Court hears how lorry driver killed wife in hot tub

A lorry driver who would not accept that his 19-year marriage was ending drowned his wife in their garden hot tub after going into a rage, a court has heard.

Andrew Georgiou, 45, has admitted murdering Carol Georgiou, 42, at their home in Holywell Place, Milton Keynes, on 2 November 2024.

Prosecutors gave details of the attack, and of Georgiou's behaviour before and after Mrs Georgiou died, at a sentencing hearing at Aylesbury Crown Court.

The judge is due to give Georgiou a mandatory life sentence later this week and rule on the minimum term he must serve before parole can be considered.

Barrister Pavlos Panayi KC, prosecuting, said Georgiou had become "coercive and controlling" after Mrs Georgiou admitted seeing another man.

Panayi said Georgiou had locked his wife out of their bedroom and told her: "There is an underwear-only entrance fee."

Judge Jonathan Cooper was told that Georgiou had also locked her out of a shower room and said: "If you don't like my terms, flannel wash."

Panayi said Georgiou had also put cameras inside the house - and a tracker in his wife's car.

Panayi said Georgiou killed his wife after she got into the hot tub in the early hours following a night out.

He told the judge there was evidence that Mrs Georgiou thought her husband regarded her as a "scrounger".

Judge Cooper heard that the pair married in June 2005 and had two sons, both now adults.

Panayi said that, by the time she died, Mrs Georgiou had become "determined" to go through with a divorce.

He said Georgiou "would not accept" the end of the marriage.

The judge was told things had "come to a head" in the early hours of 2 November 2024.

Panayi said evidence showed Georgiou had "reacted with rage" after being told, "we're done".

He said Georgiou had attacked and drowned his wife as she sat in their garden hot tub following their return from a visit to a nightclub.

Sounds of her splashing and fighting for life were picked up by a neighbour's CCTV equipment, Panayi said.

Words said by both of them had also been picked up.

Some of Mrs Georgiou's five sisters - who were sitting in a public gallery - wept as the recording was played during the hearing.

Panayi said Mrs Georgiou had been heard saying "yes, we're done" - and Georgiou was heard asking, "We're done?".

He said Mrs Georgiou's decision to end the marriage was a "powerful motivating factor".

Panayi also told the judge that Mrs Georgiou had been "intoxicated" and "in a state of undress" when she was killed.

The judge said Georgiou had waited 40 minutes before calling an ambulance and had initially told a "cynical, dishonest tale of a natural, sudden and unexplained drowning".

Georgiou had not admitted guilt until December 2025 — about three months before a trial was due to start.

Panayi said Georgiou's behaviour after his wife died had been "deeply unsavoury" and "aggravating".

Jenni Dempster KC, for Georgiou, said her client should not be sentenced as if he had been found guilty of behaving in a controlling and coercive way towards his wife.

She said Georgiou had not displayed "conventional coercive and controlling behaviour" - and told the judge that his behaviour ought not "properly" to be described as "coercive and controlling".

Dempster said the background to the murder was a "divorce", and Georgiou believed that his wife was in a relationship with another man.

She read extracts from a letter Georgiou had written to the judge.

"I feel overwhelmed with shame and regret for what I have done," Georgiou had written.

"No day passes without Carol being in my mind, and I miss her terribly."

He added: "I am truly sorry for the pain I have caused."

The sentencing hearing is due to continue on Tuesday.

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