Man jailed for 20 years for murder of pensioner

The Old Bailey Pic: Matt Brown, flickr

A man has been jailed for 20 years for the murder of pensioner James Land, who was killed in his home in Lewisham in May last year.

Andrew Monk, 28, of Abergeldie Road in Greenwich, was found guilty at the Old Bailey on January 23 this year, and was sentenced there on March 12.

Land, a widower, was murdered at his home in Whitefoot Terrace, Lewisham on May 10 2011. Monk broke into the house and attacked Land, punching him and then stabbing him 11 times.

Officers pronounced him dead at the scene, and a subsequent post-mortem gave the cause of death as stab wounds.

There was no sign that the pensioner, who had suffered a stroke which left him with poor mobility, had resisted the attack.

Monk then went to nearby Beckenham Place Park to get rid of his bloodstained clothes and the murder weapon, but later confessed to the murder when police arrested him. During the trial he claimed he was provoked by the victim into killing him.

Speaking after the verdict Detective Inspector Graeme Gwyn, from the Homicide and Serious Crime Command, said: “Andrew Monk tried to claim he was provoked by James Land, an elderly man who had difficulty walking around due to two previous strokes, into the extreme violence he used to kill him. There has never been any evidence to support this claim.

“I am very pleased that the jury has returned a guilty verdict and that Monk will now face a substantial period in jail for the dreadful crime that he committed against a defenceless old man.”

He added: “I would like to pay my respects to James’ family, who have acted with the utmost dignity and respect throughout what has been and will continue to be, an extremely difficult time for them.”

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