Convicted double murderer jailed for life for brutal killing of neighbour in Worksop

Lawrence Bierton, 63, bludgeoned his elderly neighbour, Pauline Quinn, to death with a coffee table at her home in Rayton Spur, Worksop, on November 9, 2021, after she refused to give him money to buy alcohol.

The "brutal" attack happened while Bierton was on licence after being jailed for life for the murder of two elderly sisters in 1995.

Passing a whole-life order at Nottingham Crown Court, on Wednesday, Mr Justice Pepperall, told him: “You have now been found guilty of the senseless and brutal murders of three elderly and disabled women in their own homes.

"You showed each of your victims no mercy as you callously inflicted devastating head injuries upon them in sustained attacks in which you used extraordinary levels of violence.

"I am left in no doubt whatever that you must never again have the opportunity to walk the streets and endanger women in their homes, and that the only just sentence in this case is that y0u should remain in prison for the rest of your life.”

Bierton admitted killing Mrs Quinn, 73, but denied murder on the grounds of diminished responsibility, due to alcohol dependency syndrome - which caused a "mental abnormality" and led to him losing self-control, his barrister, Mark McKone KC, said.

However, jurors took less than an hour to unanimously convict Bierton of murder last Thursday, following a trial.

Mrs Quinn lived alone with her dog and suffered from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and a degenerative spinal condition, the court was told.

Bierton had drunk vodka and rum and taken crack cocaine and the opioid, Subutex, on the morning of her death.

He jumped over the rear 5ft fence before confronting her at her back door and pushing her with both hands onto the lounge floor.

He carried out a "sustained and merciless attack and Pauline would have suffered significant pain and distress before she lost consciousness," prosecutor John Cammegh KC said.

He inflicted 29 injuries on his victim, including at least ten blows to the head.

She pulled the emergency cord in her bungalow during the attack, which happened at around 4pm, but it took the ambulance service five hours and 48 minutes to reach the scene.

Mr Cammegh said there were no mitigating factors and the crime was aggravated by Mrs Quinn's age and vulnerability.

Moments later, Bierton was seen driving off in her car to see a relative before returning to the crime scene and dropping the blood-stained coffee table into a nearby canal.

He was "hell-bent" on avoiding a recall to prison over his drug and alcohol misuse and acted in a "calculated" and "strategic" manner, Mr Cammegh said.

Bierton later told police the murder "did not make sense" but said he struck Mrs Quinn to "keep her quiet".

He was jailed in 1996 for murdering Aileen Dudill, 80, and Elsie Gregory, 73, after a trial at Sheffield Crown Court, which heard that he and a co-defendant, Michael Pluck, had broken into the sisters’ home having previously carried out gardening jobs for them.

Nottingham Crown Court heard Pluck and Bierton targeted elderly women and charged inflated prices for gardening work while claiming benefits.

After entering the property in Rotherham on June 25, 1995, the pair murdered their victims as they prepared cups of tea.

Ms Gregory suffered several cuts to her head and fractures to her skull, neck, and ribs consistent with someone stamping on or kicking her.

Ms Dudhill had also suffered a cut to her head, fractured skull and bruises to her face and thigh.

Bierton and Pluck then stacked furniture on top of the sisters’ bodies and set the pile on fire.

Fire investigators found a gas fire had been turned on in the front room "with the intention of causing an explosion."

Bierton, who had been drinking rum all day, left blood traces at the scene. Charred dentures belonging to Ms Gregory were later found in Pluck's back garden in Worksop.

Mr Cammegh said that Bierton’s previous murders “bore striking similarities” to Mrs Quinn’s death.

Bierton murdered Ms Quinn around 18 months after being released from his first life sentence for a second time, in May 2020.

Saika Jabeen, the Head of Nottinghamshire Probation Delivery Unit, said the address on Rayton Spur was deemed suitable by the local authority because of Bierton's age but police raised concerns about the decision to place him there.

Greater weight should have been given to those concerns, she told the court.

Mr McKone, defending, said: "His wish in prison is to help others. He wishes to spend the remainder of his life doing some good if he is able to do so."

Mrs Quinn's daughter told the court she "was a much-loved mother, grandmother and sister" who was "caring, generous and funny" and "would do anything for anyone."

"My mum was elderly and frail and she wouldn't have stood a chance against Bierton," she said. "He stole her life and ruined ours in the process.

"He has played a game blaming his actions on alcohol and illness. He is a monster."

Following the sentencing, Pauline’s son, Tom Quinn, and daughters Janice Quinn and Lisa Rummery have released a joint statement on behalf of the family after Bierton was sentenced to life in prison on Wednesday 20 December.

They said: “Pauline Quinn was a beloved mother, sister, and grandmother whose life was horrifically cut short by her brutal and senseless murder.

“We, her family, are tortured by the circumstances of her death. In what should have been the safety of her own home, our mother suffered a vicious and sustained attack.

“Her age and frailty meant she had no chance of defending herself. Seeing the details of the injuries she suffered was extremely distressing.

“Hearing a recording of her being beaten to death was hugely traumatising. It brought home the full horror of the attack and her utter helplessness before her assailant. The nature of our mother’s death has inflicted enormous and lasting damage on our whole family.

“We would prefer to remember our mother as the happy and caring person she was. Despite her frailty, she was determined to live life to the full.

“She always enjoyed spending time with her family and friends. She loved her bungalow and liked to potter around her garden. Driving her car gave her a strong sense of independence.

“And of course, there was Charlie, her dog, who gave her such energy and motivation. It is difficult to accept that she has gone. We grieve her loss and miss her deeply.

“The two years it took for our mother’s case to come to court proved to be very difficult. But throughout this period, the police maintained regular contact with our family.

"The support they provided was of enormous help to us. We would like to thank the police, both for this support, and for their careful and rigorous criminal investigation.

“We would also like to thank our legal team for the professional way in which they handled the case. Their efforts secured the conviction we were seeking.

“We would like to thank the jury for seeing through Bierton’s defence and returning a guilty verdict.

“One of the hardest aspects of this case has been the fact that the man who killed our mother was a convicted double murderer who had served a life sentence and was on licence.

“On his release, instead of seeking to make something of his second chance in life, he resorted to killing our mother.

“It was our mother’s terrible misfortune that Bierton was rehoused next door to her. Like his first two victims, she too was a vulnerable elderly woman. And like them, she too was murdered in the most brutal and pitiless way.”