Husband who is charged with murder of wife and rape of teenage girl appears in court

Shane Simmonds is accused of stabbing to death his wife Tia at their home in Forest Hill
Shane Simmonds is accused of murder and two charges of rape
PA Wire
WEST END FINAL

Get our award-winning daily news email featuring exclusive stories, opinion and expert analysis

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

A woman who was allegedly murdered by her own husband was found dead in the attic of her southeast London home, a court has heard.

The body of Tia Simmonds, 32, was discovered at the couple’s home in Parbury Road in Forest Hill on January 3.

Her husband, Shane Simmonds, has now been charged with her murder as well as allegedly twice raping a teenage girl.

Prosecutor Julia Faure Walker said police officers went to the home and "in the storage area of a converted loft they found the body of the deceased, lying face down on her front, covered in several items of clothing and bedding".

It is said a knife was also found in the en-suite bathroom area of the attic.

Simmonds was charged last week and appeared at the Old Bailey on Monday where he was remanded in custody by Judge Sarah Whitehouse KC.

Metropolitan Police said Simmonds was arrested after voluntarily attending a police station in the early hours of January 3.

Simmonds, appearing via prison videolink, spoke only to confirm his name and age as he was told he must appear in court again on March 25 to enter pleas.

He is facing a charge of murdering his wife and two counts of rape against a girl.

A provisional trial date has been set for October 14.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in