Lawrence Bierton: 'Monster' murdered woman after jail sentence for killing Rotherham sisters

A man who murdered two sisters in Rotherham went on to bludgeon an elderly neighbour to death after being released from prison.

Lawrence Bierton will spend the rest of his life in jail after being handed a whole-life order today, Wednesday, December 20, for murdering 73-year-old Pauline Quinn, whom he was wrongly housed next to while on licence.

Bierton, 63, had been jailed for life at Sheffield Crown Court in 1996 for murdering Aileen Dudill, 79, and Elsie Gregory, 73, in their home in Rotherham the previous year.

Sisters were bludgeoned and suffocated before being set on fire

The sisters were bludgeoned and suffocated by Bierton and a co-defendant before their bodies were set on fire.

Bierton was initially released on licence in December 2017 before being recalled to prison the following July due to what prosecutor John Cammegh KC told jurors in the 2023 trial were "repeated failures to address his behaviour".

He was released a second time in May 2020, moving to Rayton Spur, in Worksop, Nottinghamshire, six months later.

On November 9, 2021, he bludgeoned Ms Quinn to death with her own coffee table at her home.

Elderly neighbour was killed with own coffee table

A so-called "alcohol tag" used to monitor Bierton was removed eight months before Ms Quinn’s death after he complained of swelling in his legs.

Bierton was found guilty of Ms Quinn's murder following a two-week trial at Nottingham Crown Court, with the judge calling the defendant's third killing as "senseless as it was brutal".

Sentencing Bierton today, the judge, Mr Justice Pepperall, said: "You have been found guilty of the senseless and brutal murder of three elderly and disabled women in their own homes.

"You showed each of the victims no mercy. (These were) sustained attacks in which you used extraordinary levels of violence.

"I am left in no doubt whatsoever that you must never again be given the opportunity to walk the streets.

"The only just sentence in this case is that you should remain in prison for the rest of your life."

'Significant mistake' to house killer next to elderly victim

The Probation Service has said that a serious case review into Bierton’s case has been completed with the findings to be shared with Ms Quinn’s family but not publicly.

In court, the judge said it was a "significant mistake" for Bierton to be allowed to stay at Rayton Spur, a complex for elderly and vulnerable people.

Saika Jabeen, head of the Nottinghamshire county probation delivery unit, told the judge that Bierton’s behaviour on his second release "appeared markedly improved", but said there were also unsubstantiated links to "Mamba (a synthetic cannabinoid) use and possible benefit fraud".

She said that "it was not appropriate for him (Bierton) to have been approved housing" in the complex, adding that the decision was "incorrect" and that a second, serious further offence review was also ongoing.

She also said that there was now "greater scrutiny" of accommodation decisions to ensure that decisions were "defensible".

She added that senior managers would apologise to the family on behalf of the Probation Service for the "serious oversights" in the case.

Victim 'plainly failed' by the system

In his sentencing remarks, the judge said: "That decision (to house Bierton at Rayton Spur) was flawed and you should not have been housed among elderly and vulnerable residents.

"Ms Quinn was entitled to expect better, and the system plainly failed her."

Jurors took less than an hour to convict Bierton on Thursday after hearing he left Ms Quinn with 29 separate injuries, striking her 10 times to the head, resulting in a fractured skull and brain damage.

Bierton, an alcoholic, had asked Ms Quinn for money for alcohol at around 4pm on the day of the killing, having drunk vodka and rum and taken crack cocaine and Subutex, an opioid, that morning.

After she refused, he pushed her to the floor, beginning the fatal attack which prosecutors said was sparked by a fear of returning to prison over his substance misuse.

Audio of attack was played to jurors

Ms Quinn, who lived alone, had chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and walked with a stick, was described as "defenceless" by prosecutors.

She was able to pull a red emergency cord in her home, which recorded audio of Bierton repeatedly striking her with the coffee table.

Audio of the attack on Ms Quinn was played several times to jurors, two of whom returned to watch the sentencing.

In a victim impact statement read to the court, Ms Quinn’s daughter, Lisa Rummery, urged the judge to make the "right choice" by imposing a whole life order for the murder of a "much-loved mother, sister and grandmother".

'He stole her life and ruined ours in the process'

She said: "In a brutal and horrific moment he destroyed so many lives in a matter of seconds, and has left me in constant pain.

"I don’t believe there is a punishment that could ever compare to what Bierton has caused with his cruelty.

"He stole her life and ruined ours in the process.

"He is a monster. He took our mum’s life and he deserves to be punished for the crimes he has committed."

Prosecutor John Cammegh KC said on Wednesday that Ms Quinn’s "sustained and merciless" murder bore "striking similarities" to that of Ms Dudill and Ms Gregory.

He submitted that the earlier murders "illustrated the defendant’s propensity to inflict brutal and extreme violence upon vulnerable and elderly women" and that "the savage murder of Pauline Quinn merits a whole life order".

Addressing Bierton, Mr Justice Pepperall said: "I am satisfied so that I am sure that you used severe force, lifting your weapon high above your head, repeatedly smashing it into Ms Quinn’s skull with as much force as you could muster.

"There is no doubt on the evidence that you intended to kill your victim.

"You callously considered the need and location for further blows in order to ensure that your victim was dead."

Bierton accepted being responsible for the killing but had denied murder on the grounds of diminished responsibility, owing to his alcohol dependency.

His barristers claimed this constituted a "mental abnormality" which would have caused alcohol withdrawal symptoms and thus have prevented him from thinking rationally.

Killer seen calmly driving away in victim's car

But he was seen calmly driving away in Ms Quinn’s car after the murder, later returning to the scene to remove the remnants of the bloodstained coffee table in a plastic bag.

On Wednesday, his barrister, Mark McKone KC, said that Bierton wished to become a teacher in prison.

He said: "He recognises the impact his offending has had on many people.

"He knows he can’t in any way compensate for what he has done but wants to spend the remainder of his life doing some good."

Bierton sat silently throughout the hearing and showed no emotion as he was taken down.