Man accused of dog walker murder was jailed for attack on pensioner

Yahoo

02-07-2025

A man accused of murdering a dog walker was previously jailed for attacking a pensioner and leaving him with serious facial injuries and a dog lead wrapped around his foot, a court heard.
Roy Barclay, 56, denies murdering mother-of-six Anita Rose, 57, who was found unconscious in Brantham, Suffolk on July 24 last year, and died four days later on July 28.
Jurors were told in agreed facts that Barclay had previously pleaded guilty in August 2015 to grievous bodily harm with intent, for attacking pensioner Leslie Gunfield ten years ago, Ipswich Crown Court heard on Wednesday.
On February 22 2015, Mr Gunfield, then 82, told Barclay, of no fixed address, that he would inform security about him going through rubbish bins at a Co-op supermarket in Walton-on-the-Naze, Essex.
Mr Gunfield was left with serious injuries to his head and required 10 titanium plates for fractures he suffered after being attacked by Barclay, the court heard.
He was found with a dog lead wrapped around his foot, which the prosecution said was similar to the way Ms Rose's body was found, with a dog lead 'tightly' wrapped around her leg.
Prosecutor Christopher Paxton KC said Mr Gunfield 'ended up with fracture upon fracture to his face', adding that the attack 'totally detached the upper jaw from the rest of the skull'.
He told jurors that the conviction 'helps you in so many ways to identify Roy Barclay as Anita's killer'.
Mr Paxton added: 'Leslie Gunfield was taken to the ground and attacked on the ground by Roy Barclay, just as Anita Rose was. Leslie Gunfield was struck repeatedly to the head, just as Anita Rose was.
'In his mid-40s, he (Barclay) fractured nearly all of the bones of an 82-year-old's face, having taken him to the ground in 2015.
'Anybody that attacks an 82-year-old man in that way displays a ruthlessness and callousness that defies logic.'
His Honour Judge Martyn Levett told jurors that they should not convict Barclay based wholly or mainly on his previous conviction, adding that it was 'additional circumstantial evidence'.
Barclay was released from prison for the attack on Mr Gunfield on February 24 2020.
Mr Paxton said Barclay was a 'dog lover' who had volunteered at a dog charity while on probation, adding that a dog lead wrapped around a body could 'almost be described as a signature of Roy Barclay'.
The prosecutor added: 'This is no coincidence. The wrapping of the dog lead is a further striking similarity that builds with all the evidence to Roy Barclay being the one and only person who attacked Anita Rose.'
The prosecutor said Barclay was 'irrational and dangerous' and had been on the run from the police for two years while trying to avoid recall to prison.
Giving his closing speech, Mr Paxton said: 'Two very different worlds collided: Anita, partner to Richard, a mother and grandmother, out with the family dog Bruce, before she went off to work.
'Her world collided with Roy Barclay's world, a desperate man on the run from police for two years, having been in prison for beating Leslie Gunfield's face to a pulp.
'Roy Barclay took Anita Rose's life in an explosion of violence. Blow after blow, stamp after stamp and kick after kick.
'Roy Barclay's determination to keep his liberty and save his skin is revealed in the brutality of the injuries he inflicted on Anita Rose.
'Slight and slim Roy Barclay might seem, but his force, his brutality, is revealed in what he did to Leslie Gunfield and Anita Rose.'
The prosecutor said jurors had heard evidence that injuries to Anita's brain were similar to those inflicted by 'high speed car crashes'.
Barclay opted to give no evidence in his defence on Wednesday.
Mr Paxton said Barclay had maintained a 'wall of silence' throughout his trial.
The prosecutor added: 'It is his right of course, but it is a choice Roy Barclay has made.
'He made a choice not to say one single word to the jury in his defence from the witness box.'
The trial continues.
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