Elderly couple gagged, beaten and ‘hog-tied’ by intruder, murder trial jury told

Vasile Culea, 34, is standing trial at Derby Crown Court, where he denies murdering Freda Walker and the attempted murder of her husband.

Flowers outside a house on Station Road, Langwith Junction, Shirebrook, near Bolsover, where Kenneth Walker 86, was found with life-threatening injuries alongside his wife Freda Walker 88, who was pronounced dead at the scene (PA) (PA Archive)

An 86-year-old woman died after she and her husband were both subjected to a savage attack, gagged, “hog-tied” and then abandoned to their fate by an intruder searching for £30,000 in cash, a jury has heard.

Vasile Culea denies charges of murder, attempted murder and wounding with intent but admits causing “some harm” to both Freda and Kenneth Walker, who suffered “frankly horrific” injuries at their home in Derbyshire.

The 34-year-old’s trial at Derby Crown Court heard claims that Mrs Walker had a reasonable prospect of survival had she not been “abandoned without any assistance” and “with coverings to her face obstructing her airway”.

Retired seamstress Mrs Walker and town councillor Ken Walker, aged 88, are alleged to have been attacked by Culea in Station Road, Langwith Junction, Shirebrook, near Bolsover, on January 14 this year, leaving Mr Walker with critical injuries.

Mr Walker died some months later, although his death was not connected to the attack.

On the first day of his trial on Tuesday, Culea admitted the manslaughter of Mrs Walker and inflicting grievous bodily harm on Mr Walker.

Opening the Crown’s case, prosecutor Michael Auty KC told a jury of 11 men and one woman: “The issue in this case is what the defendant’s intention was.

“He will say, we anticipate, yes I am responsible in whole or in part for the injuries, but I did not intend really serious harm, I only intended some harm.

“The prosecution say no, he intended to kill.”

His attack was far beyond any justification, savage in its nature and sustained

Michael Auty KC, prosecuting

After jurors were shown a photograph of Mr and Mrs Walker, pictured when he was made an alderman a year before the attack, Mr Auty added: “We do not anticipate that there will be any dispute that during the period of time that the frankly horrific injuries were inflicted… that there was anybody in the home other than Kenneth Walker, Freda Walker and the defendant.

“We say that the defendant, for reasons I shall come to, attacked this elderly couple in the sanctuary of their own home.

“His attack was far beyond any justification, savage in its nature and sustained.”

The court heard Mrs Walker, who died from a brain injury, was found dead in the kitchen by emergency services the following day after neighbours expressed concerns for the couple.

Mrs Walker had been gagged, the jury was told, and she had at least two coverings over her head that were knotted – a pillow case and a bin liner.

She had also been “hog-tied” with her “wrists bound together, the lower limbs bound together and the two tied together”.

Meanwhile, Mr Walker, who suffered a brain injury, was found to have been gagged and bound at the wrists and knees, with his bindings also tied to each other.

Mr Auty added: “They had been abandoned to their fate.

“In choosing to attack victims in the way that he did, that demonstrates that the attack was completely devoid of any mercy.

“We say that tells you something about what his intention really was.”

Describing how Mr Walker had hidden £5,000 bundles around his “cluttered” bedroom after withdrawing £30,000 to fund home improvements, Mr Auty went on: “It is not entirely clear how the defendant come to learn of the existence of the £30,000.

“What this case is really all about is that he decided he was going to have it.”

Culea, of Grove Road, Church Warsop, Nottinghamshire, was caught on CCTV as he conducted four “reconnaissance mission” circuits of the area in his car, and a further three on foot, the court heard.

The defendant, who is being assisted during the case by a Romanian interpreter, is also alleged to have worn a high-visibility jacket in a bid to “go about unnoticed”.

The trial continues.