Brantham murder accused accepts he was in area of attack

A man accused of murdering a grandmother while she was walking her dog accepts he was in the area around the time of the attack, a court has heard.

Anita Rose, 57, was found with serious head injuries in her home village of Brantham, Suffolk, on 24 July last year, and died in hospital four days later.

The prosecution allege that Roy Barclay, 56, of no fixed address, attacked her.

He is on trial at Ipswich Crown Court and denies her murder.

The court was shown CCTV footage of a man walking in the area known as Kettles on Rectory Lane in Brantham on the morning Ms Rose was attacked.

A number of agreed facts were read to the jury in court, including that Mr Barclay now accepted he was the person in the footage at 05:33 and 05:37 BST on 24 July.

The trial previously heard that Ms Rose left her home at around 05:00 and was found with serious head injuries at 06:25 near Brantham sewage works.

In another of the agreed facts, the court was told Mr Barclay accepted he was the person captured on CCTV in central Ipswich on 27 July, close to where Ms Rose’s phone was found.

Prosecutors allege Mr Barclay was “on the run trying to avoid the police… and avoid being recalled back to prison” and was living in a makeshift camp.

The court was told he subjected mother-of-six Ms Rose to a “vicious and brutal” attack and took her mobile phone and distinctive pink jacket.

He later dumped the phone in Ipswich in an attempt to “put police off the trail”, jurors heard.

The trial continues.