An engineer accused of raping and murdering his girlfriend subjected her to a two-year campaign of abuse, including throwing water in her face and switching off the lights while she showered, a court heard.
Stephen Sexton, 39, allegedly smashed Joanna Derkacz’s phone and laptop because he was jealous and objected to her going out, jurors were told.
Three weeks before her death, a tearful Ms Derkacz, 37, told police officers on body-worn camera footage that Sexton was aggressive and could “flip”. The recruitment consultant was speaking during a welfare check at their home.
She also said he “knew what he was doing” because his father had been a police officer.
Ms Derkacz was found dead at the flat she shared with Sexton in Waterlooville, Hampshire, in December 2023. She had been raped and strangled, the court heard.
The father-of-one allegedly contacted two prostitutes shortly after her death. Jurors were told he took Joanna’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 at Winchester Crown Court.
The court heard that officers carried out a welfare check on Ms Derkacz three weeks before she was killed. Sexton had reported her missing after she returned home late from a night out with friends.
Stephen Sexton allegedly strangled his girlfriend Joanna Derkacz at their flat after their relationship broke down
Sexton, 39, denied murdering Ms Derkacz after their relationship broke down
Ms Derkacz was found dead at their home in Waterlooville, Hampshire, on December 28, 2023
Police initially assessed the risk to Ms Derkacz as “medium” before reviewing the case and raising it 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 not at the property when officers arrived. They spoke to Ms Derkacz about the circumstances surrounding the missing-person report.
She showed police a laptop that Sexton had allegedly broken 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 like, ‘You slut.’ But I was staying with some friends.”
She continued: “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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Joanna Derkacz told police three weeks before she was killed that Sexton would ‘flip’
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.
Ms Derkacz 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.