A 61-year-old man has pleaded guilty to murdering his 73-year-old neighbour in her own home.
Pauline Quinn, 73, was found by paramedics following concerns that she had become uncontactable.
Emergency services attended the scene and found her unconscious in the living room of her bungalow in Rayton Spur, Worksop.
The much-loved grandmother had suffered severe head injuries and was sadly pronounced dead shortly after paramedics arrived on the night of 9 November 2021.
A murder investigation was launched and following good police work, officers arrested Lawrence Bierton on suspicion of her murder the next morning.
They stopped Bierton who had been driving a Renault Clio he had stolen from Pauline.
Officers had managed to trace the vehicle to the Barnsley area of South Yorkshire and arrested Bierton at a petrol station.
Bierton, of Rayton Spur, Worksop, was subsequently charged and pleaded guilty to Pauline’s murder when he appeared at Nottingham Crown Court today (Friday 1 April 2022). He also pleaded guilty to a charge of theft.
He was remanded in custody and is next due to appear at Nottingham Crown Court for sentencing on 10 June 2022.
In a previous statement, Pauline’s family said: “The whole family is totally in shock. Pauline was so full of joy and we just can’t believe what has happened.”
Detective Inspector Steve Wragg, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: “Pauline’s tragic death devastated her family and shocked her friends and neighbours in their community.
“Our thoughts and deepest condolences remain with them and I hope today’s guilty pleas bring some degree of closure for them.
“I am pleased Bierton decided to plead guilty which has spared Pauline’s family having to go through the emotional ordeal of a trial.
“Bierton committed this brutal crime in his own neighbourhood, in the middle of the day. He is an extremely violent and dangerous individual who is now facing a life sentence for this appalling attack.”
