Jurors have been sent out to begin considering their verdict in the trial of a man accused of the murder of a grandmother who had been out walking her dog.
Roy Barclay, 56, denies the murder of 57-year-old Anita Rose in what prosecutors called a “vicious and brutal attack” in which she was subjected to “numerous kicks, stamps and blows”.
Christopher Paxton KC, prosecuting, earlier told Ipswich Crown Court that mother-of-six Ms Rose left her home in Brantham, Suffolk, to walk her dog Bruce on the morning of July 24 last year.
She was found by passers-by but died in hospital four days later.
He said Barclay, of no fixed address, “lived mostly in the countryside, wandering the fields and lanes, sleeping in various makeshift camps”.
“He lived off-grid because for two years, Roy Barclay had been unlawfully at large,” said Mr Paxton.
“He had been on the run trying to avoid the police and authorities to try and avoid being recalled back to prison.”
Barclay did not give evidence at his trial.
Jurors were told that Barclay had previously pleaded guilty, over a separate incident in 2015, to grievous bodily harm with intent over an attack on an 82-year-old man in Walton-on-the-Naze, Essex.
The pensioner, Leslie Gunfield, had told Barclay that he would inform security about him going through rubbish bins at a Co-op supermarket, the court heard.
Mr Gunfield was left with serious injuries to his head and required 10 titanium plates for fractures he suffered after being attacked by Barclay.
He was found with a dog lead wrapped around his foot, which the prosecution said was similar to the way Ms Rose’s body was found, with a dog lead “tightly” wrapped around her leg.
Judge Martyn Levett told jurors they should not convict Barclay based wholly or mainly on his previous conviction.
As he sent jurors out to start their deliberations on Wednesday, the judge told them: “You must reach, if you can, a unanimous verdict.”
