The murder trial for an accused killer started this week in connection with the death of a 71-year-old British retiree who mistakenly mistook the suspect’s home for a bed & breakfast (B&B), a Caernarfon Crown Court jury heard.
According to BBC, David Redfern, 46, faces a first-degree murder charge for the beating death of Margaret Barnes. The jury heard this week how Barnes arrived at a home in Barmouth, a seaside town in northwestern Wales, while visiting a friend on July 11, but went into the defendant’s home by mistake.
The defendant’s property, described as a five-story townhouse, is on the same street as the B&B residence Barnes had booked. When Redfern found the victim sleeping in his bed, he allegedly grabbed her by the ankles and called her a “thieving c***” while dragging her downstairs, North Wales Live reports.
Redfern allegedly mocked Barnes as she scrambled on her hands and knees to get to her suitcase and belongings. He then tossed her suitcase outside and beat her, causing fatal blunt-force trauma.
“Mrs Barnes had been drinking and, whether she thought this was the Wavecrest, she went in and went to bed,” prosecutor Michael Jones KC told the court. “She mistook the defendant’s address for her B&B, but this was a mistake which ultimately cost her her life.”
“However unexpected her presence was, Mrs Barnes sustained catastrophic, fatal and brutal injuries at the hands of the defendant.”
Home Office pathologist Dr. Brian Rodgers told the court that Barnes’s liver had ruptured during the attack and other her injuries were consistent with someone being dragged downstairs, including a fractured neck and ribs.
Jones, who called the defendant a “bully,” said Redfern, who stands 6-foot-1 and weighs over 250 pounds, had “self-confessed anger issues” that he admitted to. He pleaded not guilty, claiming Barnes lunged at his girlfriend and he acted in self-defense.
The trial continues. Check back for updates.
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[Featured image: Margaret Barnes/Handout]
