Clifton George, 45, is accused of murdering partner Annabel Rook, 46, before triggering a gas explosion at their home in Stoke Newington
Annabel Rook was stabbed to death, the court heard(Image: Metropolitan Police/PA Wire)
An “angry” man stabbed his partner to death before he triggered a gas explosion at their east London home, a court heard.
Clifton George, 45, is accused of murdering 46-year-old Annabel Rook during an argument at their home in Dumont Road, Stoke Newington, on June 17 2025.
George has admitted responsibility for her death by pleading guilty to manslaughter, jurors at Snaresbrook Crown Court have been told. However, he denies murdering Ms Rook.
Opening the case on Wednesday, prosecutor William Emlyn Jones KC said the stabbing happened in the midst of the couple’s crumbling relationship, and after Ms Rook had told George to leave their home. George is accused of then setting out a plan to kill himself and “explode the house”.
It is said he took a knife from the kitchen to the living room to stab Ms Rook, and he was described as “very angry and upset” in the aftermath.
He then started a fire in the property, setting a gas cannister alight and triggering “an enormous explosion”, causing significant damage to the home and waking up the neighbours, the court heard.
“On the night of June 16 and 17 last year, the defendant argued with his partner Annabel Rook,” Mr Emlyn Jones told the court. “In the course of that argument he punched her, he then tried to strangle her, and then he went to the kitchen to get a knife, he came back with the knife and he stabbed her to death.
“He was undoubtedly very angry with her, and we will be at looking at why he was so angry.” The prosecutor added: “He lost his temper, and in his rage… he murdered Annabel.”
Ms Rook, the daughter of retired Old Bailey judge Peter Rook, was the co-founder of a London-based social enterprise called MamaSuze, which supports refugee and migrant women with art and drama activities and workshops.
Mr Emlyn Jones said Ms Rook had been stabbed “a great many times” when her body was discovered after the explosion, while George “was found in the back garden, bleeding heavily and trying to stab himself with a shard of broken glass”.
The prosecutor said: “He was asked if there was anyone inside the house, and he said ‘my wife’ – but, he added, she was dead… When asked how he knew she was dead, he replied ‘because I killed her’.”
Mr Emlyn Jones said Ms Rook had been dead for several hours by the time she was found. In police interview, George said he “lost it” when he found out Ms Rook had “lied to me”.
Mr Emlyn Jones told jurors: “I can tell you at the outset that the defendant does not deny that he stabbed his partner to death… He admits that he killed her.”
The court heard the couple never married but had been living together for just over a decade. The prosecutor said George’s guilty plea to manslaughter has not been accepted, and he continues to be accused of murder.
He said jurors will have to determine the reason for the fatal stabbing, including an assessment of their relationship, which was “difficult at times”.
Mr Emlyn Jones said: “In the summer of 2025 it had broken down to the extent that they were heading towards a break-up… Annabel had told the defendant that he had to leave.
“The evidence of their relationship in the last few years of Annabel’s life will come in the form of evidence from her family, and from their friends, but also from messages and notes recovered from their telephones, which provide an accurate and contemporaneous record of what was going on as their relationship deteriorated, and how they both felt about it.”
George denies murder, but has pleaded guilty to manslaughter. The trial continues.
