CONSUMED BY JEALOUSY; FAMILY AND FRIENDS TELL OF KILLER'S THREATS OF SUICIDE AFTER PARTNER TRIED TO END THE RELATIONSHIP.

Byline: By ADAM JUPP and GARRY WILLEY

KILLER Neil Crampton was so consumed by jealousy he threatened to commit suicide if his ex wouldn't take him back, a court heard.

This was despite the fact he was the one who had had affairs, including with a Thai prostitute, behind the back of partner Olo-funke Sobo.

Crampton is accused of murdering Olo-funke, known as Liz, their two children Abigail, 12, and Steven, five, and Liz's brother Yemi, 41, in a brutal attack that saw the four suffer more than 300 knife wounds between them.

The 36-year-old former taxi driver has admitted the quadruple killings, pleading guilty to manslaughter, but denies murder on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

Paul Sloan QC, prosecuting, told a Newcastle Crown Court jury he took their lives when he realised he was about to lose 'beautiful' Liz for good. And friends and relatives of the victims gave chilling accounts of Crampton's jealousy in the months running up to the Kenton massacre.

A statement written by Liz and Yemi's mother Tunde Sobo, 75, told how Crampton could not accept his relationship with her daughter was over and even proposed to her despite them living apart.

The statement added that things came to a head when he invited himself on a holiday to Turkey, which Tunde had organised with Liz and the two children.

It said: "In May 2006, I went on holiday with Liz and her kids. She had worked hard to save and when she told him he got angry. He said he didn't like Turkish men."

Crampton booked himself a flight to join them on holiday. She added: "He couldn't get into the same apartments and only got 10 days. He made our holiday a disaster. Liz told him she hadn't wanted him to come but he took no notice."

She added that Crampton ruined a meal by shouting at a waiter and got angry if Liz spoke to any men. Staff at their hotel started to suspect he was staying in their apartment because he refused to go to his digs until late at night, Tunde said.

The statement added: "He said 'I'm going to kill myself' and stormed out. I couldn't sleep, I was so worried I rang his mother and told her what had happened."

Tunde's statement told of Liz's frustrations at Crampton "not pulling his weight" with their two children and failing to contribute to their upbringing financially.

Despite this, he found cash to go on holiday to Thailand, from where he returned to confess he had had a relationship with a prostitute, the court heard.

Tunde's statement told how she told her daughter she would be a "fool" to take him back and demanded to see results of a test Crampton had to prove he had not contracted any sexual diseases.

But Crampton went back to Thailand in June 2006, where he picked up the relationship with the prostitute. He travelled in Cambodia and Vietnam before finally returning to England in September 2006.

By now, Yemi had also moved in with Funke and their mother while his own flat in Gosforth was refurbished and he recovered from an operation. Crampton still saw Funke regularly but her mother asked that he give back the key he had for their house.

"It is clear relations between the two were not good," Mr Sloan said. "On the one hand Tunde Sobi did not approve of the defendant and on the other the defendant felt she was interfering."

The court also heard statements from friends of Liz, who told how after the family holiday to Turkey, she jetted off to the resort of Ayia Napa, Cyprus, for a pal's wedding.

Despite the fact he was set to return to Thailand, the court heard Crampton became suspicious after learning one of his male friends would be at the same celebration.

A statement from Liz's close pal Christiana Laboriel, 38, a beauty therapist, read: "Neil went to Thailand and was there for several months and Liz was unhappy because she was working to keep the children all while he was off enjoying himself."

The court heard the affair with the prostitute was not the only time he had been unfaithful. Mr Sloan said: "Indeed, in about 2001, only a few months after Steven was born, when Liz went to the airport to wave the defendant off on a holiday, she discovered that he was with another woman."

That claim was backed up by another of Liz's pals Andrea Burn, a property sales adviser. Her statement was also read and said: "When he returned,

she confronted him and he admitted going with another woman and begged forgiveness, which she did.

"Two years ago, he proposed to Liz, saying he was going to change his ways and be more cooperative."

Mrs Burn also told of him threatening to kill himself when she tried to end the relationship. She said: "Liz told him it was over. He took it badly and threatened to take his own life. She was concerned the suicide threat was very real."

Tunde, who moved to England from her native Nigeria in 1956, also told how Crampton would try and get hold of Liz's phone to see who she had been calling.

She added: "From the time Liz left Neil, she has not been seeing anyone else. She would say 'I don't even want to try'."

She also gave details of Crampton proposing to his ex before the killings. She said: "She kept saying 'no' and he asked 'what can I do?' I said he had to ask Tunde's first son Yinka because he was the head of the family. I went with him to Yinka's house."

The court also heard a statement read on behalf of Yinka, which said: "He came to my home address and explained he wanted to marry Liz. I felt he had come to ask my permission and viewed me as the head of the family. I went on to explain he would have to fully commit to the relationship and told him the children must come first."

In a chilling conclusion to her statement, Tunde said: "I returned from holiday on November 14 to find that four members of my family had been brutally murdered."

The trial continues.

CAPTION(S):

PROBE: Police outside the house on Hawthorn Gardens, Kenton, after the killings; SUSPICIOUS: Jealous Neil Crampton has admitted manslaughter but denies murder; TRAGIC: The funeral of children Abigail and Steven Crampton and their mum Liz and their uncle Yemi