Killer facing life term for pensioner’s rape and murder

Craig Keogh, 26, was convicted on Monday of killing 72-year-old Jane Hings after a trial at Birmingham Crown Court heard he twice raped the pensioner before smothering her with a pillow.

Mrs Hings was found dead in her bungalow by her carers, several hours after Keogh removed wedding and engagement rings and a crucifix from her body following the “utterly terrifying” sexual assault.

Jurors deliberated for around four hours before unanimously convicting Keogh of murder, burglary and two counts of rape.

Keogh, of no fixed address, had claimed that his victim was alive when he left her bungalow in Fleckney, near Leicester, on September 24 last year.

Police inquiries established that a handbag, a purse and cash had also been taken by Keogh, who was said by witnesses to have been “happy and bubbly” in the days following the killing.

The killer refused to give evidence at his trial, having claimed in police interviews that he had consensual sex with Mrs Hings, who lived alone and was described by friends as frail after suffering rib fractures in a fall.

Commenting after the trial, Detective Chief Inspector David Swift-Rollinson, who led the murder investigation, said: “I cannot imagine the terror and pain that Jane suffered that night at the hands of Keogh.

“She was a vulnerable, fragile lady whom I’m afraid would have suffered greatly during the sustained attack.”

Keogh will be sentenced on Tuesday afternoon by Mr Justice Jeremy Baker.