An engineer accused of raping and murdering his girlfriend subjected her to years of controlling and abusive behaviour, including throwing water at her while she showered and switching off the bathroom lights, a court has heard.
Stephen Sexton, 39, allegedly smashed Joanna Derkacz’s phone and laptop because he was jealous and objected to her going out, jurors at Winchester Crown Court were told.
Just three weeks before her death, the tearful 37-year-old recruitment consultant was captured on a police body-worn camera describing Sexton as aggressive and warning that he could “flip”.
Ms Derkacz also told officers that Sexton “knew what he was doing”, because his father had been a police officer.
She was found dead in December 2023 at the Waterlooville, Hampshire, flat she shared with Sexton. Prosecutors allege she had been raped and strangled.
The father-of-one allegedly contacted two prostitutes shortly afterwards. Jurors heard that he used Ms Derkacz’s car to visit one of them after sending a message that read: “I’ll be there in 20 minutes ok baby.”
Sexton, from Totton in Southampton, denies murder, rape and coercive or controlling behaviour.
The court heard that police conducted a welfare check on Ms Derkacz three weeks before her death. Sexton had reported her missing after she returned home late from an evening out with friends.
Stephen Sexton, 39, allegedly broke Joanna Derkacz’s phone and laptop because he was “jealous” and objected to her going out, jurors heard
Ms Derkacz was found dead at the couple’s home in Waterlooville, Hampshire, in December 2023. Prosecutors allege she had been raped and strangled
Sexton denies murdering Ms Derkacz after their relationship deteriorated
Police initially classified the risk to Ms Derkacz as “medium”, but later reviewed the case and raised the assessment to “high risk”.
In footage shown to the jury, Ms Derkacz described Sexton as “very controlling” and “very narcissistic”. She said he had “flipped” after she arrived home late from a night out.
Sexton was away from the flat when officers arrived. They spoke with Ms Derkacz about the circumstances surrounding her supposed disappearance.
She showed police the laptop Sexton had allegedly damaged that morning by stamping on it during an argument.
Ms Derkacz told officers: “He is very controlling. He is very narcissistic. He doesn’t like me going out anywhere. I don’t know if he took something because he has got that thing where he flips.
“He started accusing me, saying, ‘You slut.’ But I was staying with some friends.
“Obviously, he was aggressive towards me. Obviously, he does have some mental problems. I think his ex-partner reported him before.
“I get it, he has got the anger issue, and I thought I could control him. This night I couldn’t stop him.
“I do want to protect him. He is my partner, but I can’t keep doing the same shit.”
‘I started watching TV. He took the controller from me. I went to use my laptop and he took my laptop upstairs and started jumping on it.
‘I went through this so many times and I am trying to not tell anyone what is going on in my life because I don’t want people to see him in that light.’
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Ms Derkacz told police three weeks before she was killed that Sexton would ‘flip’
Sexton was not at the address when the police arrived, and they spoke to Ms Derkacz about what had happened when she was supposedly gone missing
Ms Derkacz said that in the morning, she came back from the night out, he took ‘massive glasses of water’ and splashed them over her face.
She said: ‘I said to him, “Do you realise what you have done?” I have had enough of him saying f***ing sorry all the time.
‘He is always threatening me that he is going to take the dogs. He is so f***ing spiteful that I can’t.
‘The way that he is manipulating me. The way that he is horrible.
‘I took a shower the other day, and he kept switching the lights out, so I had a shower in the dark. He is trying to make a point that he is not happy.’
Ms Derkacz said that she had been dating Sexton for three years and that she faced abusive behaviour for two and a half years.
She said: ‘The reason I am still with him is he does have a good side. I don’t know if he is bipolar or something but he does flip.’
Ms Derkacz said that Sexton’s dad was a police officer ‘so he knows what he is doing’.
She said that she told the police about the abuse because Sexton had called them over and it was ‘the perfect opportunity’ to tell them.
When Police Constable Abigail Gilbert asked Miss Derkacz if she felt isolated from her friends, she said: ‘Yes. When I go out he makes me feel like I have done something wrong or he just messages me all the time.
‘My sister doesn’t talk to him anymore because he had a flip.
‘He is so jealous that he says I am a slut. I am cheating on him but this is just a reflection on him.
‘He already started to destroy every single friendship that I have because he is toxic.’
PC Gilbert asked if she wanted to give a statement about the broken laptop and if she wanted to take the matter any further, but she declined.
Ms Derkacz said that, as they had split up, she was going to try to sort the living situation with the estate agent as they had a joint lease, but he could go and stay with his parents.
She agreed that she would contact the police if she needed any more assistance but she was a very ‘private person’.
PC Gilbert added: ‘My risk assessment at the time was medium. It was later reviewed and it was assessed as high level.’
Prosecutors said Ms Derkacz made a ‘fatal mistake in underestimating him’.
The court heard there were ‘so many red flags’ but neither she nor the officers realised how far Sexton might go ‘when he realised she was slipping from his grasp’.
The trial continues.
