Killer who knifed widow, 86, to death jailed

A man who carried out "a ferocious and sustained knife attack on a defenceless old lady in her own home" has been jailed for life for murder.

The body of former postmistress Una Crown, 86, was found at her bungalow in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, on 13 January 2013. She had been stabbed four times and her throat cut.

Cambridgeshire Police did not treat her death as suspicious until two days later, but neighbour David Newton, 70, who was previously arrested but then released, was charged last April after a DNA breakthrough.

Judge Mr Justice Garnham said Newton had a history of entering homes uninvited and "Mrs Crown must have been utterly terrified". He said he must serve at least 21 years in jail.

In a statement read outside Cambridge Crown Court by Det Sgt Dan Harper, the family of Mrs Crown described the 86-year-old as "an elderly widow watching her favourite TV programme feeling warm and safe in her own home" when she was subjected to a "brutal, horrific" attack.

They said they could now "carry on with our lives knowing justice has been done".

Prior to the hearing, Mrs Crown's niece Judy Payne told the BBC she "could finally smile again" following Newton's conviction.

• How a cold case was solved years after a 'terrible' mistake

Mrs Crown's body had been discovered in the hallway of her Magazine Lane home by relatives who had arrived to take her to Sunday lunch.

However, police officers initially treated the death as "unexplained". It meant police, firefighters, paramedics and undertakers walked around the house and some even touched Mrs Crown's body to move things around.

It was not until two days later - after a post-mortem examination - that the death was finally deemed suspicious.

Police determined that Mrs Crown had died the night before her body was found.

Cambridgeshire Police admitted that "mistakes were made during the initial investigation in 2013" and it had apologised to Mrs Crown's family.

However, DNA taken from Mrs Crown's fingernails at the time of her death was retested by forensic scientists 10 years on, which led to Newton's charge.

At the time he had been an odd-job man, living in Magazine Close a few streets away.

Following a trial lasting more than three weeks, Newton was found guilty of her murder by a majority of 10 to two jurors.

Mr Justice Garnham said he found as a fact that Newton "had a copy" of Mrs Crown's back door key made for himself, when helping her with her lock months earlier.

"Quite why you decided to enter Mrs Crown's house that night is far from clear," he said.

He accepted that Newton "did not enter [the house] in order to kill her" or to steal.

But he found Newton took £80 from her purse after he killed her, in a theft he described as "opportunistic".

"You had a history of going into other people's property uninvited simply in search of conversation and company," the judge said.

During the trial, the court heard Newton had taken Mrs Crown's money and visited Wisbech Ex-Servicemen's Club once on 12 January - when he played the fruit machine - and twice on 13 January, when he was "spending freely", prosecutor John Price KC said.

Newton also paid money into an account on 14 January - the first cash paid in for 15 months.

During Friday's sentencing, barrister Claire Matthews, for the prosecution, said Mrs Crown had been stabbed with a "very long" knife - of at least 24cm (9.5in) in length. It was believed to be a kitchen knife.

Newton had attempted to destroy her body by setting fire to her - leaving her partially burned - and he had used the knife and Mrs Crown's walking stick in the attack, she said.

There was no evidence of a sexual assault, she added.

Miss Matthews said the evidence suggested Newton was intoxicated and a "trespasser" in the house.

Passing sentence, Mr Justice Garnham said Mrs Crown would have "endured significant mental and physical suffering prior to her death".

He also made reference to the police investigation of the case.

The judge said: "The first investigation was mishandled.

"Cambridgeshire Constabulary has, quite rightly, apologised to Mrs Crown's family for that incompetence."

However, Mr Justice Garnham continued: "After a disastrous start this was an impressive police and CPS [Crown Prosecution Service] investigation."

He added: "I want to thank the family of Mrs Crown for the dignified manner in which they have conducted themselves, during what must have been an entirely harrowing experience."

In mitigation, defence barrister Henry Grunwald said Newton was "a very different man" to what he was in 2013.

"He is not a well man," Mr Grunwald said.

Newton suffered from problems including depression, diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis, and Mr Grunwald added that his client could die in prison.

Speaking after sentencing, Det Sgt Simon Oldfield said: "Today David Newton has been sentenced to life in prison for the savage murder of a frail, elderly widow 12 years ago.

"For more than a decade David Newton thought he had gotten away with this most horrendous crime, but jurors saw through his lies and this verdict shows you cannot hide forever."

He added: "Newton will likely spend the rest of his life behind bars, and our thoughts are with Una's family... who have, after more than a decade, got the closure they deserve and the answers they have longed for."

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