Depraved killer, 23, who bound 71-year-old woman and strangled her in her own home before robbing her and taking his girlfriend on £13k shopping spree with pensioner’s savings is jailed for life
A depraved killer who strangled a vulnerable 71-year-old woman so he could take his girlfriend out on a £13,000 using the pensioner’s savings has been jailed for life.
Xyaire Howard, 24, bound Susan Hawkey with tape and his shoelaces in her own home, forcing her to reveal her PIN number.
During the break in the murderer – who was 23 at the time – slashed open Ms Hawkey’s top exposing her breasts and pulling down her underwear.
With her eyes taped shut, the cruel killer then strangled her with another shoelace before leaving her body to rot under a duvet on her living room floor.
As her body laid decaying Howard and his girlfriend Chelsea Grant, 28, went on three week splurge emptying thousands of pounds from her bank account.
Xyaire Howard, 24, bound Susan Hawkey, 71, (pictured) with tape and his shoelaces in her own home, forcing her to reveal her PIN number
Howard and Grant (pictured on CCTV as they were using the card) were both sentenced today
Today ‘depraved’ Howard (pictured) was jailed for life with a minimum term of 31 years
The killing last September came after Howard and Grant had already repeatedly robbed Ms Hawkey.
Howard was convicted of murder, attempted robbery and two robberies.
Following a trial at the Old Bailey, Grant was cleared of murder but found guilty of three robberies against Ms Hawkey and one attempted robbery.
The defendants, of Press Road in Neasden, had admitted fraud by false representation in relation to their misuse of her bank card.
Today Howard was jailed for life with a minimum term of 31 years and Grant was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
Judge Judy Khan KC said the couple were motivated by their ‘greed and dishonesty’.
She said Howard had ‘terrorised’ Ms Hawkey and subjected her to ‘humiliation and degradation’ to get access to her money.
Judge Khan told him: ‘It was a calculated and callous course of action, a killing motivated by your greed.’
Grant (pictured) was sentenced to 15 years in prison. The couple could not bear to look at each other as sentence was passed
She accepted Grant was not present when Ms Hawkey was ‘stripped and degraded’ by her boyfriend.
But once she realised the vulnerable victim was dead, the defendant did nothing to report it, the judge said.
In a victim impact statement, Ms Hawkey’s family described her as a ‘proud woman’ who led a reclusive life after the loss of her parents and job.
The defendants had identified her as an ‘ideal victim’ and ‘easy pickings’ last summer, prosecutor Annabel Darlow KC had said.
Ms Hawkey was a ‘creature of habit’ and would take the same route with her bank card to the shops and Post Office to withdraw cash.
After she was robbed, Ms Hawkey cancelled her card but not before the defendants had used it for a few small transactions, the court was told.
She was last seen alive on September 6 last year, the same day the defendants were seen walking to and from her home, jurors were told.
The next day, Howard used her new bank card to withdraw £250 at a cash machine.
Mr Darlow said: ‘When Susan Hawkey’s decomposing corpse was found by the authorities, she was bound and blindfolded, and a ligature was around her neck.
‘For some reason, all of her lower clothing, including underwear, had been removed and her upper clothing had been cut down the front. An item of clothing had been placed over her head and her body concealed under a duvet.’
Over the course of three weeks, Howard (pictured) and Grant made 146 transactions totalling some £13,000
Ms Darlow added that a ligature around Ms Hawkey’s neck had been tightened with sufficient force to break one of the bones in her neck.
The court was told of the defendants’ ‘massive spending spree’ at Westfield in Shepherd’s Bush and Wembley shops as they ‘burned through’ Ms Hawkey’s money.
Over the course of three weeks, they made 146 transactions totalling some £13,000.
Luxury purchases included perfume, a new television, portable speakers, telephones, clothes, shoes, sunglasses, watches and handbags.
Some of the money was withdrawn in cash and both defendants sent money to St Vincent and the Grenadines using money transfer services.
The victim’s bank account went from a balance of more than £16,000 to just £3,434.03, jurors heard.
Ms Hawkey’s bank card was finally stopped last September 28 at the request of police and the defendants were arrested at a bus stop.
Jurors heard Ms Hawkey (pictured) was a retired bank worker who was just 5ft 1½ inches tall and of very slight build. She did not have children and she struggled to cope after the loss of both of her parents and a partner
Jurors heard Ms Hawkey was a retired bank worker who was just 5ft 1½ inches tall and of very slight build. She did not have children and she struggled to cope after the loss of both of her parents and a partner
Ms Hawkey’s only surviving relatives are cousins and one said in an impact statement: ‘Susan was a very kind, generous, smart and hard working person
‘After losing both her parents and the job she loved she led a reclusive life.’
Her family had suggested she move away from run down Neasden in northwest London but she wanted to stay in the area she had grown up in and the house she had always lived in.
The cousin said her family cannot bear to imagine what her final moments were like.
‘She must have felt terrified and helpless, all for the greed and selfishness of Howard and Grant,’ the cousins said.
‘We will never know exactly what happened to Susan, making our nightmares even worse.’
The cousin said the rest of the family ‘are haunted every single day and a shadow will remain over their lives.’
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