‘She was full of golden energy’
Partner of loved SA antiques dealer Robyn Mercer arrested for murder after her brutal killing in Surrey
THE family of a South African antiques dealer are in shock after learning she had been bludgeoned to death in her garden in London’s commuter belt.
Robyn Mercer, 50, who was born in Cape Town and went to school at Springfield Convent in Wynberg, was so badly beaten about the head that the forensics team called to the scene in Surrey initially believed she had been shot.
Surrey police said her longstanding partner, Robert Webb, 52, was arrested at the scene on Monday. A 25-year-old man was arrested on Thursday. They were both bailed on Friday.
Mercer’s brother, Quentin Spickernell, a restaurant owner in Hout Bay, said he was “unable to comprehend” his sister’s murder. Her body was found on Monday morning.
“When I got the news I was devastated. I heard something terrible had happened to Robyn. I gathered myself and I was expecting to hear it had been a car accident or a brain tumour or something,” he said.
“When they said she’d been murdered, I thought ‘Jesus Christ’. You just don’t expect to hear that.
“She was tremendously wellliked. She was a mild sort of character, gentle, nonjudgmental and quite unassuming, but she was very sparkling with a wry smile, a good sense of humour.”
Mercer also had two sisters in Cape Town, and Spickernell said members of the family had been concerned about Webb.
“There were one or two incidents in his behaviour that sparked concern,” he said.
“I was there in the UK with them in June and he has been here to South Africa on one or two occasions. They had been together for about 10 years. He wasn’t really my cup of tea. Robyn was aware of his faults but she stayed with him.”
Mercer lived with Webb, her 18year-old daughter and an older son in a quiet residential area. She was said to be well liked and respected in the antique silver trade, and according to the Daily Mail she was a partner in one of London’s most prestigious independent antique dealers, JH Bourbon-Smith.
Art specialist Paul Crane, from the gallery next door to JH Bourbon-Smith in St James, an exclusive district in central London, said she was a “very private person”.
“She was full of the most golden energy. She was so polite it was unbelievable. She was just full of kindness,” said Crane, who had known her for 20 years.
“She was extremely well thought of in the industry. She will be missed by everyone in the silver trade.”
Alistair Davis, a neighbour who lived two doors away from Mercer in West Molesey, told the Daily Mail she and her partner were quiet people and that he would often see Webb working on his motorcycle on Sunday afternoons.
“I’ve never heard any arguments or shouting, they were very quiet. I saw her the day before. She looked normal and her mood was normal. I had not seen Mr Webb all weekend,” said Davis.
Mercer’s son and daughter are still in England and Spickernell said he would be flying to England to help “look after them”.
“They cannot get into the house because it is a crime scene. They’re in a terrible state as you can imagine. We are waiting to see when we can get over there and try to console them to some degree.
“Once the investigation has been carried out, there will be arrangements for a funeral, and we can decide how and what to do. For now, it is coming to terms with her death.”
He wasn’t really my cup of tea. Robyn was aware of his faults but she stayed with him