Hammer murderer will serve at least 35 years

Graeme Jarman struck Judith Richardson, 77, at least 30 times after forcing his way into her flat in Hexham, Northumberland.

Jarman, who denied murder during his trial at Newcastle Crown Court, fled the scene with Miss Richardson’s handbag, sparking a major manhunt before he was arrested in Filey a fortnight later.

Jarman, 48, tricked the spinster into opening her front door by showing her Age UK charity leaflets and immediately began battering her.

Her ground-floor flat was ransacked and her jewellery was stolen as she lay dying in her hallway. She was brutally beaten for a second time as the killer left.

During the trial which lasted almost three weeks, Robert Smith QC, prosecuting, said the attack was not random and that Jarman had been following potential victims the day before.

What the jury did not know is that Jarman was already convicted of locking a teenage girl in his car boot and raping her at gunpoint.

During the seven-hour ordeal he told her he was an “ordinary, everyday psychopath”.

A few years later, he barged into a 23-year-old woman’s home, tied her up and sexually abused her. He also robbed her.

The court was shown CCTV of Jarman in Hexham the day before the pensioner’s death last August, which showed him talking to elderly residents.

Mr Smith said he was “observing potential victims”.

On the day of the murder, Jarman went to Miss Richardson’s home with the charity leaflets and a hammer that he had stolen from a shop in Hexham, Mr Smith added.

After the attack Jarman fled, taking a number of buses to different towns where he bought clothes and shaved his head.

He arrived in Newcastle and threw her handbag in a bin before selling her jewellery for £300.

A member of the public found her bag, alerted police and officers responding to a simple lost property case were met by a bloody scene.

He was finally arrested after the case received national publicity.

Jarman denied the offence, claiming he took her handbag which had been left outside her home by the real killer.

He was convicted by a 11-1 majority by the jury.

Judge Mr Justice Openshaw said Jarman may never be released.