Sad life of ‘murdered’ hoarder
A frail pensioner murdered and left to decompose in her home was an extreme hoarder, a court heard.
Susan Hawkey, 71, was found tied up under a duvet amongst piles of rubbish in her flat in Aylesbury Road, Neasden, northwest London, on 26 September 2022.
Chelsea Grant, 28, who was pregnant at the time, and her boyfriend Xyaire Howard, 23, lived a two minute walk from her and are accused of strangling her to death three weeks earlier.
They had targeted Ms Hawkey, a retired bank worker, who was just 5ft 1ins tall in a series of street robberies before using her stolen house keys to rob her at her home, the Old Bailey heard.
Grant googled how long a decomposing body would take to smell as the couple went on a three week spending spree on perfume, designer goods, a new television, clothing, shoes, sunglasses, watches and handbags, it is claimed.
Grant and Howard, from Saint Vincent and the Grenadines in the Caribbean, deny murder. They admit fraud by using her bank cards.
Jurors were shown bodyworn camera footage from PC Ben Poole showing the discovery of Ms Hawkey’s body.
Her flat had paint on the carpet, clothes piled high and rubbish and newspapers on the floor.
The kitchen was full of carrier bags and there was mould on the doors and floor.
The bed was not made in the bedroom and was covered with other possessions.
In the living room where the body was found little floor space was visible and the ceiling was covered in flies and cobwebs.
Prosecutor Annabel Darlow, KC, earlier told jurors the flat showed signs of ‘extreme hoarding.’
PC Poole said they had been called to the home on 26 September by a concerned neighbour.
He said that when they entered the house there was a ‘very strong smell’ coming from the body.
Police saw two dirty duvets in the living room and lifted them up but did not initially see a body underneath.
They left the home to put on blue surgical gloves where neighbours were outside. One said ‘You can smell it out here’.
‘The stench in the premises was pretty bad,’ PC Poole said.
One of the dirty duvets was in front of a pink armchair and PC Poole lifted the duvet again.
He said the body was severely decomposed and partly stuck to the duvet.
PC Poole was heard on the footage theorising with another officer that Ms Hawkey had been sat on the armchair and fallen off.
Officers initially decided to treat the death as unexplained but non-suspicious.
The court has heard how Mrs Hawkey was often seen by neighbours going to the shops with her trolley, wearing the same red duffle coat and worn Ugg boots.
A used condom with Howard’s semen and Grant’s DNA was found amongst the mess on Ms Hawkey’s living room sofa, jurors have heard.
Jurors were played telephone calls Ms Hawkey made to her bank and others after she was repeatedly robbed in the run up to her death.
She identified her attackers repeatedly as ‘two guys’, but the prosecution now argue she was mistaken about the gender of Chelsea Grant.
Ringing her bank after having been mugged on the street on 22 August Ms Hawkey said: ‘They wrenched my shoulder so I ended up on the floor- it could have been worse.
‘I called the police but they weren’t really that interested I’m afraid- because that’s just how they are nowadays I’m afraid if you’re not hurt.’
She laughed when the Barclays operator asked if her PIN was written down in the bag and said it was in her brain and nowhere else.
After her keys were then used to rob her at her home the next day she told her landlord: ‘Two guys came through the door- obviously they’d got my keys they obviously know where I’m living- they held me down on the armchair and robbed my bag again.’
She asked for a locksmith to come and change the locks and was told one would arrive within four hours.
Ms Hawkey said: ‘I’ll be in the house- unfortunately for them I’ve got a hammer out and sorry but if they come in again I’m gonna absolutely thrash them- I’m not having it anymore’
‘I’ve been living here in this village since 1973- I think they’ve seen a little old lady who isn’t really a little old lady!’
‘Oh I don’t wanna mess with you then!’ the operator replied.
‘Oh trust me they will get hammered!’ Ms Hawkey said.
When ringing the bank about the same incident she said: ‘I’m having a nightmare, I’m having an absolute nightmare you’ve no idea.
‘I’m 71 next month so you can imagine how I feel.
‘There was two guys holding me down on the armchair- and I’ve got so mad I’ve picked up a wine bottle and smashed one on the face and then they’ve run off.’
The operator said the card had been used at ASDA and on a TfL bus and said she would put a marker on the account so purchases would be monitored now Ms Hawkey had had two cards stolen.
However, this did not stop the bank account being nearly emptied with £13,000 of purchases after Ms Hawkey’s death
The trial continues.
Ends
Grant and Howard, of Press Road, Neasden, deny murder.
Grant denies three counts of robbery while Howard denies two and admits one.
They both admit two counts of fraud.
The trial continues.
