A 23-year-old burglar who sexually assaulted and murdered an 89-year-old widow in her own home in
Tottenham, has been jailed at the Old Bailey for life with a minimum term of 34 years.
Reece Dempster was on the hunt for money to feed his drug habit in August last year when he attacked “independent” and “feisty” Dorothy Woolmer as she slept.
The thug, who said he had been drinking gin and smoking crack beforehand, sexually assaulted the elderly woman – who was less than 5ft tall and had bone condition osteoporosis – and battered her around the head and body, inflicting fatal injuries.
The judge, Justice Edis, appeared emotional as he praised Woolmer’s family for their dignity in sitting through proceedings.
Regularly making eye contact with Dempster as he read out his sentence, the judge said: “I have no doubt your behaviour was influenced by your consumption of drink and crack cocaine, but that does not excuse what you did.“Actually, it makes it worse. She was tiny and defenceless and you knew that.
“Because of you, she died an unimaginably dreadful death. You seemed to have killed her for pleasure in your drunken state, the murder involved sexual or sadistic conduct.
“You are a very dangerous man.”The court heard Woolmer suffered severe injuries to her head and groin area after being attacked by Dempster at her home in Waltheof Gardens overnight between August 3 and 4 last year.
He fled the scene as dawn broke, vomiting several times on the way.
Woolmer’s lifeless and bloodied body was found, semi-naked, in her bed, by her sister and a close friend who were concerned when she failed to answer the door for her morning newspaper.
Prosecutor Anthony Orchard QC told jurors how Dempster had carried out some gardening work for the victim the previous month, and returned to burgle it, saying he had “cased the premises”.
The court heard Dempster later told his former partner Nikita Richards he had been smoking crack and drinking gin.
“I went off and I went to rob a house. I think I hurt someone.”
He added: “I just blacked out and then I turned a light on and there was blood everywhere.
“And then I ran.
“It’s really bad, it’s really bad. I wasn’t expecting anyone to be in there. I’m going to be in so much trouble.”The victim’s sister, Lilian Richardson, described how she had been unable to walk past Woolmer’s home since the killing, adding: “This is the most horrific thing we have all had to go through.
“The fact that there is a person like him living and breathing the same air as Dot is unthinkable. He deserves to know how it has made us all feel.
“He deserves to spend the rest of his life locked away in a room … feeling powerless, like he made Dot feel that night. She was the best big sister anyone could have ever asked for.”
Detective Inspector Garry Moncrieff described the case as “one of the most disturbing I have ever encountered”.
He added: “Even the most experienced officers were shocked at the extent of the violence and the depth of the defendant’s depravity.
“To have her life ended by this man’s monstrous acts is beyond tragic.” Related... Survivors Of Homophobic Violence Share Their Stories As Hate Crime Figures Rise