Homeless man who murdered 83-year-old woman after she took him in and burnt her ... trends now

A homeless man found guilty of murdering an elderly woman who took him in, before he burnt her body on a bonfire in her garden, has been jailed for life.

Patricia Holland, 83, met 42-year-old Allan Scott while he was selling his paintings on the street in Gorleston in Norfolk, Norwich Crown Court was told.

Scott had lodged with the pensioner at her home in the town, but he killed her and then burnt her body in the garden after she asked him to leave due to his drunken and aggressive behaviour.

Scott, who was found guilty at an earlier trial of murdering Mrs Holland on July 24 2021 and admitted to preventing a lawful burial, was jailed for life with a minimum term of 35 years.

Mrs Holland's daughter Kathryn Holland said in a victim impact statement that following a fall in 2014, Mrs Holland 'no longer had the ability to judge people's intentions accurately'.

'She thought Allan Scott was her friend,' she said.

'She couldn't see that all she was to him was, in his words, her meal ticket.'

She said she could see that Scott was abusing her mother but she 'couldn't stop it from happening', and had tried in vain to raise a safeguarding case.

'My mum really cared for Allan Scott,' she said.

'She felt so sorry for him.

'She thought life hadn't been fair to him.

'She thought he was talented and misunderstood and just needed a chance.'

Judge Alice Robinson said that Mrs Holland's 'personality changed' following a head injury in 2014 and she 'became more extrovert and friendly'.

'Unfortunately, this also made her more vulnerable,' she said at Friday's sentencing.

The judge said that Scott 'repaid (Mrs Holland's) generosity with drunken anger, aggression and violence'.

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