“PC Manley recalls you being there with more than one phone looking through messages.”
“I suggest that one of the phones you had with you on October 11 was Sarah’s iPhone,” as allegedly Lacomba showed messages from Neil James sent on the night before.
Ms Morgan says: “The significance of this is obvious, isn’t it Mr Lacomba, you know this.”
An iMessage log - iPhone to iPhone - between Neil James and Sarah Wellgreen shows these messages were on Sarah’s missing iPhone 4.
The “sexually explicit” messages between Sarah and Anthony Garnham which Lacomba said he saw on one of Sarah’s phones in his evidence.
Third and fourth paragraph.
I think we have to be mindful about what the prosecution 'suggests', and what the actual testimony/evidence is. Of course, we weren't in the courtroom, but from the reports shown on KentLive, it doesn't sound like he had S's iphone.
12:04
Lacomba calls 999 to report Sarah missing
....
October 11, 2018: Lacomba calls 999 to report Sarah missing
PC Rachel Manley arrives at 22 Bazes Shaw at around 11am on October 11. He attempts to show her messages from the white phone and says PC Manley looked at messages on the other larger phone. Lacomba says:
That’s when I explained that Sarah had an iPhone that wasn’t around.”
======
11:41
What Lacomba did on October 10 - the first day Sarah was uncontactable
When Sarah was nowhere to be seen on October 10 but her car was still outside and two of her phones were in the house, Lacomba says he checked them for messages.
He says he saw Sarah’s grey Samsung Galaxy and white Samsung Galaxy phone but couldn’t see her black iPhone 4. He explains:
The main number I text her on, I wasn’t sure what handset that sim card would be in.”
So he decided to text her at 11.32am while at work instead of calling her so he can check whether that message is received on a handset that was at home. He continues:
I thought if she was with Anthony, she wouldn’t pick up.”
Lacomba drops a passenger off in Blackheath at 11.15am and has another job after that at 11.50am. He then finishes working at around 2pm.
He returns home and looks at both phones and notices there is no text message from himself on the phone he had messaged while out.
He looks at a white phone and sees messages between Sarah and Anthony Garnham, “a guy called Joe” (Eleini), and also between Sarah and Neil.
He tried to look at the other phone but it was pin protected. He finds out the pin and he then looks at messages and missed calls from Sarah’s family but Lacomba’s message was not there. Lacomba “assumes she had her iPhone with her”. Lacomba says:
Some of the messages were explicit so I thought she was seeing Anthony in a relationship way so that’s why I didn’t ring her.”
All the calls and messages on the other phone were from family who she was “more likely to answer to” which is why Lacomba didn’t try calling. Lacomba is sick later that day so he goes to sleep in his bedroom.
============
16:49
Sarah's last client before her disappearance: 'She seemed her normal self'
A statement from Anthony Garnham, made on October 13, 2018 was read to the court.
....
The initial statement said:
....
The last time I saw Sarah was on 6.30 on Tuesday, October 9 when she came to my home address to do my waxing, she came and left at 7.30pm.
....
Before she left, I gave her a child’s bike that my son had grown out of,
and after she left my property she text messaged me at 8.21pm saying thank you.
I have had no further message or contact with her.
I have sent her a further message being aware that she was reported missing, but she had not replied to any of them.
===============
16:26
Sarah left a note saying 'she was looking forward to our life together'
....
On Tuesday, October 9 Sarah and I had exchanged a number of messages during the evening and at 8.12pm she told me she was going to bed as she didn’t like sitting downstairs with Ben.
At 9.24pm, we spoke on the phone for 14 minutes. This conversation was heated between us as she had told Ben about a new well paid job she had been offered and I thought it was a mistake to tell him.
After the call we messaged some more.
On the morning of October 10, he sent Sarah a message but got no reply.
I sent her another message later that day, but still no reply.
I was worried about Sarah as there was no activity on social media so I stopped work early and called Sarah’s mum, but she hadn’t heard from Sarah.
===================
15:40
Sarah Wellgreen's Tinder friend had met her the day prior
Joe Eleini, a friend of Sarah Wellgreen, made a statement to police on October 14, 2018.
....
On October 9 at 7.48am I saw a missed message from the night before, I sent her a message and throughout the day we continued to send messages back and forth, just general stuff.
We texted and she said about meeting up next Tuesday being October 16 and
at about 10pm we said goodnight to each other, I had no worries about Sarah.
The following morning:
The following morning on Wednesday, October 10 at about 11.36am I sent Sarah two messages, and at about 2.56pm I sent Sarah a further two messages and that’s when I received contact from Kent Police who told me she had gone missing.
----------------------------
17:47
Occupant 'woke in the middle of the night and couldn't find Sarah'
The witness woke up in the middle of the night and neither Miss Wellgreen or Lacomba were in their separate bedrooms.
They “checked in Sarah’s room and she wasn’t there and her bed was wet and
she left her phone and her purse”.
================
15:25
Attempts to get hold of Sarah
In a second statment taken on November 8, Lewis Burdett said: “I last saw my mum on the weekend of October 6.
....
