Two brothers beat paedophile pensioner to death before dumping body in woodland

26 May 2023 , 15:18
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Henry Thwaites was found dead along this rural road in Nottinghamshire (Image: Joseph Raynor/ Nottingham Post)
Henry Thwaites was found dead along this rural road in Nottinghamshire (Image: Joseph Raynor/ Nottingham Post)

Two brothers who beat a convicted paedophile to death face mandatory life sentences for murder.

Matthew Roe, 25, and older sibling Luke, 34, battered Henry Thwaites, a longstanding friend of their mother, and left his body dumped on a rural lane.

A court heard they left the 85-year-old victim with skull and other head injuries.

They took the man out of his vehicle and beat him at the roadside after a dispute about a car.

Both brothers were today unanimously found guilty of murder at Nottingham Crown Court. Matthew Roe was found guilty of four charges of fraud.

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Two brothers beat paedophile pensioner to death before dumping body in woodlandCCTV captured the Fiat turning west into Limetree Avenue on the night in question (Joseph Raynor/ Nottingham Post)

Luke Roe was found guilty of one fraud and not guilty to three fraud charges. He was convicted of damaging property, reports Nottinghamshire Live.

After the verdicts were announced, Matthew Roe began crying. People in the public gallery wiped away tears.

Luke Roe left the dock. They'll be sentenced next week.

The jury was told Mr Thwaites, a convicted paedophile, came into a substantial amount of money last year and offered to buy the brothers' mother, Catherine Roe, a car.

She invited Mr Thwaites to stay and he drove down in his Fiat Punto to the family home in Worksop, Nottinghamshire, where the brothers were staying at the time.

Mr Thwaites fulfilled his promise to buy her a car.

But he told her that "the boys" had asked him if he would buy them a car too, the jury heard. Either Luke Roe, who was clearly drunk, or Matthew, had asked Mr Thwaites to, "let's go see about this car then".

Two brothers beat paedophile pensioner to death before dumping body in woodlandThe case was heard at Nottingham Crown Court (BPM MEDIA)

The two brothers left with Mr Thwaites at about 10.25pm, minutes before he died.

They were seen on CCTV getting into the pensioner's grey Fiat Punto, which was tracked by ANPR cameras and other CCTV cameras, going south out of Worksop and turning into the quiet rural road of Limetree Avenue, a rural lane near Worksop.

The CCTV captured the Fiat turning west into Limetree Avenue at 10.37pm. The next sighting was at 10.57pm, a mile or two further west, and now on the return journey back to Worksop.

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Mr Thwaites had been taken out of his car and beaten to death. It would appear some of that beating took place inside the vehicle, the jury had heard.

He was left under a metal fence and was found by a passerby. A fragment of a Fiat motif sticker was near his body.

The Fiat was driven to defendant Abby Dixon's address, arriving at about 11pm. Dixon, 27, of Worksop, was found guilty of two charges of assisting an offender by the jury today.

Matthew Roe was convicted of fraud after trying to use the pensioner's bank card after death.

The defendant, of Jacksdale, Nottinghamshire, and his older brother, from Worksop, will be sentenced on June 5.

Judge Nirmal Shant KC, the Recorder of Nottingham, said Dixon will also be sentenced on this date.

Rebecca Sherdley

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