An Old Etonian who tried to throw his estranged partner into a 240ft-deep well in a ‘drunken and petulant’ rage was jailed for 24 years today for attempted murder.
Douglas Clifton Brown let Camilla Welby in ‘complete terror’ by brutally assaulting her during a car journey from a friend’s house before driving to an estate his family had owned for generations and attempting to drag her towards the disused well.
She managed to fight him off by wrapping her scarf around his neck and throttling him until he nearly passed out.
Clifton Brown, 56, whose family line includes eight former Parliamentarians, had admitted causing grievous bodily harm with intent and a threat to kill.
He denied attempted murder but a jury convicted him unanimously in January after just four hours of deliberation.
He returned to court today where Judge Alice Robinson gave him a life sentence with a minimum 24-year term.
She told him: ‘You had recently topped up the water in the well, which was at a remote location.
‘You went up to that well and rattled fencing around it, then continued to hit Camilla and tried to drag her towards the well.’
Douglas Clifton Brown, pictured, brutally assaulted Camilla Welby during a car journey from a friend’s house before driving to an estate his family had owned for generations and attempting to drag her towards the disused well
Ms Welby had been briefly knocked unconscious and was in ‘complete terror that she was about to be killed’ when she came round, grabbing her scarf and wrapping it around Clifton Brown’s neck in as she fought for her life.
Judge Robinson dismissed the prosecution’s assertion that the murder bid was premeditated, despite the defendant having filled the well with water.
But she added: ‘It was an angry, drunken and petulant reaction to a perceived slight and built-up of antagonism during your relationship.’
Ms Welby read a victim impact statement at an earlier hearing where she said Clifton Brown’s constant gaslighting during their relationship had left her with a ‘lack of self-confidence’ and it had ‘become her normal’.
She said she now suffers from nightmares, poor sleep, post-traumatic stress disorder and lasting psychological damage as a result of the ‘cruel emotional and physical abuse through coercive behaviour’ she suffered during their 15 years together.
Fearing she will be targeted again upon his release from prison, the mother-of-three added: ‘I will always look over my shoulder and will never feel safe.’
During the trial, the court heard a harrowing police interview with Ms Welby, who described how she ‘fought for her life’.
Describing the moment she took the scarf and ‘pulled it round his neck so he couldn’t breathe’, she said: ‘I didn’t want to kill him. I was so frightened I was going to do that. He started to choke.’
Camilla Welby managed to fight him off by wrapping her scarf around his neck and throttling him until he nearly passed out
The defendant claimed the well, pictured, was around 20ft deep but police estimated the depth to be around 240ft
Clifton Brown ended the relationship during a holiday in Greece but it was agreed he would stay at her house in Norfolk for two months while looking for somewhere else to live.
They were separated at the time of the incident on the evening of August 12, 2023, after they had been out for drinks with friends.
Clifton Brown – who admitted consuming half a bottle of rum during the day – was driving them to the home they still shared in Langham, Norfolk, when an argument broke out over issues including Ms Welby calling him ‘an idiot’ for losing their dog earlier in the day.
Interviewed by police, he initially claimed his former partner had been driving before getting out and trying to pull him from the passenger seat.
‘I’m just playing dead and then she puts the scarf around my neck and tries to strangle me,’ he said.
‘She has both her thumbs in each eye and that’s when I started reacting really, so I hit her with the back of my hand to try and get her off me and also grabbed her hand.’
Ms Welby stopped after realising her finger was broken and got back into the car to drive to hospital, he claimed.
During the trial, the court heard a harrowing police interview with Miss Welby, who described how she ‘fought for her life’. Picture: The fenced off well at High House, Congham
Admitting he struck her ‘maybe ten to 15 times’, he added he did it ‘because she was trying to kill me. She was on top of me and a) strangling me and b) gouging my eyes out… it was self-defence’.
But prosecutor Ed Renvoize explained it was the defendant who had become ‘aggressive’ during the 35-minute car journey and the incident had escalated into a ‘vicious assault’.
Clifton Brown told Ms Welby he faced being arrested for hitting her so ‘had nothing to live for’ and was driving them to the well at the High House Estate near Congham, which is run by the Clifton Brown family as an exclusive wedding venue, where he would ‘put her down there before he put himself in’.
The defendant claimed the well was around 20ft deep but police estimated the depth to be around 240ft.
After arriving at the grounds, he tried to drag his victim from the car but she fought back, with the prosecutor telling Norwich Crown Court: ‘She was able to wrap her scarf around his neck.
‘She pulled so tightly, such was her fear, she choked him into near unconsciousness.’
He added: ‘(Her actions) brought him to his senses, to the extent his fight was extinguished. That was the end of the violence.’
Miss Welby, who also suffered a suspected fractured nose and extensive bruising to her head and face, bravely drove away with Clifton Brown at first but had to let him out as he threatened to throw himself from the car.
A general view of High House Estate near Congham, Norfolk, which is owned by the Clifton Brown family
The trial of Douglas Clifton Brown for attempted murder continues at Norwich Crown Court
Police were contacted after she reached Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King’s Lynn.
The couple began their events company, mostly catering for weddings, in 2020 after Clifton Brown paid a ‘large amount of money’ to rid himself of a ‘difficult business partner’.
The main house was destroyed in a fire in 1939 but the walled garden and outbuildings are now used to host visitors.
Ms Welby helped with the events but the court heard she was financially self-sufficient as she has stocks and shares and a holiday rental property.
Clifton Brown had two previous convictions – one for fraud involving driving documents which led to a fine and a caution for two assaults on Ms Welby in 2018.
He initially insisted he didn’t assault her in the latest incident, telling police the claims were ‘absolute baloney’ and adding: ‘She’s gone bonkers and is making it up.’
Stan Reiz KC, mitigating, said his client had suffered from low self-esteem all his life and had only been diagnosed with ADHD at the age of 55, after the attack on Ms Welby.
But Judge Robinson said while the ‘impulsivity’ associated with ADHD might have affected the defendant’s judgement, it ‘does not reduce your culpability substantially’.
During the trial, Mr Reiz said Clifton Brown didn’t intend to kill Ms Welby and was just threatening her out of anger.
‘He’s a flawed individual – he’s no killer,’ he told the court.
But the jury rejected that version of events and convicted the defendant.
Clifton Brown was also given concurrent jail sentences of three years for the threat to kill and three years and nine months for the charge of assault causing grievous bodily harm.
Detective Constable Gary Ranger said: ‘This was a sustained and terrifying attack during which the victim fought for her life. Had she not been able to subdue him with the scarf, she is certain she would not be here today.’