A man who murdered a grandmother on her morning dog walk in a "vicious and brutal attack" while living off-grid to avoid recall to prison is due to be sentenced on Wednesday. Roy Barclay, 56, subjected 57-year-old Anita Rose to "numerous kicks, stamps and blows" as she walked her springer spaniel Bruce in Brantham, Suffolk, on July 24 2024.
The mother of six was found by passers-by but died in hospital four days later. Barclay, who denied murder but was found guilty following an earlier trial at Ipswich Crown Court, is due to be sentenced at the same court on Wednesday.
Family demands community protection
Ms Rose's eldest daughter, who gave her name as Jess, said after Barclay's conviction last month that "criminals cannot remain at large". She continued: "There's too much at stake and our communities need protecting."
"We need to make sure that our communities are safe and that people are monitored, that criminals are taken back to prison when they break the terms of their probation," she said. Barclay had previously been convicted and jailed over a 2015 attack on a pensioner.
Previous attack showed similarities
Prosecutors said this bore similarities to the attack on Ms Rose. Barclay had been released from prison in February 2020 but had not been living at a fixed address.
He had been wanted on recall at the time of his attack on Ms Rose over a breach of his licence conditions. It is understood that the Probation Service issued a recall notice for Barclay following a breach of his licence conditions.
Judge warns of lengthy sentence
Suffolk Police said there would be a review of information-sharing processes. Judge Martyn Levett warned Barclay, after jurors returned their guilty verdict: "The sentence is one that inevitably is going to be life in prison, and the length of it is going to be very lengthy."
Prosecutor Christopher Paxton KC earlier told the court that Barclay "lived mostly in the countryside, wandering the fields and lanes, sleeping in various makeshift camps". "He lived off-grid because for two years, Roy Barclay had been unlawfully at large," said Mr Paxton.
Previous conviction revealed similarities
"He had been on the run trying to avoid the police and authorities to try and avoid being recalled back to prison," the prosecutor added. Jurors were told that Barclay had previously pleaded guilty, over a separate incident in 2015, to grievous bodily harm with intent over an attack on an 82-year-old man in Walton-on-the-Naze, Essex.
The pensioner, Leslie Gunfield, had told Barclay that he would inform security about him going through rubbish bins at a Co-op supermarket, the court heard. Mr Gunfield was left with serious injuries to his head and required 10 titanium plates for fractures he suffered after being attacked by Barclay.
He was found with a dog lead wrapped around his foot, which the prosecution said was similar to the way Ms Rose's body was found, with a dog lead "tightly" wrapped around her leg.
(PA) Note: This article has been edited with the help of Artificial Intelligence.
