A 33-year-old man inflicted fatal injuries on his frail and vulnerable grandfather and then went to a working men’s club where he glassed a customer and attacked a bar worker, a murder trial has heard.
Warwick Crown Court was told well-known Jaguar restoration expert John Brown, aged 81, died six days after being attacked by Jakob Walpole, who denies murder, manslaughter, breaching a restraining order and two assaults.
Walpole, of School Road, Bulkington, Warwickshire, examined court files in the dock as prosecutor Michael Duck KC told jurors security cameras in the victim’s bungalow provided important evidence of the defendant’s “responsibility” for the killing.
Opening the Crown’s case on Wednesday, Mr Duck alleged that Walpole had been “drinking throughout the day” and committed two assaults at Bulkington Working Men’s Club around an hour after attacking his grandfather on the night of November 23 last year.
Mr Duck told jurors: “John Brown is Jakob Walpole’s grandfather.
“He was a frail man and he had recently been diagnosed with the early stages of dementia.
“He was plainly a vulnerable individual and the evidence will demonstrate that this defendant was acutely aware of that.”
Mr Brown was well-known in the local community, having run a successful car panel and body repair business due to his expertise in respect of vintage cars, the court heard.
Mr Duck added: “It is plain that as far as Mr Brown and his grandson were concerned, they were obviously well-known to each other.”
Explaining why prosecutors allege Walpole is guilty of murder, Mr Duck told the jury: “We say that for this reason.
“As far as Jakob Walpole was concerned – with everything he knew about his grandfather, his frailty and his vulnerability – when he attacked him during the late evening he intended at the very least to cause him really serious bodily harm.
“He (Mr Brown) tragically died from the very serious injuries that Jakob Walpole had inflicted upon him.”
Walpole had engaged in a “very significant day of drinking”, having bought a small bottle of vodka from a shop in Bulkington at about 9am, before attending a match at Coventry City’s home stadium in the afternoon.
The court heard he is alleged to have smashed a glass over the back of a club member’s head in an incident caught on the “clearest possible” CCTV footage.
“There can be no suggestion he (Walpole) was acting in self-defence or anything of that sort,” Mr Duck said of the alleged attack involving a glass.
Alleging that Walpole then made “physical and direct contact” with a bar worker as he was physically removed from the club, Mr Duck said there had been concern about his “deteriorating” behaviour since the Covid pandemic, leading to Mr Brown’s daughter installing security cameras at her parents’ home in St James Gardens, Bulkington.
The cameras “will provide important evidence” about the murder charge, said Mr Duck, who also told jurors that Walpole’s grandmother struggled with her hearing and was bed-bound.
During the Crown’s opening remarks, the jury were shown what Mr Duck said were “haunting” video images of Mr Brown in his rear garden gesturing towards a security camera he knew his daughter could view remotely.
“You may think it is a gesture of desire for assistance,” Mr Duck said.
Timed at 8.54pm, the footage showed Mr Brown returning inside his house, where the Crown allege the pensioner was attacked during the following two minutes.
Walpole, who left the address at 8.56pm and was filmed on the same security camera, is alleged to have told drinkers at the working men’s club that he had given his grandfather “a good clouting” and “the next time you see him he will have a red face”.
Concluding his opening address, Mr Duck told the jury of seven men and five women: “The reality is that on the 23rd of November, in drink, Jakob Walpole descended to a tirade of violence.”
The trial continues.
