Waitress 'stabbed to death after fiancé discovered her affair'

A waitress was brutally stabbed to death shortly after her fiancé found out she was having an affair with a colleague before the wedding, an inquest heard today.

Becci Rees-Hughes, 37, was stabbed 26 times, as well as being bludgeoned around the head with a baseball bat at the home in Beverley, East Yorkshire, which she shared with Ben Crosby.

In the early hours of July 25 last year, Crosby rang his parents saying: 'I've messed up really bad. I've killed her.' They drove to Beverley and found him grey-faced sitting in his car.

Student Ms Rees-Hughes was found slumped on the sofa covered in blood and showing no sign of life.

Crosby then came into the house, and asked his father what he was going to do. His father told him he was going to call the police.

The coroner's court heard Crosby said 'I'm gone' as he walked out the back door.

His mother ran out after him and Crosby walked back in, gave them a cuddle and said he was sorry.

Crosby, 46, died in a car crash a short time later while being pursued by police.

An inquest in Hull, East Yorkshire, heard that Ms Rees-Hughes, who worked as a waitress and was also a Hull University physics student, met Crosby in 2015 and seemed 'settled and happy'. She studied hard and was earning excellent grades.

She started an affair with one of the chefs at the King's Head pub in the town centre after she began working there in May 2022. Crosby then found out about the relationship.

Despite the rift, they agreed to stay together and got engaged in the seaside town of Hornsea on Crosby's birthday on June 30 2022.

The court heard just a day before she was killed Ms Rees-Hughes texted her lover eight times, saying: 'I can't get over you. I'm trying but I can't.'

She assured her lover she was 'fine and had got over it', but he didn't believe her, the hearing was told. She had previously told him she was splitting up from Crosby, who was jealous. She said she wanted to be single, but later said that they were staying together for the sake of their children.

Shortly afterwards he was sent anonymous text messages, warning him to 'stay away'. Ms Rees-Hughes' body was later found at her home on Samman Road, Beverley.

A work colleague said Ms Rees-Hughes, who worked as a waitress, was a 'lovely girl'.

He said he had seen her with Crosby in the street as he was 'was raising his voice' and 'had hold of her upper arm… definitely not in loving way'.

Ms Rees-Hughes seemed to seek excuses to stay at work 'where she felt she could have more fun,' his statement continued.

Crosby's ex-partner said she had noticed that he was 'quiet and acting totally out of character'.

In a call on July 18, he told her Ms Rees-Hughes had confessed to the affair and promised it would stop - but 'despite the reassurances the affair continued', the hearing was told.

Crosby's father said in a statement to the hearing: 'At 5.54am I called 999. I explained that my son had killed his girlfriend... I knew he was intent on taking his life.'

Crosby was fatally injured when his Volkswagen Polo crashed into a van on the A1034 near Hornsea soon after. The van driver was seriously injured. Coroner Professor Paul Marks concluded that Ms Rees-Hughes had been unlawfully killed.

A jury will hear evidence at a separate inquest into Crosby's death.