GOOGLE ‘Robert Darby murder’ and you will notice how much media coverage of the case was heavily slanted towards the ‘Love Triangle’ angle.

Under the headline Millionaire playboy who ‘stabbed jealous stalker to death in row over a woman’ faces jail, and a subheading that read ‘pair were engaged in a dispute over Mr Darby’s ex-girlfriend’, Daily Mail reporter Lucy Crossley had made her mind up (click link for her full report)

Millionaire playboy who 'stabbed jealous stalker to death in row over a woman' is facing jail | Daily Mail Online

Darby’s former girlfriend of 10 years, Adele Rayner, who had numerous restraining orders against him, was the first witness to give evidence as the Old Bailey trial began in November, 2013. The jury heard the chilling 999 call she made to police the day before Robert died. The recording captured how Darby was subjecting her to a terrifying ordeal – bumping the back of her car as she attempted to drive away from him, before forcing her to stop and then kicking and punching her doors and windows. 

Only Robert knew why he behaved so aggressively towards Adele but it later became clear that his erratic conduct had been fuelled by a four-day drugs and booze bender.

Online reporters seized upon the ‘jealous lover’ angle from the start, which of course perfectly suited the narrative adopted early on by Met Police. They suspected that Rayner had sparked a feud between Darby and Moore, and that this was Jason’s motive for stabbing him.

But this false, lazy assumption is way wide of the mark. Apart from the fact that Jason didn’t stab anyone, he certainly wouldn’t have become embroiled in any physical dispute over Adele or any other woman.

That’s not to say that Darby didn’t feel any jealousy towards Jason – and not just because he had previously dated his longtime girlfriend on a few occasions. He probably resented his ‘millionaire lifestyle’ and the trappings of success earned through his years as a professional gambler.

But the fact is, friends and associates of Darby told police that he was ‘seeing’ other girlfriends in the days and weeks leading up to his death. One was called Mandy, another was referred to as Maggie.

In his defence statement, Moore said: “I had met Adele whilst using Bar 38, which was directly below my (West India Quay, London Docklands) apartment. It was a chance meeting and I accept that over time we had a physical relationship but it didn’t go any further than that. It was a short and casual type of affair.”

Giving evidence at trial, Rayner confirmed that she had only met Jason on a casual basis some time AFTER she and Robert had split up. She said that she hadn’t met with Jason for around two months prior to Darby's death in August 2005.