Murder victim Cynthia was battered to death with saucepan and hidden in garage, court told

Leo Barnes is accused of killing 80-year-old widow Cynthia Beamond at her home in Halesowen.

It is alleged that he murdered 67 year old Philip Silverstone using a car jack the day after.

Opening the case at Wolverhampton Crown Court against Barnes, who denies two counts of murder, prosecutor Stephen Linehan QC told the jury that Barnes had known both of his victims.

The first victim was Mrs Beamond who had met Barnes as a youngster as his grandparents lived on her street in Juliet Road, Halesowen, the court heard.

Mr Linehan QC said Barnes would visit the pensioner and on the morning of June 27, the day of her alleged murder, he had been driving a hired Volkswagen Golf in the nearby area.

Mrs Beamond was last seen talking to a doorstep salesman in the morning by a neighbour.

She had been due to visit a friend shortly afterwards, but did not arrive or answer her phone.

Mr Linehan QC said: "The reason Mrs Beamond didn't go to her friend's home that day and the reason that she didn't answer her phone was shortly after that salesman left that front door, this man attacked her and killed her in her own home."

He said afterwards Barnes had closed the curtains in every room of her home in a bid to clean up what he had done and search the property for anything valuable that he could steal.

The court heard that he had driven away in the pensioner's Vauxhall Astra because he intended to sell it and left it nearby so that he could go back for it later.

Mr Linehan QC said he had recruited someone to pick up the car later before asking her to help him put it up for sale on Gumtree.

He also allegedly stole Mrs Beamond's television, sat nav and jewellery which he sold to pawnbrokers.

Mrs Beamond's handbag was found discarded in a bin.

The pensioner was found dead in the garage of her home after her family grew concerned that they could not contact her and phoned the police.

The court heard that her body was hidden under items she had stored there. A post-mortem examination revealed that she had suffered numerous head injuries after being struck many times on the head with something heavy.

Mr Linehan QC said a plastic bag had been put over her head.

He alleged that she had been battered with a 'heavy, metal' saucepan before he discarded everything but the lid, leaving his fingerprints for police to find.

He said Barnes' fingerprints were also found on a cup and splatters of blood were discovered, along with a mop bucket full of water.

Late on June 28, automatic number plate recognition cameras captured Barnes while he was driving down to Belsize Park, London.

There he visited Mr Silverstone who lived in a flat with his 86-year-old wife who suffered from severe dementia.

The court heard that Barnes had lived next door to the couple in the past and got to know them.

Mr Linehan QC said Barnes had taken a car jack to the flat and attacked Mr Silverstone, leaving him with multiple incised wounds and lacerations which had been caused by 'blunt force trauma'.

He said Mr Silverstone had bled to death and was later found by Mrs Silverstone's carer 'slumped' and 'motionless' in the bedroom.

Ferocious

Mr Linehan said: "This was a ferocious attack. The person who carried it out must have intended to either kill Mr Silverstone or cause him very serious injuries."

The court heard that he had also wounded Mrs Silverstone, who was incapable of telling anyone what happened due to her health condition.

The court heard he was arrested the next day and Mrs Beamond's body was found a day later.

He denied murder and refused to answer any other questions, the court heard.

Barnes, aged 33, of Runcorn Road, Balsall Heath, Birmingham, told police that he went to see Mr Silverstone to buy DVDs and alleged his wife had attacked him.

Barnes denies two counts of murder claiming that someone else carried out the killings.

Mr Linehan QC said: "This case is about the senseless and brutal murders of two entirely innocent people.

"They didn't know each other – the only link between them was that at some stage in their lives they had had the misfortune to come into contact with the defendant, Leo Barnes, and he had got to know them and to know where they lived. That is what led to their deaths."

The trial at Wolverhampton Crown Court continues.