Man on trial for murder of his family 27 years ago

A 68-year-old man went on trial yesterday for the murder of his wife and two young children who disappeared from a Devon seaside resort more than 27 years ago.

Anthony Allen is accused of killing his family and secretly dumping their bodies so that he could move in with his mistress and start a new life.

Patricia Allen, 40, and her children, Jonathan, seven, and Victoria, five, were last seen in her home town of Salcombe in south Devon in May 1975. Their bodies have never been found.

Mr Allen was a suspect from the beginning but the unsolved case was only reopened last year after his former mistress claimed that he had scratch marks on his arms at the time of the disappearance.

Mr Allen, of Poole, Dorset, pleaded not guilty at Plymouth Crown Court to the triple murder yesterday.

Mark Evans QC, for the prosecution, said of the wife and children: "It is as if they disappeared off the face of the Earth. The Crown say there is only one candidate who appears responsible and that is Allen."

His wife, Patricia, was last seen on 26 May 1975. Neighbours spoke of hearing a child's screams on the night of 26 May coming from the Allens' flat in Salcombe with the words: "Daddy, daddy, you are hurting Mummy." Other witnesses spoke of Mr Allen having scratch marks on his face and neck at that time, the jury was told.

Months earlier the defendant had asked his mistress whether she would be prepared to look after his children if he separated from his wife, but she had refused, saying she already had three children to take care of, the court heard.

Two days after Mrs Allen disappeared the children also vanished, having been spotted earlier in a car with their father.

Mr Allen did not report their disappearance and months later told police, who had become suspicious, that Patricia had left, returned to collect the children and moved to Canada.

Mrs Allen's bank account remained untouched. There were no records in the UK or abroad of her or the children relating to tax, social security, education or medical matters. Neither Patricia nor the children had passports.

"Patricia disappeared on the Monday and the children disappeared on the Wednesday or Thursday," the prosecutor told the court. "After the disappearance he appears to have been entirely unconcerned about the children or Patricia."

Mr Evans said the defendant had a motive for the murder because of his affair with a restaurant owner called Eunice Yabsley, which started the month before his family disappeared. Mr Allen almost immediately moved in with Mrs Yabsley and they remained together until 1987.

The inquiry was reopened after Mrs Yabsley wrote a book called Presumed Dead in which she said that Mr Allen had scratch marks on his arms when they met on the morning after his wife vanished.

The trial continues.