Yahoo News Woman who killed great uncle with 'zombie' blade in 'savage and sustained attack' is jailed for 'minimum' of 27 years
A woman who savagely murdered her great uncle with a 'zombie' knife has been jailed for life.
On Thursday, Kerry Donovan, 29, received a life sentence, with a minimum of 27 years behind bars, for murder.
Meanwhile her cousin, Aaron Wilcock, was sentenced to 14 years for manslaughter.
The Old Bailey heard how Donovan had previously posed naked for photographs taken by her 66-year-old victim, Leroy Junior Edwards.
The court were told how a pair of Donavan's underwear containing 'weak traces' of both Mr Edwards’ DNA and Ms Donovan’s DNA were found under his pillow.
But Judge Nicholas Michael Heathcote Williams QC rejected claims that Donovan was sexually assaulted by Mr Edwards as 'nasty and false'.
Sentencing Donovan, Judge Heathcote Williams QC said: 'I accept that she had a difficult upbringing.
'She may have suffered sexual abuse when she was a child, as she had told a probation worker and family support worker before the time of the murder.
'However, I reject her allegations that she had been sexually abused in childhood by Mr Edwards and that Mr Edwards had expressed a sexual interest in her younger brother.
'I am sure this allegations are untrue for the following reasons: in my judgement Ms Donovan is not a person whose word can be relied on unless she is either making an admission contrary to her own interest or what she says is supported by independent evidence.
'She had never made any allegation against Mr Edwards before the murder. Her motive in making these allegations after the murder was plainly to try and justify what she had done.”
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He said Donovan, a drug addict, was dependent on crack cocaine and cannabis - and that her finances were 'precarious' as a result.
The judge described the evidence she gave during the trial as 'lurid'.
The judge said Donovan had claimed she was raped, but said it was 'unlikely' as she had said 'she wanted two or three men to f**k her' in the taxi later that night.
He said: ‘All I can conclude about her visit to Mr Edwards’ flat that night is that she had a drink with him and that she left the flat without obtaining any or any significant money from him, since she then went and drew her last £50 out of an ATM and then repeatedly tried to draw more money out of a number of ATMs without success.
'I am sure Ms Donovan’s motive for returning to see Mr Edwards that night was not revenge, because I am sure that she did not have enough of a grievance against him to give her motive for revenge.'
'Ms Donovan’s evidence was, in my judgement, notable not only for its dishonesty but also for its self-centredness and callousness about her victim.
'The main aggravating factors are that she was under the influence of drugs and alcohol which she had voluntarily consumed.
'She was the leader of a joint attack, the attack was on a man in his 60s, who was on his own, unsuspecting and unarmed. This must have inflicted significant terror and suffering on the victim during the short period he remained conscious.”
He continued: 'I am entitled to find that the motive of each defendant was robbery. Ms Donovan went to the door armed with the knife provided by Mr Woolcock. Mr Woolcock lurked in the background ready to assist.'
He described how Donovan stabbed her great-uncle several times with the knife, while the court heard how both defendants also tried to dispose of their clothes and left Mr Edwards to die.
Judge Heathcote-Williams said there was only £20 in Mr Edwards’ home for the pair to steal, adding: 'It is clear that Ms Donovan and Mr Woolcock left him to bleed to death without seeking to get any help for him.'
The court heard it was possible Mr Edwards and Donovan had been having an adult sexual relationship which may have caused resentment in the defendant.
The judge told the court: 'In April 2017, then aged 28, she posed naked for photographs which I am satisfied were taken by Mr Edwards.
'After the murder a pair of ladies knickers with weak traces of both Mr Edwards’ DNA and Ms Donovan’s DNA on them were found under the pillow on his bed.
'I am driven to the conclusion that there was some sexual relationship between Mr Edwards and Ms Donovan. No doubt each obtained some advantage from it, he sexual and she financial.
'This was not illegal - they were both adults. But most right thinking people would regard such a relationship between a great uncle in his 60s and a great niece in her late 20s as inappropriate and unwise.'
He added: 'I have no doubt that Ms Donovan felt a degree of resentment about it.'
Donovan and Woolcock did not react when sentenced.
