A cold-hearted man who beat a confused 71-year-old woman to death after she mistook his home for a B&B faces a life sentence for her murder. David Redfern, 46, was found guilty of stamping and kicking Margaret Barnes after she entered his seaside home in Barmouth last July, which she believed was a B&B.
The IT worker refused to call an ambulance after attacking the frail pensioner and dragged her outside the huge townhouse by her ankles as she lay dying. Before Redfern was convicted, the court heard he "sounded like a raving lunatic" on the night Margaret died, the Mirror reports.
The heartless thug denied murder or manslaughter but was found guilty by a jury at Caernarfon Crown Court yesterday after 14 hours and 30 minutes. Jurors were told that Redfern, who is 21-stone and 6ft 1 inches tall, forcefully stamped on the seven and a half stone elderly woman in a "violent and cruel" assault.
Adjourning sentencing until Friday, Mr Justice Bourne told him: ”You are remanded in custody. You have been advised what the sentencing decision will be.”
In his closing speech, prosecutor Michael Jones KC added that Margaret Barnes, of Birmingham, died because of the "violent and cruel" actions of Redfern. Mrs Barnes unfortunately entered the wrong building and encountered a huge man with anger issues after being found in bed, the barrister said.
Home Office pathologist Dr Brian Rodgers found the 71-year-old had suffered blunt force trauma. The court heard that Redfern was surprised that intoxicated Mrs Barnes had entered his home by mistake but acted 'out of all proportion' when he hauled her outside by her ankles.
Mrs Barnes, who had been visiting friends in Barmouth last year, was beaten on Marine Parade in an "unjustified and gratuitous" attack. During the trial, Junior prosecutor James Coutts read a statement from Redfern's neighbour, Lynn Hynes, who recalled hearing the defendant shouting inside his home.
She claims it was a "common occurrence" for him to be screaming at his partner Nicky Learoyd-Lewis, but on that particular night she said he "sounded like a raving lunatic". Ms Hynes said she discovered Ms Barnes lying outside Belmont House in a "foetal position" and helped prop her up against a wall.
Ms Hynes, a former nurse and Army first aider said the pensioner was "flopping to her right". When asked whether she had any pain, she said: "Chest". When asked how it had happened, Ms Barnes replied: "Beaten up".
She rang a 999 call handler and told her the patient was "going to die". She said: "The call handler got a bit panicky and advised me to start chest compressions." Ms Barnes' face turned from a "horrible creamy colour to grey" and she passed away as residents gathered to help.
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