A WOMAN last saw her husband eight years ago before he left their home in Cricklewood to work a night shift, an inquest heard yesterday.

Juliet Sheppard, 31, told the hearing Lee Sheppard was planning to quit his job at European Metal Recycling (EMR) in Willesden on Thursday January 30, 2003, the night he went missing, aged 26.

Mr and Mrs Sheppard both grew up in a small town in New Zealand and came to England in April 2002 to find work as well as spend time travelling to parts of Europe.

The couple lived in Essex for around three months before moving to Cricklewood Lane, where on January 25, 2003 Mrs Sheppard took a home pregnancy test.

She explained to the court how she ran to tell her husband as soon as she saw the test was positive and said he was very excited.

An extract from Mr Sheppard’s diary which he kept whilst in England said: “I can’t wait to be a dad and it will not all be plain sailing, but it’s something I want badly.”

He had booked a doctor’s appointment for the following Friday but after he left for work on the Thursday, Mrs Sheppard never saw him again.

She told the court she had returned home late from work some time after 6pm on the Thursday because the snow fall had affected the public transport.

Describing events once she returned home Mrs Sheppard said: “He had cooked dinner that night so it was already prepared.

“He ran me a bath and then he was on the phone.”

Mr Sheppard was enquiring about working day shifts permanently, but was told it was not possible.

Mrs Sheppard said: “He was okay about that because it just made up his mind that he would hand in his notice.”

She told the court Mr Sheppard left their home earlier than usual at 9.40pm because of the weather and he called her from his mobile on his way to work.

A bank statement showed he withdrew £10 from a cashpoint in Willesden at around 10pm and Mrs Sheppard said she recalled Mr Sheppard calling her again at around midnight while he was at work.

Mrs Sheppard said: “I just remember his last words were ‘looking forward to seeing you. I love you babe. Bye.’”

The following day Mrs Sheppard tried to contact her husband on his mobile and via their home telephone number later in the day but he did not answer.

She went for the doctor’s appointment, but Mr Sheppard did not turn up.

A high-risk missing person enquiry failed to find any trace of Mr Sheppard or an explanation as to how he had gone missing.

Mrs Sheppard returned to New Zealand towards the end of May 2003 and had a baby boy in September.

Barrister James Maxwell-Scott, representing Mrs Sheppard said some weeks after Mr Sheppard’s disappearance a green piece of fabric was found in a bag of recycled product from EMR.

Mr Maxwell-Scott asked Mrs Sheppard if she thought the fabric came from the green fleece beanie hat Mr Sheppard had worn.

She said despite the colour being the same she could not be certain the material was identical.

The inquest is planned to continue until the end of next week.