My ex-detective brother is a wife murderer, inquest told

Desmond Campbell, who emigrated to Australia after resigning 10 years ago, is the only suspect in the death of his wife Janet. The 49-year-old fell from a cliff edge in an national park near Sydney in 2005.

An inquest into her death heard today that Mr Campbell's brother, Neil, told his then wife: "I just have to come to terms with the fact that my brother is a murderer."

Neil Campbell made the comment to Toni Sanderson, who told the Sydney inquest she asked him to explain and he replied: "It's in everything he says, it's in everything he does, it's in his actions."

Desmond Campbell told police his wife fell to her death in the dark after leaving the tent they had pitched metres from the cliff edge. Neither he nor his brother, also a former police officer in Australia, have attended the inquest. Mrs Campbell died six months after marrying Desmond Campbell in secret and changing her will in his favour.

An ex-girlfriend, former Surrey traffic warden June Ingram, told the inquest she believed Desmond Campbell was a conman who preyed on women "for what he could get out of them".

Ms Ingham, from Redhill, said she fell in love with him when he was an officer in Surrey but later heard he had been suspended after a complaint of assaulting a woman he dated after meeting her on a domestic violence call.

"A police inspector came to ask me about him and warned me 'Stay away from him, June - he's a rotten apple.' I thought he was just being a man and ignored his advice because we were in a significant relationship," she said.

She said Desmond Campbell became enraged when she arrived to join him in Australia in 2001 and hurled abuse at her. But the next day he apologised and Ms Ingham paid for the bulk of a £25,000 Lotus Esprit sports car he wanted.

Ms Ingham said she believed his promise to marry her and agreed to buy a house in his name to be left to her in his will. But he dumped her by text message while she was in England, sold the house and kept the money.

Ms Ingham said that on a return visit to Australia, she tried to warn Mrs Campbell, a wealthy widow.

Finishing her evidence, she said: "I came to testify here because Janet didn't deserve it."

Outside the coroner's court, Mrs Campbell's brother, Neil Neander, said: "Des Campbell gets into the heads of women."

The inquest continues.