Man, 22, admits murdering Sheffield church organist Alan Greaves

A MAN has admitted murdering church organist Alan Greaves who was attacked in Sheffield on Christmas Eve.
Alan GreavesAlan Greaves
Alan Greaves

Jonathan Bowling, 22, pleaded guilty to murdering Mr Greaves when he appeared at Sheffield Crown Court today.

Mr Greaves, 68, was beaten in the street as he made his way from his home in the High Green area to midnight mass at nearby St Saviour’s Church, in December.

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Ashley Foster, 21, continues to deny murder and will go on trial later this month.

Bowling was told he will be sentenced later.

Bowling, of Wesley Road, High Green, Sheffield, appeared in the dock to enter his plea.

Foster, of Carwood Way, Pitsmoor, appeared by videolink from prison. He will go on trial at Sheffield Crown Court on June 24.

Addressing Bowling, Judge Roger Keen QC said: “You know what the inevitable sentence is going to be but that will be passed at the end of the trial of your co-accused.”

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Judge Keen told Bowling he would sentenced following Foster’s trial.

Mr Greaves, a former social worker, suffered severe head injuries in the attack and died three days later.

At his funeral, which took place a few hundred metres from where he was assaulted, his widow, Maureen, told a packed St Saviour’s her husband was a “truly beautiful man”.

Hundreds of people listened to her eulogy to her late husband not only in St Saviour’s but also via video link in the equally-full St Mary’s Roman Catholic Church, down the road. Scores of wellwishers could not get into either church and stood in freezing temperatures outside, listening to the many tributes to Mr Greaves, through loudspeakers.

Both defendants were remanded in custody today.