Lithuanian man pleads guilty to manslaughter after attack on woman

A man has admitted killing an 81-year-old widow and setting her body on fire at her £2m rural home.

Tautrydas Narbutas, 24, denied murdering Albertina Choules, whose charred body was found in her garden in Buckinghamshire after she had been hit about the head and set alight.

The 24-year-old Lithuanian instead entered a plea of guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter, which was accepted by the prosecution after it was deemed he suffers from a psychotic disorder.

Italian-born Choules, known as Tina, was killed at her isolated home on 6 July last year after calling the emergency services to report an intruder at her property.

At the opening of her inquest in July last year, a coroner learned how the 999 call handler had heard the voice of a man in the background before the call with Choules was abruptly ended. When armed police arrived at the home they found a man standing near a fire and what transpired to be the remains of the pensioner.

After a psychiatrist instructed by the Crown Prosecution Service agreed with the assessment of Narbutas made by a medical expert hired by the defence, it was decided his responsibility for the crime was “severely diminished”.

Narbutas, of High Wycombe, entered his plea at Reading crown court on Wednesday via videolink from Woodhill Prison where he is on remand, while an interpreter translated proceedings. He also admitted affray after his “abnormal” behaviour at the scene of the crime against two Thames Valley police officers who responded to the 999 call – but two charges of attempted grievous bodily harm were dropped.

Prosecutor Alan Blake told Reading crown court: “We’ve carefully reviewed all the evidence and in particular the medical evidence. The mental abnormality is identified as arising from a psychotic disorder. With that consensus among medical experts and the evidence of abnormal behaviour at the scene when the defendant was arrested, we do not consider there is a realistic prospect the jury would reject the medical evidence.”

He concluded: “Accordingly, we consider it proper to accept the plea that has been offered.”

The widow of a company director, Choules lived in a woodland property with immaculate gardens in Marlow where she resided without electricity and spent her time caring for the local wildlife. Her estate was open for villagers to visit as part of a Buddhist trail she created with her husband, Michael, a fellow Buddhist convert who died of cancer in 2004.

Following her death her family issued a statement describing her as “completely selfless”. They said: “Tina was incredibly special, as was her simple, self-sufficient way of life with no electricity, television or washing machine. She never liked to sit still and worked tirelessly to maintain her beautiful garden and produce all year round.”

The prosecution team met with Choules’s family before agreeing to accept the plea.

Narbutas was remanded in custody after Wednesday’s hearing while more medical evidence was gathered for his sentencing on 3 October.