War Veteran 'Murdered By Drug Addict'

An elderly war veteran was murdered by a mother who took him "a plate of food" in a "brutal" and "violent assault", a court has heard.

William Davis, who had celebrated his 92nd birthday shortly before his death, was found in a pool of blood in his home in Willenhall, near Wolverhampton in April.

Charlotte Frazier-Doody, who lived opposite Mr Davis on Hobley Street, is accused of murdering him.

Wolverhampton Crown Court heard that, on the afternoon of April 1, a lady who lived next door to Mr Davis heard "banging noises".

They "played on her mind" and, at 6pm, she and another woman, who had a key to Mr Davis' house, went to check on him.

Inside, in a downstairs back room, they found Mr Davis, who lived alone, "covered in blood and gravely injured, at that stage he was still alive".

Prosecuting, Peter Grieves-Smith QC, told the jury that the emergency services, who had been called, were unable to save Mr Davis, who had suffered "massive head injuries", including skull fractures and brain injuries. He died just after 7pm.

"Multiple blows had landed on his head and face with a relatively heavy weapon," said Mr Grieves-Smith.

The elderly man was "lying on the ground defenceless", he added.

Mr Grieves-Smith said Mr Davis, who did his own cooking and cleaning, but was frail, and moved around with the aid of a walking frame or stick, had CCTV installed so he could see on his TV who was at his front door.

"We suggest he must have known the person he let into his house and killed him," he said.

The prosecution said that, at the time of the murder, Frazier-Doody was not working and was a drug addict. They said the defendant admitted taking Mr Davis a meal, and claims she told a neighbour Mr Davis had shown her his war medals.

"We say she went inside and killed him," said Mr Grieves-Smith. He told the court the defendant's DNA was found in the house, along with a clump of her hair close to Mr Davis' body.

She denies rummaging through a neighbour's bin and telling him "she had done something really bad ... she said she had been in a fight and hit somebody, she said she had then put clothes in a bin".

Mr Grieves-Smith claimed Frazier-Doody had remarked after Mr Davis' death: "I was hoping he would have left me something in his will."

She was, he said, "connecting his death to the possibility of her financial benefit and it begs the question, why?".

He told the jury the murder weapon has never been found. Cash totalling £280 was found in Mr Davis' wallet. His son said all that was missing from his home was a set of saucepans.

Frazier-Doody denies murder. The trial continues.