“I said we didn’t want to hurt her, we only wanted her money” – alleged statement

The three men accused of murdering Burton Latimer pensioner Winnie Love were in search of easy money, it was alleged this morning. But it all went wrong when she woke up as the men were searching her Station Road home, Northampton Crown court was told.

One defendant, Glyn Roy Lewis, allegedly told police: “We were told it would be a cool couple of grand without any aggravation.”

Det. Insp Dick Briggs said that Lewis told police everything in his statement.

He then quoted Lewis as having said: “The lady woke up as we had entered the house. She said “What’s that?” I signalled to the others to keep quiet but she saw us. She started to shout. I put my hand on her mouth and told her to be quiet."

“I said we did not want to hurt her – we only wanted her money. I told Norman and Richard to tie her up and keep her quiet.”

Lewis then allegedly said he went to look for the money in the empty bedroom and found a brown bag full of five pound notes under the bed.

He said he heard a bump next door and thought the three had fallen to the ground.

“I then went into the bedroom to see if she was alright. She was covered in a large blanket to keep her warm. And then we left, leaving the door open so that she could be found by neighbours.”

Insp. Briggs said when questioned both Lewis and another of the three accused, Richard Gotts Gayle, said they did not intend to kill her.