Hammer-wielding
carer, 52, who wore a lace disguise over her face as she tried to kill a
90-year-old widow and steal £30,000 is jailed for 21 years
*Carer had
looked after victim's husband at their west London home
*But after
his death, she went to the house and attacked the widow
*Elderly
victim, who was saved by surgery, courageously gave evidence
*Police
brand killer 'vile, disgusting and wicked' after she is jailed by judge
A carer who
wore a lace disguise over her face as she tried to kill a 90-year-old widow and
steal £30,000 was jailed for 21 years today.
Abosede
Adeyinka, 52, attacked Pamela Batten with a knife and a hammer after husband
Ernest had hidden the cash in bags at their home in Yiewsley, west London.
The frail pensioner
was stabbed in the neck during the attack on April 27 this year and was only
saved by emergency surgery by doctors at at St Mary's Hospital, Paddington.
Adeyinka
looked after Mrs Batten's husband Ernest from 2013 until his death in October
last year, a court heard.
Mrs Batten
grew frustrated with Adeyinka's time keeping and often called her agency to
find out where she was.
After Ernest
passed away, Adeyinka went to the widow's home and knocked her to the floor.
Mrs Batten said: 'She tried to hit me with a hammer'.
Asked if she
thought the attack was financially motivated, the pensioner replied: 'Nobody
suggested it but I did wonder myself - I still wonder why.'
Following a
trial at Blackfriars Crown Court, a jury convicted Adeyinka of attempted
murder.
She was
cleared of possessing a kitchen knife after jurors could not be sure she took
the blade with her.
Adeyinka
shook her head in disbelief at the verdicts were given and wept loudly as Judge
Peter Clarke, QC, said she had shown 'a complete lack of remorse'.
She has
convictions dating back to the 1990s for offences of assault, burglary and
theft from an employer.
Prosecutor
Kevin Barry told the court the widow 'was afraid to go home' following her
discharge from hospital and now needs a zimmer-frame to walk.
'Before the
attack she felt lonely because her husband had died but she was not afraid like
she is now,' he said.
'The hammer
blows to her head have affected the vision in her right eye which is now
blurry.
'Mrs Batten
feels that she has changed after the attack. Before it she was the sort of
person who would try to make friends with anyone but now she is frightened if
someone speaks to her.'
Jailing Adeyinka
for 21 years Judge Peter Clarke, QC, said: 'Pamela Batten was mentally
sprightly and six months after his death she still had no idea that her husband
had squirrelled away over £30,000 in cash around the house.
'From what
you did on 27 April there is every reason to believe that you knew more about
that money than Mrs Batten did.
'You visited
her about three times after her husband's death and, although she had
reservations about your motives, Mrs Batten was pleased to have the company
even though her son religiously visited her every day.'
The judge
added: 'Although you were wearing a lace disguise over your face I am satisfied
on her evidence that she called you by name.
'It was at
that moment that you resorted to your second plan. You bundled that 90-year-old
woman into her front hall and took out a seven-inch hammer from your handbag,
smashing that lady's skull with at least two blows.'
Speaking
after the court hearing, investigating officer DC James Harbour said: 'This was
a vile and disgusting crime on a defenceless grandmother in her own home.
0 Comments