Edited: I’m very pleased that Strimmer is so disdainful of this evidence that he’s allowing his junior to cross examine

 

[Kasmeer]

I think I recall he couldn't remember Helen's age or birth date exactly either

In fairness some people are just that bad with numbers - my other half of 12 years still checks with me that he's got mine right (and he makes all the phone calls for me, so has to quote it a few times a year for dentist/doctor appointments etc); for the first 7-8 years he got it wrong more often than not. I doubt I'd remember his age if put on the spot either, although I'd be able to quickly enough calculate it.

Not that I'm particularly wanting or even trying to defend IS here, just that particular point could actually be a fairly normal thing! It's pretty clear he really has no defence other than friends who can't admit he's guilty of the murder he's already been found guilty of, which shares a lot of similarites... not too hard to work out what actually happened

I'm pretty sure that his consent wouldn't have been needed or required at all.

I think it may well have been required, since normal organ donation (for transplant) absolutely requires family consent (a close relative was a donor, so I've taken an interest in the subject) - I've heard a few stories of people who were on the organ donor register, had explicitly consented, and yet their family could overrule their wishes, ridiculous! Even now it's been changed to an opt-out system as of 2020, family can still overrule it, so I imagine it'd likely to be the same for medical research donation, which is a lot harder to find information for - I like the idea of donating to research if my organs aren't good enough for transplant, but it's not immediately obvious how to go about it.

Source: Talk to your loved ones
"Your family can overturn your decision
Each year, hundreds of opportunities for transplants are missed because families aren't sure what to do.

Your family will always be consulted about whether you wanted to be an organ donor or not, and clinicians will never proceed with organ donation if your family or loved ones object."

 

[Moll]

Thanks, Kasmeer. On the organ donation point, I think then that Tortoise and Alyce were right to point out that in this case it would have looked quite strange to object and would have attracted attention.

 

[TootsieFootsie]

I didn't realise that family could overide a persons wishes.

 

[Moll]

Yesterday's character witness Dr Andrew Pullen is described here as a 'retired product development manager', so the jury (unlike us initially on reading the BBC report) will know he's not a medical doctor.
'Happily married Ian Stewart was caring and gentle with wife', friends tell court

 

[Scratchingmyhead]

IS probably didn't think in a million years how that decision to donate organs would come back to stupendously bite him in the bum!

 

[Tortoise]

I can't believe those friends of Diane and IS haven't bothered themselves with the finer details of IS's trial for the murder of Helen. They just can't have. His defence was an absolute farce.

 

[Scratchingmyhead]

Agree Tortoise. It's behaviour like this that inspired my user name

 

[dalsglen]

I can't believe those friends of Diane and IS haven't bothered themselves with the finer details of IS's trial for the murder of Helen. They just can't have. His defence was an absolute farce.

You wonder what kind of nonsense he fed them huh?

 

[Droosie]

Been reading but not commenting, I see he's still pulling the victim card in terms of Helen . "I had to lie" and she was kidnapped." Arsehole!

Hope the jury see right through him.

The last jury came back within three to four hours and convicted.

Bet Strimmer is delighted he's taken the stand again to repeat all his lies from before.

Feel really sad for IS Dad though, must be so hard to make the mental leap into seeing your child as guilty of murder.

Wonder if the sons have been called as witnesses .

 

[Alyce]

Been reading but not commenting, I see he's still pulling the victim card in terms of Helen . "I had to lie" and she was kidnapped." Arsehole!

Hope the jury see right through him.

The last jury came back within three to four hours and convicted.

Bet Strimmer is delighted he's taken the stand again to repeat all his lies from before.

Feel really sad for IS Dad though, must be so hard to make the mental leap into seeing your child as guilty of murder.

Wonder if the sons have been called as witnesses .

Hi and welcome

Yep he doesn't change does he, same old lies.

both sons were called to give their comments.

 

[MsMiniSleuth]

Tonight - February 6 2022 - on Quest Red at 8pm.
FV 40, SKY 249, FREESAT 169, VIRGIN 170

Faking It: Tears of a Crime
Murder of Helen Bailey

 

[Legally Bland]

Tonight - February 6 2022 - on Quest Red at 8pm.
FV 40, SKY 249, FREESAT 169, VIRGIN 170

Faking It: Tears of a Crime
Murder of Helen Bailey

Really? They shouldn't be showing that while IS is on trial.

 

[Scratchingmyhead]

Really? They shouldn't be showing that while IS is on trial.

Wow - very good point!

 

[MonsterMatt345]

Hi all.

I signed up here today because on Tuesday I caught Covid-19 and had to stay indoors and be off work. On my first day isolating I seen that Ian Stewart, whose cruel murder of Helen Bailey I followed pretty on and off since Helen disappeared was being put on trial for the murder of his first wife, something that seemed highly suspicious at the time but seemed unlikely to proven and it makes me feel so happy that there’s a lot of evidence that shows that IS also may have caused harm to Diane.

Since Tuesday I have pretty much read every post there was on the Helen Bailey threads, from her disappearance to IS’s conviction and honestly it warms my heart during a tough time to know that such considerate, conscientious, incredibly talented at writing people there are in the world who were determined to see Helen’s killer brought to justice. Like I say I was aware of Helen’s tragic and sickening death but there’s something very comforting about those threads and it really shines a spotlight on how good people in this world can be, even when they’re on a forum focused on such evil.

I’m so pleased to see so many faces back from the Helen Bailey thread, again determined to see justice prevail for a much loved woman whose life was cruelly snuffed out before it’s time. Let’s hope the truth comes out here, Diane deserves as much

 

[Alyce]

Welcome to Websleuths Matt

 

[KarenUK]

Hi all.

I signed up here today because on Tuesday I caught Covid-19 and had to stay indoors and be off work. On my first day isolating I seen that Ian Stewart, whose cruel murder of Helen Bailey I followed pretty on and off since Helen disappeared was being put on trial for the murder of his first wife, something that seemed highly suspicious at the time but seemed unlikely to proven and it makes me feel so happy that there’s a lot of evidence that shows that IS also may have caused harm to Diane.

Since Tuesday I have pretty much read every post there was on the Helen Bailey threads, from her disappearance to IS’s conviction and honestly it warms my heart during a tough time to know that such considerate, conscientious, incredibly talented at writing people there are in the world who were determined to see Helen’s killer brought to justice. Like I say I was aware of Helen’s tragic and sickening death but there’s something very comforting about those threads and it really shines a spotlight on how good people in this world can be, even when they’re on a forum focused on such evil.

I’m so pleased to see so many faces back from the Helen Bailey thread, again determined to see justice prevail for a much loved woman whose life was cruelly snuffed out before it’s time. Let’s hope the truth comes out here, Diane deserves as much

That's some amount of reading! Welcome to the thread

 

[Moll]

Has anyone followed another murder trial where a previous conviction was so prominent a part of the case? The prosecution actually applied for it to be excluded, suggesting they thought they had a compelling case without it, but Mr Trimmer made considerable use of it nonetheless. I am wondering how each side will deal with it in their closing statements, and the judge in summing up. Not long to wait now, I guess.