B&B owner on trial for killing OAP
APENSIONER who wandered into the wrong seafront house in Barmouth and climbed into bed was discovered by the owner, “dragged downstairs by her ankles and stamped on”, a court heard.
Margaret Barnes suffered injuries similar to those expected in a “highspeed road traffic collision” and died soon afterwards, a jury heard.
David Redfern who had allegedly discovered the semi-naked intoxicated pensioner, who apologised for going into the house instead of her nearby B&B, denies murdering her outside his home in Marine Parade, Barmouth, on July 11 last year.
A jury heard Redfern, 46, who is 6ft 1in and 21st, has “self-confessed” anger management issues, according to prosecutor Michael Jones KC as he opened the Crown’s case at Caernarfon Crown Court.
The court heard Mrs Barnes, 71, a retired factory worker of Baldwins Lane, Birmingham, had been visiting friends in Barmouth last summer. She had been at another B&B but on July 10 she went to an ice cream parlour, Mermaid Fish and Chips and a Spar shop.
There she bought some gin and at about 10pm she walked to the Wavecrest B&B – pulling her small wheeled suitcase and carrying her handbag – but ended up in Belmont House, a large five-storey townhouse, which was on the same side of the street but several doors down from the Wavecrest.
Belmont House, on Marine Parade, was being renovated by Redfern and his partner Nicola Learoyd-Lewis.
Mr Jones said: “Mrs Barnes had been drinking and, whether she thought this was the Wavecrest, she went in and went to bed. She mistook the defendant’s address for the B&B but it was a mistake which ultimately cost her her life.”
She went into an upstairs bedroom, took out her false teeth and put them on a bedside table and poured a gin into a glass while holding a bottle of tonic. The prosecution claim that Redfern and Ms
Learoyd-Lewis found the “frail” pensioner there “semi-naked on the side of the bed” with her belongings strewn across the floor in a mess.
The court heard Redfern called Mrs Barnes a “thieving c***” and dragged the 7½st woman downstairs by her ankles and stamped on her outside. The jury heard Redfern was heard saying: “It probably didn’t do her the world of good me dragging her down the stairs by her ankles.” The court heard he later told police she had been aggressive to him.
Her suitcase had been hurled on to the street and he is alleged to have mocked the injured woman as she tried to gather her possessions while on her hands and knees. But he told officers he didn’t know who had thrown the suitcase, jurors heard.
Emergency services were called and a neighbour was told to perform CPR but the woman developed breathing difficulties and succumbed to her injuries.
The prosecution said it was “obviously surprising” for Redfern to find an old frail woman in one of his beds but “what followed next was appalling.” Mr Jones said Mrs Barnes sustained “catastrophic, fatal and brutal injuries at the hands of the defendant” who is a “bully”.
Home Office pathologist Dr Brian Rodgers found Mrs Barnes died from severe blunt force trauma. There were rib fractures and a fractured neck, consistent with being dragged down the stairs, say the prosecution.
The prosecutor said a kick or stamp outside the Belmont House caused a ruptured liver and one litre of fresh blood in her abdomen. The injuries were consistent with those from a “high-speed road traffic collision”, he added.
The three week trial is being heard by the judge The Honourable Mr Justice Bourne Esq KC. Redfern denies murder and manslaughter.
The trial continues.