Postman who baked wife's head sentenced to 8 years

A man who killed his wife and cooked her head in the oven was jailed for eight years at the Old Bailey yesterday.

A man who killed his wife and cooked her head in the oven was jailed for eight years at the Old Bailey yesterday.

Roger Frisby, 42, was cleared of murdering his wife, June, 36, but convicted of her manslaughter on the grounds of provocation.

Frisby, a postman of Plumstead, south London, told the court he snapped during an argument after Mrs Frisby had hit their eldest daughter. He hit over the head with a claw hammer, and then cut up her body. He said his wife had been on a 24-hour drinking binge.

After throwing Mrs Frisby's limbs off the cliffs at Dover, he "cooked" her head, feet and hands in the oven in an effort to disintegrate the remains. He later buried the head on Sidcup golf course, in Kent.

When Mrs Frisby disappeared in January last year, Frisby told family and friends that she had deserted him and their two children, Ruby, four, and Lucy, six months. But he confessed to killing her when her skull was dug up by a dog 15 months later.

In court Frisby said he disposed of the body because he was afraid he would lose the children if the killing was discovered.

The court was also told that the couple, who married in 1994, had had a stormy relationship. Frisby said he wanted a quiet life at home while Mrs Frisby suffered from depression and drank heavily.

Judge Martin Stephens said: "This must be one of the most gruesome and unhappy cases any jury has had to hear." He told Frisby: "What you did goes beyond the comprehension of right-thinking people."

The two girls are being cared for by foster parents until their future is decided. Detective Superintendent David Dillnutt said: "The tragedy of the case is that two children have lost their mother and father."

Frisby had started redecorating his bedroom and the carpet, mattress and headboard were missing when he reported his wife missing a week after she was last seen.