Care home murder - teenager jailed

25 minutes ago  By Press Association

A teenager who murdered a bed-ridden 88-year-old woman in a care home has been jailed for 18 years.

Imran Douglas was 17 when he strangled and stabbed "defenceless" Margery Gilby at sheltered accommodation in Shadwell, east London, on May 24.

The pensioner was found murdered when a nurse at the home on Sutton Street noticed that a door she always kept open had been shut.

Looking through the letterbox, the nurse saw a male in the room, and after entering she discovered Mrs Gilby with a stab wound to the neck and the rear window open.

Douglas, now 18, of Norman Close in Romford, north-east London, was linked to the crime through CCTV footage from the care home and arrested the same day.

Sentencing him to 18 years after he admitted murder, a judge at the Old Bailey lifted reporting restrictions and allowed him to be named.

Detective Chief Inspector Graeme Gwyn said: "Margery was killed as she lay in her own bed, in a place where she should have been safe. To see such violence used against a defenceless, elderly lady was truly shocking.

"Only Douglas can explain why an attempted burglary had to end in murder.

"I would like to pay testimony to Margery's family who have demonstrated incredible dignity throughout this difficult process for them.

"Detectives arrested Douglas within hours of the murder, following the painstaking review of CCTV evidence and fast inquiries."