Murder accused 'had visited Betty Yates'

Betty Yates, aged 77, was found dead at her riverside property in Bewdley.

She was attacked from behind, beaten over the head with her walking stick and stabbed, Bristol Crown Court was told this afternoon.

Stephen Farrow, 48, knew the area around her home "very well" and had fished in the River Severn there a number of times, Mr Michael Fitton QC told the court as the murder trial got under way.

Farrow admits visiting Mrs Yates at her home on December 30 last year but denies being in the area around the time she died and denies her murder. She was found dead on January 4.

Farrow had sold some items to a jewellers in Kidderminster on December 30 and gave his address as the Stan Lewis guest house in Severnside South, Bewdley, the court was told.

In the past he had travelled across the country often sleeping rough when he couldn't find accommodation and kept his belongings in a rucksack.

Mr Fitton told the court a footprint on an exercise mat bought for Mrs Yates by her children for her birthday days earlier matched footwear belonging to Farrow.

The jury was shown photographs of the area surrounding Mrs Yates's cottage, off Dowles Road. Mr Fitton told the court the attack on Mrs Yates was brutal.

He said her walking stick was found splintered at the scene

"We suggest there was an intention to kill. There is no evidence to suggest this was a burglary. There was no ransacking and nothing of value was removed."

Farrow is also accused of the murder of Rev John Suddards, who was found stabbed to death in his home in Thornbury, South Gloucestershire.

He admits the manslaughter of Rev Suddards but denies murdering the clergyman between February 12 and 15 this year on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

Opening the case, Mr Fitton told the jury of eight men and four women that Farrow, of no fixed address, had admitted a separate charge of burgling Vine Cottage in Thornbury, South Gloucestershire, between December 21 last year and January 3 this year.

Mr Fitton told the jury a note threatening to "kill Christian scum" was found on the kitchen table following the burglary. It read: "Be thankful you did not come back or I would have killed you."

The prosecutor told the jury: "There are two charges for you to decide upon.

"They relate to different individuals and different places. The first is the murder of Betty Yates between January 1 and 5 this year. The last time any of her friends or family saw her alive was late afternoon on Monday, January 2.

"The defendant has pleaded not guilty to that count. He denies killing her. He denies any responsibility for her death at all.

"His case is that he was not at her house or in the area she lived on the day she died. Our case is that he was there and that he killed her and that he intended to kill her."

Mrs Yates had been a teacher in Kidderminster and Streetly.

The trial continues.