Two drug addicts jailed for robbery and manslaughter of ‘very lonely’ pensioner
Two drug addicts have been jailed for the manslaughter of a “lonely” 75-year-old man who they attacked in a bid to steal his bank card before having sex in his home.
John Cornish, a retired lorry driver, suffered a fatal cardiac arrest after he was targeted by Hannah Day, 29, and Aaron Brown, 39, at the victim’s home in Weymouth, Dorset.
Day was sentenced to 14 years in prison and Brown was given a term of 13 years and six months.
He suffered 42 injuries including a fractured larynx, bruises and knife wounds to his face and body in the attack in September 2019.
Sentencing the pair (pictured) at Winchester Crown Court, Mr Justice Garnham said that Day had extracted tens of thousands of pounds from Mr Cornish during the four years she had known him.
He told her: “You became a cuckoo in his nest, you were not content with his generosity, you wanted more, so you took it.”
Mr Justice Garnham said that after the attack carried out by both defendants, Brown went out shopping for impotence drug Viagra and the pair had sex in Mr Cornish’s home while he lay dead.
The trial heard that Brown called an ambulance which was given an incorrect address and Mr Cornish’s body was not found until 12 hours after the attack when Ms Day raised the alarm.
The victim’s daughter, Beverley Cornish, told the court: “He was a kind, gentle man and a truly loving father to my brother and I, giving us an ideal childhood.”
She added that she lost her partner of 25 years in a car accident during a visit to her family’s graves and her children missed out on their grandfather’s support.
Ms Cornish told the trial that the defendants had taken advantage of her “very lonely” father.
Prior to the sentencing hearing, the court was read a note from a juror stating that a dock officer had told them after they had reached their verdicts about comments made by Day about her involvement in the incident.
Mr Justice Garnham said this could be treated as contempt of court and added: “I want to make it crystal clear how serious this could be, this will not rest here.”
Brown, from Weymouth, was convicted of manslaughter and robbery, and Day, from Dorchester, was convicted of manslaughter, robbery, theft and five charges of fraud.
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