Man stabbed wife 22 times while four children were at home

A man who murdered his wife in a knife attack while her four children were in the family home has been warned that he faces life in prison.

First offender Momodou Bobb stabbed his wife, Ndata Bobb, at least 22 times during the attack at their home in Restalrig Avenue, Edinburgh.

The High Court in Edinburgh heard that the killer later claimed that he and his partner were fighting, and he was holding a knife that had slipped.

The 56-year-old admitted to murdering his wife on August 27 and 28 last year at the family home by repeatedly striking her with a knife.

The court heard that the 42-year-old former bank worker married Bobb in 2015 and had a daughter and two sons by him.

In 2018, she left her native Gambia to move to England to live with her new husband. Bobb, who was also born in the African country of Gambia, had moved to the UK in 1995.

The couple and their children moved into the flat in Edinburgh in December 2023.

In the early hours of August 28 last year, police received a 999 call reporting that there had been “a fight” between the couple, advocate depute Lisa Gillespie KC told the court.

When officers arrived at the house, Bobb immediately opened the front door, wearing boxer shorts and with blood on his hands, chest and feet, she said.

The prosecutor said that Bobb, who was previously diagnosed with cancer of the larynx, was wearing a bandage on his throat and appeared to be unable to speak beyond a whisper.

She said: “He appeared calm and undistressed. He motioned with his hand for the officers to enter.

“He proceeded to the living room, where he sat down on a sofa and indicated with his hand towards the side of the room, where the deceased was lying face down on the floor.

“She was dressed in a vest top and pyjama bottoms. She was not moving and had numerous wounds to her face, neck, chest and arms. Blood had pooled around her and was splattered up the wall next to her,” said the advocate depute.

Officers found two blood-stained knives on a kitchen table and made efforts to resuscitate the victim while they awaited the arrival of an ambulance.

Paramedics arrived, and the victim was taken to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, where she later died.

One witness described hearing Mrs Bobb screaming, “Leave me alone,” and crying loudly before she fell to the living room floor.

Bobb was arrested and found to have serious knife wounds to his hand and was taken to hospital for treatment.

The advocate depute said: “While being treated, he commented that he and his partner had been fighting and that he had been holding a knife that had slipped.”

A post-mortem was carried out on the victim, and the cause of death was established as a seven-centimetre deep stab wound to the neck, which had cut the jugular vein.

Sentence was deferred on Bobb, who followed proceedings via a TV link to prison, for the preparation of a background report.

A judge told him: “You have pleaded guilty to the murder of your wife, Ndata Secka, in August of 2025. She was not only your wife, but a mother of four children, three of whom were also your children and one your stepchild.”

“Ndata came from a large family and was much loved. The tragedy of her loss to all who knew and loved her is therefore immense.”

The judge told Bobb that the punishment for murder was set by law and was imprisonment for life, but she would have to fix a punishment part of the sentence, which he would require to serve before he was eligible to seek parole.