Three-year-old Bethan Colebourn, (top left) was drowned in the bath by her mum who had convincing herself her husband Michael (top right) was cheating on her with a work colleague, a court was told today.
Claire Colebourn, 36, is said to have held Bethan under the water before putting her on a bed where she was discovered with soaking wet hair the next day by her grandmother.
The former science teacher was in tears as the jury was told she mistakenly suspected husband Michael Colebourn, 38, of having an affair with a fellow executive at his marine company.
Mrs Colebourn emailed his work colleagues and made those allegations to them and also trawled the internet looking for information about his former girlfriend.
She also searched the web for information on suicide and drowning.
Winchester Crown Court heard little Bethan was found dead at her home, a £400,000 converted bungalow in Fordingbridge, Hants, in October 2017.
Bethan is the daughter of Michael Colebourn, the chief executive officer of Trimline, a Southampton based marine interior refurbishment company.
Paramedics were unable to save Bethan as they rushed her to hospital.
Mrs Colebourne was discovered suffering a diabetic episode, having administered a huge dose of insulin in the hours after the killing.
She also posted two letters afterwards, one to her mother telling her she loved her and the other to a Bournemouth Police station outlining what had happened with her relationship with her husband.
Prosecutor Kerry Maylin said Mrs Colebourn told police: ” We had a bath, we had a bath and I can’t remember anything else. I did not kill her”.
Police officers reported that she actually appeared in a happy mood at Southampton Police station “almost laughing and joking.”
In a letter Claire Colebourn described Mr Colebourn as a “bully” and “controlling.” She added that she didn’t want to save her daughter in the bath because “I did not want her to suffer.
“In my eyes, I saved her,” she said.
But in her police interview she admitted what she had done.
She said: “I am responsible. Bethan drowned because I was there, I held her under the water”.
Mrs Colebourn is alleged to have believed her husband was was spying on her through the ‘Wi-Fi and computer’ at their home and filed divorce papers claiming he did not want Bethan in his life.
But the last time Mr Colebourn saw his daughter alive, the prosecution said, he took her to a park and the little girl hugged and kissed her father before he left her with her mum.
Housewife Claire Colebourn denies murder. The trial continues…
