Man facing life for brutal murder in caravan
A MAN who brutally attacked a recluse and left him for dead inside his burning home is facing life imprisonment having been found guilty of murder.
Lewis Finch, 31, hit Geoffrey Pearce, 47, over the head with a claw hammer and pulled a cable tie tight around his neck. He then set Mr Pearce’s caravan alight and walked away from the scene of the attack in the early hours of January 9 this year at a scrapyard in Newton Poppleford, Devon.
Finch had denied murder but was found guilty following a 10-day trial at Exeter Crown Court.
A MAN who brutally attacked a recluse and left him for dead inside his burning home is facing life imprisonment having been found guilty of murder.
Lewis Finch, 31, hit Geoffrey Pearce, 47, three times over the head with a claw hammer and garrotted him with a cable tie pulled tight around his neck.
He then set Mr Pearce’s caravan alight and walked away from the scene of the attack in the early hours of January 9 this year at a scrapyard in Newton Poppleford, Devon.
Afterwards, Finch, formerly of Montpelier Road, Exmouth, told friends he had killed Mr Pearce because he was a “nonce”.
Finch had denied murder – but admitted killing Mr Pearce claiming diminished responsibility or loss of control – but was found guilty following a 10-day trial at Exeter Crown Court.
Adjourning sentence, Judge Peter Johnson said: “Mr Finch, you know what the inevitable sentence is. It will be a life sentence as you have been told. The issue is the setting of the tariff, which I will do when I sentence you next Wednesday in Plymouth. In the meantime, I remand you in custody.”
During the trial, the jury were told that Mr Pearce was a loner who lived in a caravan at the scrapyard.
After Finch attacked Mr Pearce, he phoned his sister and she could hear Mr Pearce screaming for help.
He told her: “He’s not dead yet but he’s going to be.”
She rang the police and hours later he was arrested at friend’s house in Exmouth.
Speaking after the verdict, Mr Pearce’s family said: “We are pleased with the outcome and justice has prevailed.
“We feel this verdict is the right outcome and now represents closure for us and it means we can now move on.”
Detective Inspector Robert Back, who led the investigation, said: “This was a brutal attack on Mr Pearce by someone he knew and had allowed into his home.
“I hope this result provides some sense of closure for his family who have conducted themselves throughout the trial with dignity and restraint.”
We feel this verdict is the right outcome and now represents closure for us MR PEARCE’S FAMILY