Man stabbed estranged wife 18 times, jury told

A man accused of murdering his estranged wife wept in the dock as jurors were played a distressing police video of his daughter in the minutes after the alleged attack.

Nimalarajah Mathiyaparanam, 47, denies murdering Nilani Nimalarajah, 44, at the shop where she worked last June. His wife and daughters lived in a flat above the store on Stanley Road in Bootle, Sefton.

Liverpool Crown Court was shown police body cam footage of an interview with Mathiyaparanam's then 17 year-old-daughter who had found her fatally injured mother in the shop.

She was heard saying he "stabbed my mum - I saw him with my own two eyes".

The girl then said: "I need my mum with me" and asks if she can go to the hospital.

The defendant wept and wiped his eyes while the video was played.

Nilani Nimalarajah, 44, died at Low Cost Food and Wine on 20 June.

Jurors were also played "harrowing" footage from the Stanley Road shop's CCTV cameras, which showed her being stabbed in the head and chest.

Mathiyaparanam also denies possessing a bladed article in public.

Prosecutor Annabel Darlow KC told the jury the defendant had carried out "a merciless, sustained and brutal attack".

She said Mathiyaparanam, who was subject to a restraining order, had bought a block of knives and duct tape in the hours leading up to the stabbing.

Darlow said the defendant had not been invited to a significant family event and "his reaction was one of the most appalling and premeditated violence".

She told the court Mathiyaparanam had become an alcoholic after his businesses got into difficulties and had later been violent.

Before the CCTV footage was played, Darlow told jurors that they may find it "extremely upsetting and harrowing".

She said: "You may experience horror, sympathy, revulsion and pity, but you must not judge this case on the basis of your emotional reaction."

Judge Brian Cummings KC told the jury that a key point of dispute in the trial surrounded intent.

The prosecution claims the defendant intended to kill Nilani Nimalarajah or cause very serious harm, while the defence alleges he had no such intention.

The judge said jurors would have to decide to what extent, if any, Mathiyadaranam's intentions had been affected by alcohol.

After jurors were shown the footage, Darlow said: "It's a slow, purposeful and deliberate attack.

"Nilani had no chance at all of surviving. What it is not is frenzied or out of control.

"He only stops when she's motionless and there can be no doubt she's at death's door."

Footage recorded after the stabbing showed Mathiyadaranam watching with his arms folded as police officers attempted CPR, the court heard.

In October 2024, a restraining order barred him from contacting his wife or daughter. He has admitted breaching that order.

The trial continues.

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