Fraudster tried to smother disabled woman with pillow

AMAN has been jailed for trying to kill an elderly disabled woman he was caring for – and was stealing money from – by smothering her face with a pillow.

Police bodycam footage shows Barry Riley calmly listening to classical music as he is arrested hours after his attempted murder of 75-year-old Ann Skelton.

The 62-year-old was found guilty of attempted murder and fraud after trying to cover up the fact he had stolen more than £100,000 from her over a period of more than two years.

Riley, of East Morton in West Yorkshire, was jailed for 11 years and eight months at Bristol Crown Court on Thursday.

The court heard how Riley attempted to kill Ms Skelton by placing a pillow over her face at her home in Westbury-on-Trym in Bristol on March 10, 2018.

But she managed to press her buzzer to alert care staff, who arrived to find her slumped over the side of her bed.

Riley provided care for the victim, who had a degenerative physical

condition, and he had power of attorney over her finances.

Video footage from body-worn cameras shows police confronting Riley the next day and arresting him on suspicion of attempted murder – with classical music heard playing in the background.

Ms Skelton, who was unable to talk due to her condition and who used a keyboard to communicate, died in hospital a few months after the incident. A forensic post-mortem examination was carried out but found no link between the incident and the cause of death.

Detective Sergeant Craig Basil said: “Barry Riley claimed he was carrying out a mercy killing because of Ms Skelton’s condition and he said she’d asked him to help end her life.

“Following a court hearing, his fabricated story was dismissed by the judge, who ruled that he’d gone to her room that night to kill her, and that his actions were at least partly to hide the fact he’d defrauded her.

“This was a cold and calculating attack on a woman unable to defend herself.

“The depths of his criminality knew no bounds and even on the day of the failed attempt to kill Ann Skelton, Riley went to the cashpoint to withdraw more of her money.

“I’d like to thank Ann’s family for having confidence in our investigation and providing us with their support through what’s clearly been a distressing ordeal for them, and I hope the fact Riley has been brought to justice will help them to find some form of closure in the future.”

> Barry Riley