Handyman jailed for life for brutal murder of 80-year-old woman at her home

A handyman has been found guilty of the brutal murder of an 80-year-old pensioner in her own home and jailed for life.

William Kean, 46, had denied the killing of Jenny Methven at her Forteviot home in Perthshire in February and instead blamed the pensioner’s son, David Methven.

But a jury of nine women and six men returned the guilty verdict after just under two hours on Monday after a two-week trial.

Judge Lord Glennie told Kean he would serve a minimum of 22 years before being considered for parole.

Speaking outside the High Court in Glasgow Mrs Methven's son David Methven described his relationship with Kean as "like brothers".

He said: "No verdict will bring my mother back or spare her the terrible ordeal that took her life. I will never be able to imagine her suffering in those moments or comprehend the cruelty of a man who would do that to an elderly woman who regarded them a friend to the family. Billy Kean was a friend of mine for more than 20 years. In fact we were almost like brothers."

Lord Glennie told Kean: "The brutality of the murder of which you have been convicted of a kindly, active older lady who was a relative of one of your friends means a lengthy sentence must be imposed."

The judge thanked the jury and told them that the trial must have been "harrowing for them".

Kean showed no emotion as he was led away to begin his sentence.

The trial had heard that Mrs Methven’s body was found by her son when he returned home from work at around 5.10pm on February 20.

Blunt instrument

She had been struck 11 times with a blunt instrument and died from brain injuries and blunt force trauma.

Kean’s DNA was found on Mrs Methven’s wrist and a fingerprint in blood was found on the wall phone beside her body.

His mobile phone also put him in the vicinity of her cottage on the morning of February 20 and he was seen on CCTV heading in that direction.

Giving evidence Kean told the court how he found Mrs Methven lying on the kitchen floor with towels placed over her head but did not contact emergency services.

He said he had driven to the Methven's cottage to pick up paperwork and two tyres that Mrs Methven's son David had left there for him.

He said there had been no answer at the house but when he went into the kitchen he found the pensioner lying on the floor.

Kean told the court he initially thought she had fallen but then noticed the towels on her head.

When he was asked why he had not called the emergency services he said he was afraid he would get the blame for what had happened to her and be accused of something he had not done.

He said: "I do regret not phoning the emergency services. There is no excuse for that."

Kean claimed that Mr Methven told him he knew who had killed his mother and warned Mr Kean that he would "have him done in" if he talked to the police.

He also claimed that Mr Methven had offered him £30,000 a year for three years to keep quiet.

Money lending

Defence QC Brian McConnachie said the police received information that Mr Methven was linked to supplying drugs and money lending.

Mr Methven was asked if it came as a surprise to him and said it did.

He denied having anything to do with supplying drugs or money lending but said he had sometimes lent money to people he knew who had done work and had not been paid, until they received their money and that he was sometimes paid interest.

Mr Methven also denied further allegations that he had offered Kean “hush money” not to say anything about his mother’s death and that he knew who killed her.

Kean originally faced a further three charges. He was accused of stealing around £15,000 from Mrs Methven's on September 14, last year.

He had faced another allegation that he attempted to defeat the ends of justice between February 20 and March 28, 2012 by pouring bleach onto a pair of bloodstained trousers, cutting a pocket from the trousers and then hiding then in the eaves of a garage in Blairgowrie, Perthshire.

He was also charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice between March 13 and 19 by failing to turn up at Perth Police headquarters to have his fingerprints taken for elimination purposes and repeatedly cutting his fingertips and palms to prevent police taking usable samples. However these charges were dropped by the Crown.

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