‘Grandmother fought back as grandson tried to smother her’
AFORMER soldier had to smother his grandmother twice before she died because she fought him the first time, a court has heard.
Barry Rogers, 33, is accused of driving for more than three hours to murder Betty Guy, 84, after receiving a call from his mother to say “it was time”.
Rogers, of Fishguard, Pembrokeshire, is on trial alongside his mother, Penelope John, 50, who is accused of feeding her mother a cocktail of crushed tablets and whisky before her son allegedly killed the former nurse.
The pair, who deny murder and the alternative charge of manslaughter, first came under suspicion four years after Mrs Guy’s death on November 7, 2011, when Sandra Adams, an ex-girlfriend of Rogers, reported him to the police.
Giving evidence at Swansea Crown Court yesterday, Ms Adams, from Haverfordwest, told the jury she and Rogers formed a relationship in early 2015.
“We wanted to base our relationship on no secrets and no lies,” she said. “(He said) that he had killed somebody ... I asked him ‘was it in the army?’ and he said, ‘No, it wasn’t’. He then told me that it was his nan that he killed.”
Ms Adams told the court that Rogers, who she told police was a “compulsive liar and an attention-seeker”, said he had driven from Frome in Somerset, where he had been living, after receiving a call from his mother telling him that “it was time” and he had to come and say his goodbyes.
Rogers also said Mrs Guy had been terminally ill with cancer and “it was her time to go”, she said.
Ms Adams said: “He said he went in to his nan and they gave her medication... he waited a little while for the medication to kick in and then he placed a pillow over her face and smothered her.
“The grandmother was fighting back and he stopped. He had a glass of whisky and then went back to her and placed the pillow back over her face a second time (and) she passed away then.”
Ms Adams said Rogers told her he and his mother were in the room when this happened and that the funeral was rushed so that Mrs Guy could be cremated rather than buried, as other family members wanted.
The woman, who said she first met Rogers when they were at the same primary school, later reconnecting via Facebook, said he would become emotional when speaking about Mrs Guy.
She said Rogers told her the story of how he killed his grandmother a number of times during their 10-month relationship, which ended just before she reported him to the police.
Christopher Henley QC, for Rogers, asked if his client had told Ms Adams about his army career and about killing people on the front line in Iraq.
She said he had, adding: “When it came to his army career, I didn’t really believe half the things he said.”
When asked, Ms Adams agreed that Rogers had been an inpatient at a mental health facility for a period of time during their relationship.
Nadine Radford QC asked Ms Adams if Rogers had a short temper at times.
She asked: “Would you sometimes just go along with (him) because of his short temper?” Ms Adams said she would. The trial continues.