Neighbours of the man accused of murdering his wife watched a row between the couple reflected in car windows, a jury has heard.

Lesley Sandford claimed she heard Jon Cudworth shouting at partner Mika calling her a “liar” and “a slag”.

She told Canterbury Crown Court the two were going “at it hammer and tongs” at their home in Mill Lane Cottages, Northbourne in April this year.

Ms Sandford said she and friend John Halpin had watched the row after looking out of their bedroom window and seeing what barrister Oliver Saxby QC described as “a curious quirk of reflection”.

“We said we like each other. I decided that I wouldn’t see anybody else and she said she would sort things out her end" - Dan Groombridge

She said she saw Cudworth prodding her while asking: “Why did you take that bloke home?” and “Why did you give him a lift?”

The prosecution has claimed Cudworth, 36, stabbed his Polish-born wife to death in a row over her friendship with another man.

He is alleged to have later told police that the barmaid had taunted him by claiming she had sex with Dan Groombridge, who drank in her pub, the Three Horseshoes in Great Mongeham.

But Mr Groombridge told the jury at Canterbury Crown Court that there had been no affair.

Although he admitted to holding hands with Mrs Cudworth and sharing a kiss at the home of a friend on the night she is alleged to have been stabbed to death.

He said: “We said we like each other. I decided that I wouldn’t see anybody else and she said she would sort things out her end. I thought this would be soon.”

The prosecution has alleged that Cudworth murdered her and dumped her body in a nearby field.

He then reported her missing and claimed she had stormed out of the house after an argument.

Mr Groombridge said the two had become close after they started talking in the pub after she complained her husband was tracking her via her iPhone.

Earlier Cudworth had sent text messages to Mr Groombridge, who he suspected of having an affair.

One read: “Stay away from my wife. She is married. I know she took you home and don’t know what happened but back off and leave her alone. If she’s messing about or whoever idea it was I leave it and it stops now (sic)”

Mr Groombridge, a double-glazing worker, sent a reply saying: “If anything was going on I’d tell ya. Don’t f****g threaten me again.”

He told the jury that because of Cudworth’s “paranoia” it pushed the two closer.

“It was after receiving the first message that it made us closer and it started to become something.”

He was asked if he had been having an affair with the married barmaid and told the jury: “There wasn’t one...No. We just got on well. She was a happy person and really easy to get on with. She made you feel very comfortable.”

Mr Groombridge said he gave Mrs Cudworth his telephone number after she offered to give him a lift home from the pub.

“I agreed because I couldn’t drive because I had been drinking.”

He said he later received a second lift when the two spoke “for a couple of minutes and then she went home to her husband”.

Later the two spoke of starting a relationship but he insisted: “It would have to be her choice and that it shouldn’t be rushed into.”

Mr Groombridge claimed Mrs Cudworth said she was unhappy in her marriage and claimed her husband was “abusive and controlling”.

He added: “She said he was physical. I took that to mean he knocked her about. She didn’t like to talk about it, so I didn’t push it any further."

Mr Groombridge claimed Mika had said her husband had “beaten her up”.

“I felt sympathetic. Well, who wouldn’t.

“That was the last time I saw her.”

Ms Sandford told the jury how after Mika had gone missing she noticed “Jon” had put “ an excessive amount of washing on the line”

She added: “I thought it strange because Mika was houseproud. It seemed excessive.There were sheets, towels and clothes on the line, at least three washing loads.”

She told the jury that later her neighbour claimed his wife had returned from the pub where she worked drunk and had walked out.

Ms Sandford added she also noticed in the days after Mika had vanished, Cudworth taking things to the dump.

“He also told me that he had found £700 in Mijka’s handbag after I suggested he should tell the bank and stop their bank card being used.”

She also claimed that during a conversation “over the garden wall”, Mrs Cudworth said she had regretted getting married and had felt coerced into it.

Next door neighbour John Halpin told how Cudworth got his wife a job behind the bar but had become jealous.

He said Cudworth regularly went to the Three Horseshoes to check his wife was working.

He said he could see the marriage was breaking because of his behaviour.

Rebecca Wood was a close friend of Mika. They went to the 81 Beach Street restaurant in Deal on April 25 and it was then Mika realised her every move was being tracked.

She spoke about Dan Groombridge a regular at the pub who she liked.

Miss Wood said: "She enjoyed working at the pub. Jon got possessive. She was happier at the pub than at home.

"She only mentioned him once. She didn't want me to say anything about it to anyone else."

After Mika disappeared Miss Wood went to Cudworth's house and noticed a strong smell of bleach.She also noticed a new carpet.

The trial continues