An 87-year-old pensioner died after being attacked in the street in a robbery for his cornflakes and a shepherd’s pie, a court has heard.
John Mackey made a trip to the Co-op to buy food and a newspaper before visiting a kebab shop on the day he was attacked, on Tuesday May 6.
It is said he was followed along the street and set upon when he reached Goodchild Road in Manor House, north London.
Peter Augustine, 58, whose address is the Beaconsfield pub on Green Lanes, in north London, has now been charged with robbery and Mr Mackey’s murder.
The pensioner was found lying unconscious in the street and bleeding from his head at around 5.53pm.
He was taken to hospital where he regained consciousness but died two days later.
“A member of the public saw Mr Mackey lying on the pavement and heard a male shouting ‘give me the bag’ and a man standing over Mr Mackey”, prosecutor Ben Holt told the Old Bailey.
Other eyewitnesses allegedly saw a male being punched, kicked and stamped on.
Augustine is accused of stealing the victim’s black duffel bag containing a box of cornflakes, a shepherd’s pie and a newspaper.
A post-mortem examination gave the provisional cause of death as bleeding on the brain and fractured ribs, Mr Holt told the court.
Augustine was arrested on May 8 and charged, and appeared at the Old Bailey in front of the Common Serjeant of London, Judge Richard Marks KC.
A two-week trial was set for November 3, and Augustine was remanded in custody until a plea hearing on July 29.
