A FORMER pig farmer accused of murdering his wife and dumping her in a septic tank says a 14-year relationship with his mistress was 'not an affair'.

David Venables denies killing his wife Brenda and putting her body in a septic tank as his trial continues at Worcester Crown Court this week.

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The 89-year-old of Elgar Drive, Kempsey, stands accused of murdering her between May 2 and May 5 1982. He reported her missing on May 4, 1982.

Venables was interviewed by police after his wife's skeletal remains were found in a septic tank in 2019 at Quaking House, the Kempsey home the couple shared.

The house was sold to nephew Andrew Venables before the body was found.

In one of his police interviews, read out to a jury on Friday, Venables told officers: "I was absolutely devastated when I couldn't find her. She had never done anything like that before."

Venables said the night before she disappeared they had been watching television and that his wife seemed 'quite normal'. "We had nothing to argue about," he said.

When he discovered she had disappeared he looked for her in a wood near the house but told officers: "I couldn't see anybody."

He also said he visited a friend's house to see if she was there. Venables said he believed Brenda, to whom he had been married for 22 years, had been looking forward to going on holiday.

When he went downstairs he said he had noticed the front door and the porch door were both open.

Venables was also quizzed about his 14-year 'sexual relationship' with Lorraine Styles which happened during his marriage.

"I wouldn't call it an affair - it was quite casual," he said.

An officer replied: "Having sex with a woman over a 14-year period, I think she would say that's some sort of relationship. That's not casual."

But Venables said the relationship had been 'overplayed' and told officers he 'never' planned to leave Brenda for Lorraine.

"That never entered my mind," he said.

Venables said his wife knew that he would take Lorraine home at lunchtime.

Asked if Brenda knew about her sexual relationship with him, Venables said: "I just don't know. I wouldn't have thought so."

Police asked if he had told his wife about the 'affair' he said: "Well you don't, do you?"

Officers put it to Venables that Lorraine had already told them Brenda knew of the affair.

But Venables said: "I don't think so."

He added: "She (Lorriane Styles) just rang me out of the blue and said 'will you come and see me?' I used to take pity on her and just go."

He denied he had been seeing Mrs Styles at the time his wife disappeared.

Venables described Mrs Styles as 'volatile' but, at other times she was 'perfectly okay'. "I never met anyone who was quite so changeable," he said.

The trial continues.