CCTV footage has shown the final moments of a grandmother who mistakenly walked into a house thinking it was her B&B. Moments later, the homeowner beat her to death leaving her with injuries likened to those caused by a high speed car crash.
Victim Margaret Barnes, 71, was viciously attacked by David Redfern in July last year. The grandmother mistook his seaside home - Belmont House - for Wavecrest B&B where she was actually staying further down the street in Barmouth, North Wales. Redfern discovered her in bed and drinking a glass of gin with her false teeth on the side table and launched a savage attack.
Redfern, 46, was jailed for life on Friday for the crime, in which a court heard he dragged seven-and-a-half stone Mrs Barnes downstairs by her ankles while calling her a "scumbag" and a "thieving c***". Outside, Redfern kicked and beat Mrs Barnes before mocking her as she lay defenceless on the ground.
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Home Office pathologist Dr Brian Rodgers found she had suffered blunt force trauma. She had a neck and rib fractures and a ruptured liver, triggering a bleed of a litre of fresh blood.
Footage now released shows Mrs Barnes entering the five-bedroom home, pulling her suitcase behind her, as she believed she was checking in to the Wavecrest B&B situated a few houses down the street. Little did she know they were her final moments.
Redfern had denied murder or manslaughter during his trial at Caernarfon Crown Court. However, after 14 hours and 30 minutes of deliberations, a jury found him guilty of murder on Wednesday (March 29) .
The court heard on Friday an emotional victim impact statement made by Mrs Barnes' daughter Natalie which said: "As a family we will never get over what has happened. My mum didn't need to die and we don't understand why she had to." Granddaughter Robyn Barnes, meanwhile, told the court how Redfern's crime had left her "completely heartbroken" and with an empty seat at the family table.
Summing up the case, the judge said Redfern had intended to cause real harm to Mrs Barnes but had not intended to kill her, and spoke of the case's "sudden and bizarre circumstances". Redfern was handed a life sentence with a minimum term of 14 years imprisonment.
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