That man is still out there while mum is in the cemetery (From St Helens Star)

That man is still out there while mum is in the cemetery

6:00pm Friday 10th July 2009

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A CORONER has ruled a verdict of unlawful killing into the death of a great-grandmother, who was savagely attacked in her own home.

Margaret Briers was 82 when she was brutally assaulted by a callous intruder in March 2008. During the attack, she fractured her hip and was left helpless and lay in agony for 12 hours until she was discovered by her daughter Pauline Windsor.

Margaret, a great-grandmother to 24 and grandmother to 15 died almost a week later in hospital. Pauline believes the verdict doesn’t move them forward, as the intruder has yet to be caught.

The 61-year-old from Moss Bank, who did not attend the inquest, preferring not to listen to the harrowing details of her mum’s death, said: “That person is still out there, while mum is in the cemetery. No one deserves to die like that. You should only go when your time’s up. If I had found her dead in bed, I suppose we could move on, but not to know what she went through torments you.

“I don’t suppose we could have expected anything other than unlawful killing, even though if she had died soon after the attack, it would have been treated as murder.”

A cowardly intruder claiming to be a police officer forced his way into Margaret’s home on Caldbeck Grove, Carr Mill at around 9pm on Sunday, March 30, 2008.

The thug grabbed hold of Margaret, throwing an arm across her neck. As she fell, she fractured her hip and was left helpless. He ripped an emergency alarm from her neck before making off with just £16.

Delivering a statement to the court, Coroner’s Officer Constable George McMillan produced a report from Home Office pathologist Dr Richard Shepherd confirming that Margaret died from a heart failure brought on by blood loss due to her fractured hip.

He referred to Dr Shepherd’s comments in his report, which stated: “In my opinion, a direct link between the fractured femur and the death of the lady can be established.”

Despite hundreds of police hours pumped into the investigation, leading to a string of arrests, the intruder is still to be captured.

It leaves Margaret’s family still anxiously waiting for news. Pauline added: “Now we just wait for the police to see if they can get anywhere. They haven’t closed the case and I think they must be as frustrated as we are.”

Detective Inspector Chris Sephton of Merseyside Police, said: "We acknowledge the verdict of the coroner and remain absolutely determined to find the person responsible for Margaret's death.

"Someone out there may still hold information about what happened on March 30 last year that could be important to our investigation and I would urge them to contact us."

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