This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/jan/02/man-pleads-guilty-murdering-ex-girlfriend-angela-best-theodore-johnson
The article has changed 7 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Man who killed former partners pleads guilty to murdering ex-girlfriend | Man who killed former partners pleads guilty to murdering ex-girlfriend |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| A man with previous convictions for killing two women has pleaded guilty to murdering his former girlfriend. | A man with previous convictions for killing two women has pleaded guilty to murdering his former girlfriend. |
| Theodore Johnson, 64, admitted killing Angela Best, a 51-year-old mother of four, by beating her with a claw hammer and throttling her with a dressing gown cord on 15 December 2016. | Theodore Johnson, 64, admitted killing Angela Best, a 51-year-old mother of four, by beating her with a claw hammer and throttling her with a dressing gown cord on 15 December 2016. |
| After attacking her in his home in Islington, north London, Johnson attempted to kill himself. | After attacking her in his home in Islington, north London, Johnson attempted to kill himself. |
| Johnson, who worked in a garage, had previously been convicted of killing his wife by throwing her off a balcony in 1981 and strangling another former partner in 1993. | Johnson, who worked in a garage, had previously been convicted of killing his wife by throwing her off a balcony in 1981 and strangling another former partner in 1993. |
| The defendant had initially pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Best. He admitted her murder on the first day of his trial at the Old Bailey in London on Tuesday. | The defendant had initially pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Best. He admitted her murder on the first day of his trial at the Old Bailey in London on Tuesday. |
| Johnson killed Best after their relationship broke down and she started seeing another man. The couple had met in 1995 after she moved to London from Manchester with her children. | |
| It can now be reported that the defendant had a history of violence towards women, having been twice convicted of manslaughter before. | It can now be reported that the defendant had a history of violence towards women, having been twice convicted of manslaughter before. |
| In November 1981, Johnson was convicted by a jury at Sheffield crown court of the manslaughter of his wife Yvonne Johnson. After an argument, he hit the mother of two with a vase before pushing her over the balcony of their ninth floor flat in Wolverhampton. | |
| In March 1993, Johnson was convicted at the Old Bailey of killing his partner Yvonne Bennett, by diminished responsibility. The couple, who had a daughter together, had moved from Wolverhampton to Finsbury Park in north London, where Johnson strangled Bennett with a belt after she had an affair with another man. | |
| Best’s two sisters sat in court as Johnson entered his guilty plea as his murder trial was about to be opened to a jury by Mark Heywood QC, prosecuting. | Best’s two sisters sat in court as Johnson entered his guilty plea as his murder trial was about to be opened to a jury by Mark Heywood QC, prosecuting. |
| The judge, Richard Marks QC, remanded the defendant in custody until sentencing on Friday. | The judge, Richard Marks QC, remanded the defendant in custody until sentencing on Friday. |