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Pregnant woman's killer convicted | Pregnant woman's killer convicted |
(20 minutes later) | |
A man has been found guilty of shooting dead a pregnant woman in an "execution" after a row between neighbours. | A man has been found guilty of shooting dead a pregnant woman in an "execution" after a row between neighbours. |
Thomas Hughes, 40, of Stonells Road in Clapham, south-west London, had denied murdering 22-year-old Krystal Hart outside her Battersea flat. | Thomas Hughes, 40, of Stonells Road in Clapham, south-west London, had denied murdering 22-year-old Krystal Hart outside her Battersea flat. |
Miss Hart, who was two months' pregnant, was shot twice in the head on the doorstep of her home in Belleville Road, on Good Friday last April. | Miss Hart, who was two months' pregnant, was shot twice in the head on the doorstep of her home in Belleville Road, on Good Friday last April. |
Hughes was said to have carried out the killing in revenge for the row. | Hughes was said to have carried out the killing in revenge for the row. |
Aftab Jafferjee, prosecuting, said: "The killing took place against a background of a long-running and ugly neighbour dispute that had been festering for some months. | Aftab Jafferjee, prosecuting, said: "The killing took place against a background of a long-running and ugly neighbour dispute that had been festering for some months. |
"It can only be described as an execution." | "It can only be described as an execution." |
Miss Hart had lived her housing association flat for about a year but soon after moving in she fell out with her downstairs "neighbour from hell" Angie Brewer, 53, the Old Bailey heard. | Miss Hart had lived her housing association flat for about a year but soon after moving in she fell out with her downstairs "neighbour from hell" Angie Brewer, 53, the Old Bailey heard. |
It was a ruthless execution and a truly evil act Judge Anthony Morris | |
Jurors heard Hughes, a loner who lived in a nearby dilapidated house with his 81-year-old, wheelchair-bound mother, was besotted with Miss Brewer. | |
He carried out the killing hours after Miss Hart's boyfriend, David Siveter, had written down his car registration during a row in the front garden with Miss Brewer. | |
Judge Anthony Morris said: "It was a ruthless execution and a truly evil act. | |
"You were devoted to Angie Brewer and would do anything you could to ingratiate yourself to her. | |
"It is a sign of your warped mentality that you took the rantings of that demented woman seriously." | |
CCTV installed | |
The court heard there was on ongoing county court action between the two women who had both installed CCTV to gather evidence against each other. | The court heard there was on ongoing county court action between the two women who had both installed CCTV to gather evidence against each other. |
The court heard that after the row Brewer called the police to complain and then telephoned Hughes, who later returned with a gun. | |
The court heard that he was looking for Mr Siveter and when told he was not home banged at the door and demanded Miss Hart open it, calling out: "Come out b****." | |
During the trial jurors were shown CCTV in which the sound of two gunshots could be heard and Hughes could be seen hurrying away. | During the trial jurors were shown CCTV in which the sound of two gunshots could be heard and Hughes could be seen hurrying away. |
Miss Brewer, who could be heard pleading "No", became hysterical as shots were fired, the court was told. | |
In a statement read to the court Miss Hart's mother, Debbie Penfold, expressed the heartache of losing her daughter. | |
She said: "I have lost one daughter and her unborn child, my first grandchild. | |
"All I see is a tiny baby that didn't get the chance to be born into this world. | |
"When that gun was fired at Krystal, the baby's fate was ended." |