A man who had been living off-grid to avoid recall to prison has been found guilty of the murder of a grandmother who had been out on a morning dog walk.
Roy Barclay, 56, had denied 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”.
But a jury at Ipswich Crown Court found Barclay, who had previously admitted a separate attack on a pensioner in 2015, guilty of the murder of Ms Rose last year after around two-and-a-half hours of deliberation on Wednesday.
Barclay, who wore a grey jumper, glasses and had a white beard and thinning hair, showed no emotion as he sat in the secure dock of the court.
The judge, Martyn Levett, said: “The sentence is one that inevitably is going to be life in prison, and the length of it is going to be very lengthy.”
Christopher Paxton KC, prosecuting, earlier told the court that mother-of-six Ms Rose left her home in Brantham, Suffolk, to walk her dog Bruce on the morning of July 24 2024.
She was found by passers-by but died in hospital four days later.
Mr Paxton 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.”
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.
Mr Paxton earlier told jurors that Mr Gunfield “was taken to the ground and attacked on the ground by Roy Barclay, just as Anita Rose was”.
“Leslie Gunfield was struck repeatedly to the head, just as Anita Rose was,” the prosecutor continued.
“In his mid-40s, he (Barclay) fractured nearly all of the bones of an 82-year-old’s face, having taken him to the ground in 2015.
“Anybody that attacks an 82-year-old man in that way displays a ruthlessness and callousness that defies logic.”
Barclay was released from prison for the attack on Mr Gunfield in February 2020.
Mr Paxton said Barclay was a “dog lover” who had volunteered at a dog charity while on probation, adding that a dog lead wrapped around a body could “almost be described as a signature of Roy Barclay”.
The prosecutor described Barclay as “irrational and dangerous”.
Giving his closing speech, Mr Paxton said: “Two very different worlds collided: Anita, partner to Richard, a mother and grandmother, out with the family dog Bruce, before she went off to work.
“Her world collided with Roy Barclay’s world, a desperate man on the run from police for two years, having been in prison for beating Leslie Gunfield’s face to a pulp.
“Roy Barclay took Anita Rose’s life in an explosion of violence.
“Blow after blow, stamp after stamp and kick after kick.
“Roy Barclay’s determination to keep his liberty and save his skin is revealed in the brutality of the injuries he inflicted on Anita Rose.
“Slight and slim Roy Barclay might seem, but his force, his brutality, is revealed in what he did to Leslie Gunfield and Anita Rose.”
Barclay did not give evidence to his trial.
Mr Paxton said Barclay had carried out online searches after Ms Rose was attacked which included “Can barbed wire be swabbed for DNA?” and “How long does DNA last at a crime scene?”
The prosecutor said Barclay had kept a “treasure trove” of Ms Rose’s items including her jacket and phone.
Mr Paxton said Barclay’s walking boots, which “amounted to the murder weapon”, were found in one of the defendant’s camps.
Barclay will be sentenced on August 6.