“
I sent mum a text message on October 10 saying ‘can you transfer me that £30 for me?’. That was sent as a text message and not an iMessage so I didn’t know whether it had been read. I didn’t get a reply.
-----------------
13:47
Sarah's son
Another statement read in court was that of Lewis Burdett, Sarah’s son from a previous relationship.
....
“I would speak with my mother every other day over the phone. She has four phones.
“When I last saw her on October 6, I saw the two other phones in her car. ...
====================
12:22
KEY EVENT
Lacomba's first statment to police
His first statement to police read:
....
“At 8.20am, I left the house to take the kids to school. It was manic that morning. When I went into Sarah’s room, I could see two phones on the bedside table. Because of this, I didn’t call as I thought she had left her phones here.
....
I work in Dartford and texted her when I got to work at around 11.32am.
“I got home at about 3.45pm. I had been feeling unwell throughout the day and when we got home I threw up.
“When we got back, I noticed Sarah wasn’t home still so I looked through one of her phones to try and see what was going on.
“I didn’t see my message on either of her phones. I looked around and could see her bag was there which was odd. I told my mum that I needed to go to sleep as I was feeling really rough.
==================
17:08
Andy Robinson
PC Callum Watt gives evidence: 'Sarah Wellgreen regularly on Tinder'
....
Lacomba told PC Watt: “She was dating multiple people at that time and had 6 or 7 mobile phones.
....
Lacomba identified the phone that Sarah used regularly but said “it wasn’t at home”.
....
Lacomba gives police a passcode to one of the phones which he says was given to him by a child.
....
Lacomba approached PC Watt with a phone “to prove that there had been no argument between the two of them”.
=====================
15:25
Andy Robinson
PC Manley's evidence continues: 'He was very persistent in trying to show me messages'
“He said when he returned he realised she was still not at the address so he sent her a text message. He did not get a response.
“On numerous occasions, Mr Lacomba was looking through mobile phones. He was very persistent in trying to show me messages Sarah had been sending to other people.
“He tried to show them to me a number of times - three to four times. He said he had looked through them on that day prior to my arrival. He found them in her bedroom.
“He said that he was worried and wanted to see if he could get any clues to find out where she might be.
“He stated on numerous occasions that he believed she was messaging other men.
“He mentioned Neil James, who he said was her current partner, and a man by the name of Joe and a man by the name of Anthony.
==========================
14:41
Andy Robinson
999 call read out to court
Lacomba proceeds to give the details of Miss Wellgreen’s boyfriend Neil James who had texted Lacomba at 8.14pm the night before, telling the taxi driver: “We’re all worried and so if you could let us know if you’ve seen her or me and her mum are going to have to start a police search as it’s been 24 hours”.
He did not reply to this message. Later on in the call, he goes on to claim Neil James, “doesn’t trust” Miss Wellgreen and is “really paranoid about her”.
============================
13:07
KEY EVENT
40 minute 999 call by Ben Lacomba
In the call Lacomba gives a series of details to the operator about Sarah.
....
I texted her yesterday morning to see if she was alright and stuff but I haven’t had a reply”
“I’ve looked through a phone, like one of them didn’t have a lock on it, to see what was going on sort of thing. And one of them didn’t have a lock on it and I’ve looked through that and I’ve found out that she’s sort of like seeing a few blokes sort of thing. And so it looks like she’s cheating on him sort of thing.”
“I texted her like yesterday but I didn’t (call her) because I saw the phones there I thought there’s no point me phoning her cause all her phones are here.”
===========================
12:55
Andy Robinson
Sarah Wellgreen's last text messages
Court has reconvened and the prosecution are going through Sarah Wellgreen’s last text messages again on October 9 and 10
9.24pm Neil James calls Sarah Wellgreen for 14 minutes
Her text message to Joe Eleini at 9.59pm: “There is always something to look forward to, you just need to open your eyes a bit more and dream.” was followed by one more text of “night xx”.
This is her last known communication.
Neil James texts her at 7.54am on October 10 asking “how are you?”
Joe Eleini Whatsapps similar shortly after 11.30am
Neil James asks “Hello?” to Sarah just after noon
Joe Eleini whatsapps again at 12.56pm and again two hours later
5.05pm Neil James text to Sarah: “Are you alive?”
5.06pm Neil James tries to call her
5.18pm Sarah’s mum Ann Reed tries to call her
6.39pm Ann Reed says “Ring me”
8.30pm Jim Reed also tries to call her
4.50pm on October 10 Neil James sends child a Whatsapp “Is your mum okay as I haven’t been able to get hold of her today?”
Then sends similar message to Ann Reed
Neil James says he can’t contact through: “Facebook, email, whatsapp, text or phone.”
Ann Reed says “I just tried and all I’m getting is mobile unavailable”
“Something doesn’t seem right does it” Neil James to Ann Reed
Neil James contacts Lewis Burdett
Lewis Burdett asks Lacomba to “Ring me, it’s important”
8.14pm Neil James to Lacomba “Have you heard/know where Sarah is?” “We are all worried, Can you let us know if you see her or me and her mum are going to have to start a police search”.
=========================
travelled that night, let alone in the days or weeks beforehand
