Wife murdered after smashing Star Wars collection

A sci-fi fanatic suffocated his wife after she smashed up his Star Wars memorabilia, a court has heard.

Rickie La-Touch, 30, was found guilty of murder after his Thai-born wife apparently damaged Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker toys worth thousands of pounds.

Pornpilai Srisroy, 28, was found dead in her bed at home in Leigh, Manchester, on 26 April, with a pillow covering her face.

After he suffocated her, Preston Crown Court was told how Mr La-Touch – also known as Mr Nehls – ran to his mother in a nearby street in an ‘agitated’ state and reported the killing.

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He was jailed for life and ordered to serve a minimum of 12 years.

Mrs Srisroy died from asphyxiation, according to a post-mortem. Mr La-Touch denied murder, but pleaded guilty to manslaughter claiming he was a ‘henpecked’ husband.

Mr La-Touch told police that he flipped out when his wife threatened to leave him and said she would to return to Thailand.

“This is a tragic case where a young woman’s life has been taken at the hands of her husband,” said senior investigating officer Andy Tattersall, from Greater Manchester Police.

“Unfortunately, we may never know exactly what happened that morning, but I hope that La-Touche’s sentence is of some small comfort to Pornpilai’s family and friends.

“La-Touche will now also have to live the rest of his life with the awful knowledge that he is responsible for killing his wife.”