Robber who murdered reclusive pensioner and stole £13,000 for spending spree jailed for life

Xyaire Howard murdered pensioner Susan Hawkey before going on a shopping spree with girlfriend Chelsea Grant
Xyaire Howard has been jailed for life for the murder of Susan Hawkey
MPS
WEST END FINAL

Get our award-winning daily news email featuring exclusive stories, opinion and expert analysis

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

A robber who terrorised and then murdered a reclusive pensioner before taking his girlfriend on a £13,000 spending spree with her savings has been jailed for life. Xyaire Howard, 23, bound Susan Hawkey, 71, with tape and shoe laces as he forced her to reveal the PIN to her bank card.

He then strangled her as he and girlfriend Chelsea Grant, 28, went on spending spree for luxury goods including perfumes, a new television, portable speakers, telephones, clothes, shoes, sunglasses, watches and handbags.

As well as lavish purchases at Westfield shopping centre in Shepherd’s Bush and Wembley, money was also drained from Mrs Hawkey’s bank account and sent to St Vincent and the Grenadines.

Ms Hawkey’s decomposing body was discovered under a duvet in the living room of her home in Neasden, north-west London, 20 days after she had been murdered.

She had been tied up, with her hands taped and tied behind her back, her eyes had been taped shut and a ligature knotted around her neck.

Susan Hawkey was murdered in her own home
MPS

At the Old Bailey on Friday, Howard was jailed for life and ordered to serve at least 31 years in prison before being considered for release.

He and Grant admitted fraud by false representation over the spending on Ms Hawkey’s bank card, while Grant was convicted of three counts of robbery and an attempted robbery, and Howard was found guilty of robbery and attempted robbery.

Judge Judy Khan KC sentenced Grant to 15 years in prison.

She told Howard: “It was a calculated and callous course of action, a killing motivated by your greed.”

The court heard how the couple, from Press Road in Neasden, had preyed on Mrs Hawkey as a “highly vulnerable” older woman who lived an isolated life with little contact with friends and family.

She was also a “creature of habit” and would take the same route with her bank card to the shops and Post Office to withdraw cash.

Her family, in a statement to the court, said Mrs Hawkey was “kind and generous”, she lived with her parents until their deaths, and she had become “very reclusive” in later life.

“She wanted to stay in the area where she had grown up and in the home she always lived in”, they said.

Mrs Hawkey did not have a phone at home and used a nearby phone box to make calls, while she rarely responded to letters, the court heard. Her family said Howard and Grant “persistently targeted and preyed on” Mrs Hawkey, and she “must have felt terrified and helpless” in her final days.

Chelsea Grant went on a shopping spree with Susan Hawkey's stole savings
MPS

They said they have been left with nightmares about what happened to her, calling it a “senseless murder” and adding: “It haunts us every single day, and will forever be a shadow over their lives”.

Mrs Hawkey managed to cancel her bank card after she was first robbed by the couple, to stop money leaving her account.

She was last seen alive on September 6 last year, and the following day Howard used the victim’s new bank card to withdraw £250 at a cash machine.

Prosecutor Annabel Darlow KC said the PIN must have been forced out of her, and the discovery of her body – bound, blindfolded, and with a ligature around her neck – indicated she had been forced to hand it over.

She added that Howard “must have intended to kill Mrs Hawkey”, and had the “clear intention of ensuring she couldn’t interfere with his ability to access the funds in her bank account”.

The clothes on her lower half had been removed, and her upper clothing had been cut open, the court heard.

Ms Hawkey’s bank card was finally stopped last September 28 at the request of police and the defendants were arrested at a bus stop.

The court heard Howard had searched Google for “Barclays transaction limit” and Grant typed in the search phrases “can you smell a dead body from outside the house” and “is a dead body a very strong smell”, it was claimed.

Howard admitted tying Mrs Hawkey up, but claimed he had left her alive. He was seen on CCTV going to a cashpoint without shoelaces on, having apparently used them to restrain the victim.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in