Gran ‘knifed 40 times for her pension’
‘Killer spent cash on a night out with her granddaughter’
A GRANDMOTHER was knifed to death for £104 of her pension money so her killer could spend it on a night out with friends, a court heard yesterday.
Doreen Walker, 75, was throttled, beaten, slashed and stabbed more than 40 times in a frenzied attack in her home.
The court was told that Liam Naylor, 23, lavished the money on his friends – including the victim’s estranged granddaughter – as Mrs Walker lay dead in her living room.
Naylor, who was on benefits of £82 a week, treated the group to drinks in a bar, a McDonald’s takeaway and a taxi home, the court heard.
Prosecutor Simon Waley said Mrs Walker had collected her pension on the morning of the murder, and had told the cashier she had fallen out with granddaughter Keeley Sweeney, 17.
Later that day, the court heard,
‘Agitated and shaking’
Naylor texted another woman, his ex-girlfriend, to say he was ‘trying to find some money for town tonight’.
Sheffield Crown Court heard he was captured on CCTV entering Mrs Walker’s home at 9.30pm, and emerged just under two hours later.
Mr Waley said Mrs Walker, who had three children and five grandchildren, had more than 40 ‘sharp force injuries’ to her head face, neck, arms and chest, one of which had penetrated her heart.
It is also alleged that Naylor smashed Mrs Walker’s nose and twisted her right arm until it broke, then rifled through her jewellery box upstairs before returning to attack her again at the house in Barnsley.
Naylor had also cut his own hand during the attack, the court heard, and police later found his blood on the knife and a back door handle.
The jury heard Naylor lived with Miss Sweeney and another woman, Brooklyn Smith. Miss Sweeney had lived on-and-off with Mrs Walker for two years, and ‘close friend’ Naylor regularly accompanied her on visits or even sleepovers at her grandmother’s, the jury heard.
The court was told that when Naylor arrived home after the attack, Miss Sweeney, Miss Smith and his friend Matthew Potter were waiting to go out with him. Mr Potter noticed Naylor had ‘quite a lot of blood’ on his jeans and he was ‘agitated and shaking’, Mr Waley said.
When Mr Potter asked Naylor where the blood had come from, he claimed he had ended up in a fight after a man armed with a knife attacked him.
On the way into Barnsley town centre, Naylor and Miss Sweeney set fire to his blood-stained clothes, the court heard. Naylor paid for the night out and all four returned home at 1.40am.
Mrs Walker’s body was discovered the next day by her son- in- law Llewellyn Jones.
Last month Naylor admitted going to Mrs Walker’s home on the night of the attack, saying he intended to steal and had been encouraged to do so by Miss Sweeney.
He claimed Mrs Walker had suspicions about his intentions and came at him with a knife, a turn of events branded ‘ ludicrous and utterly incredible’ by the prosecutor.
Naylor, of Barnsley, denies murder. The case continues.