Two brothers who beat a convicted paedophile to death before taking his car and bank card have been jailed for life. Matthew and Luke Roe killed 85-year-old Henry Thwaites, who was friends with their mother, after getting him to drive them to a remote location in Nottinghamshire on July 23 2022.
Mr Thwaites, who had previously served two prison terms for sexual offences against boys under 16, had offered to buy a car for the brothers and believed he was driving them to see a Mercedes on the night they killed him, Nottinghamshire Police said. He was taken out of his Fiat Punto at around 10.40pm and beaten in a rural road near Worksop, leaving him with 26 head injuries including skull fractures.
The brothers then took his bank card and used it at cash machines having obtained the correct PIN. Mr Thwaites’s body was found under a metal fence by a member of the public the next morning and Matthew, 25, and Luke, 34, were arrested after police found them driving Mr Thwaites’s car less than an hour after he was reported missing.
Luke Roe, of Potter Street, Worksop, and Matthew Roe, of Franklin Road, Jacksdale, were convicted of murder on May 26 following a nine-week trial at Nottingham Crown Court. Matthew was also found guilty of four counts of fraud by false representation in relation to Mr Thwaites’s bank card, while the jury found Luke guilty of one count of fraud by false representation.
Luke was also found guilty of criminal damage after dam aging a car windscreen using an unopened can of beer. After the murder, the brothers travelled to the home of Abby Dixon, 27, who was in a sexual relationship with Luke, in Watson Road, where she helped them dispose of clothes in a waste bin.
A jury found Dixon guilty of two counts of assisting an offender and she will be sentenced on June 12. At Nottingham Crown Court on Monday, the two brothers were handed life sentences, with Luke Roe to serve a minimum of 25 years in prison, while his younger brother Matthew will serve a minimum of 24 years.
Detective Inspector Kaz Smithson, who led the investigation, said: “This was a brutal and cowardly assault on a frail and vulnerable 85-year-old man. “The murder was premeditated and callous, with Matthew and Luke Roe subjecting Mr Thwaites to a horrific death for their own selfish gain.
“Despite overwhelming evidence, neither brother had the courage to accept responsibility for their sadistic and vile actions, forcing a jury to sit though nine weeks of distressing evidence. “Matthew claimed he was too drunk to remember the night in question and I am pleased jurors saw through his lies. Luke wasn’t even brave enough to go in the witness box. They have shown no remorse whatsoever and our communities are undoubtedly safer with them behind bars.”
