Man who beat to death Bethnal Green woman, 73, jailed for life

A man who kicked a pensioner to death in the sheltered accommodation where she lived has been jailed for 22 years.

Christopher Newton beat Eileen Jones, 73, moments after she took her partially-sighted neighbour his evening meal at Mandela House in Virginia Road, Bethnal Green.

Newton, 45, was in the flat visiting the man when the well-meaning pensioner turned up to hand over the meal.

She was invited to join the pair for a drink but was soon turned on.

Ms Jones, a great-mother, was discovered in the flat the following morning on March 23, with the unfinished meal still in the kitchen.

Newton even tried to blame the brutal killing on her friend.

Staff at the sheltered accommodation discovered the pensioner collapsed on the floor in a pool of blood and a post-mortem later gave the cause of death as blunt force trauma to the head and chest.

Newton, of Bow Road, was convicted of the murder at the Old Bailey on Friday and told he must serve a minimum of 22 years.

Det Ch Insp John Sandlin from the Homicide and Serious Crime Command said: “Eileen Jones lived in a home surrounded by good friends in a place where she and her family felt she was safe and secure. Christopher Newton shattered many lives that night when he viciously attacked a totally defenceless pensioner.

“He then prolonged the agony for her family by denying any knowledge of the terrible incident and trying to pass the blame onto Eileen’s partially-sighted friend. To this day Newton has never fully explained why he turned on Eileen and what actually triggered his actions. Eileen’s family is left wondering how such a terrible thing could have happened and why it happened at all.”