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.
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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.
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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.”