Man stabbed wife 22 times while their children were at home

A man who stabbed his wife at least 22 times while their four children were at home is facing life in prison.

Momodou Bobb, 56, murdered Ndata Bobb in their Restalrig home in Edinburgh last year by inflicting knife wounds to her face, head, neck, chest, back, arm and abdomen.

The killer had claimed that he and his partner were fighting and he was holding a knife that had slipped, the High Court in Edinburgh heard on Wednesday.

But he later admitted murdering his wife on 27 and 28 August at the family home by repeatedly striking her with a knife. He will be sentenced at a later date.

A judge told him: "You have pleaded guilty to the murder of your wife Ndata Secka in August of 2025.

"She was not only your wife, but a mother of four children, three of whom were also your children and one your step child."

Lady Haldane said: "Ndata came from a large family and was much loved. The tragedy of her loss to all who knew and loved her is therefore immense."

The judge told Bobb that the punishment for murder was set by law and was imprisonment for life, but she would have to fix a punishment part of the sentence which he would be required to serve before he was eligible to seek parole.

The 42-year-old mother was one of 15 siblings and half siblings and shared a child with her first husband before she met Bobb and remarried in 2015.

They had a daughter and two sons. In 2018 she left her native Gambia to move to England to live with her new husband.

Bobb, who was also born in Gambia, had moved to the UK in 1995.

The couple and their children moved into the flat in Edinburgh after she obtained a tenancy in December 2023.

On the night of her death, police received a 999 call reporting that there had been "a fight" between the couple.

Bobb opened the door straight away wearing only boxer shorts and covered in blood on his hands, chest and feet.

The prosecutor said that Bobb, who was previously diagnosed with cancer of the larynx, had a bandage on his throat and appeared to be unable to speak beyond a whisper.

Police found two blood-stained knives on a kitchen table and made efforts to resuscitate the victim while they awaited the arrival of an ambulance.

Paramedics arrived and a cardiac ultrasound detected some heart activity and the victim was taken to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary but she died in hospital.

One witness described hearing the murder victim screaming "leave me alone" and crying loudly before she fell to the living room floor.

Bobb was arrested and found to have serious knife wounds to his hand and was taken to hospital for treatment.

The advocate depute said: "While being treated he commented that he and his partner had been fighting and that he had been holding a knife that had slipped."

A post mortem was carried out on the victim and the cause of death was established as a seven centimetre deep stab wound to the neck which had cut the jugular vein.

Sentence was deferred for the preparation of a background report.