An 86-year-old woman who was murdered was described by her family and friends as “feisty”, “forthright” and “methodical” and as somebody who wasn’t frightened about living on her own.
Several witness statements were read out at Cambridge Crown Court today from Una Crown’s family and friends, who detailed when they last saw the elderly widow and gave background information about her.
The court heard how Mrs Crown’s husband, Ron, died in 2009 and that she had spent four years living alone in the bungalow the couple had specially built for them 40 years previously.
They had run the Post Office in Elm together before Ron retired. Una went on to work in several jobs, including one at Fraser Dawbarns solicitors in Wisbech.
A statement from her neice, Judith Payne, said her aunt wasn’t depressed, but would occasionally say she had a lonely week where she hadn’t seen many people.
A typical routine for Mrs Crown would be that she socialised with her next-door neighbour, as well as other surrounding neighbours who would help her with odd jobs.
Mrs Payne described her aunt as a lady who enjoyed reading, watching motor racing, Dancing on Ice and the National Lottery.
She enjoyed visiting Loafers Coffee Shop on Wisbech Market Place and was always grateful to go on a trip out. She would often treat her family to meals out and would pay neighbours £5 or £10 for odd jobs they had done for her.
Mrs Crown rarely entertained guests, and was “security-minded”.
A statement was also read out by one of Mrs Crown’s friends, Michael Howell, who said Una enjoyed wine tasting and that she missed her late husband “very badly”.
“I was told that she had died, I still can’t accept this happened,” Mr Howell’s statement said.
David Newton’s trial continued today, which also saw pathologist Dr Nathaniel Cary explain about Mrs Crown’s stab wounds and injuries found during an examination.
Newton is accused of her murder, and evidence shows DNA being found on nail clippings taken from Mrs Crown which were examined in 2013.
Mr Carey confirmed that Mrs Crown suffered a stab wound to the neck, often referred to as a “cut throat” kind of wound, as well as several stab wounds next to each other along her chest.
Her heart and lung had been ruptured by a knife and some of her left ribs had been fractured due to the force used when she was stabbed.
She also suffered bruising on her body and had cuts on her right palm, which could have been caused by Mrs Crown trying to stop herself from being attacked.
Newton’s defence, Henry Grunward KC, said that “proper procedures” into examining Mrs Crown’s body didn’t take place due to police initially treating the 86-year-old’s death as not suspicious.
“All sorts of things happened that wouldn’t have happened if things were rightly identified at the time,” said Mr Grunward.
More live witnesses are due at court tomorrow.
The trial continues.