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Boy, 14, murdered woman in flat | |
(40 minutes later) | |
A 14-year-old boy has been convicted of murdering a mentally-ill woman who was beaten with an axe and stabbed. | |
The body of Joanne Butler, 38, was found at her burnt-out home in Earl Shilton, Leicestershire, on 4 January. | |
The boy, from Barwell, appearing at Leicester Crown Court, denied murder but admitted arson. He had filmed the fire on his mobile phone. | |
Sean Wilson, 37, who lived in the flat below Miss Butler has already pleaded guilty to murdering her. | Sean Wilson, 37, who lived in the flat below Miss Butler has already pleaded guilty to murdering her. |
The jury heard that the boy, who was then 13 and cannot be named for legal reasons, accompanied Wilson as he went into Miss Butler's flat. | |
Wilson hit her with a sock stuffed with stones as she slept. | |
He then sent the boy to fetch an axe and hit her on the head with it several times as she struggled to fend him off. | |
At the same time the boy beat her with a metal bar, the court was told. | At the same time the boy beat her with a metal bar, the court was told. |
The pair then went back to Mr Wilson's flat, but returned to Miss Butler's after hearing her making noises. | The pair then went back to Mr Wilson's flat, but returned to Miss Butler's after hearing her making noises. |
Mr Wilson finally stabbed her to death, while the teenager started a fire in her living room. | |
In the hours after the murder the pair went to Mr Wilson's girlfriend's house, where the older man broke down and admitted what they had done. | In the hours after the murder the pair went to Mr Wilson's girlfriend's house, where the older man broke down and admitted what they had done. |
The boy was heard singing and joking following the attack, the court heard. |