Teenagers sentenced in'abuse' killing

TWO teenagers killed a terminally ill man, breaking a bone in his neck and slashing his throat, after one of them confronted him about his alleged sexual abuse of her years earlier.

Leeds Crown Court heard yesterday Claire Hardy tricked her way into the home of John Greer in Arncliffe Crescent, Rastrick, on September 4 last year on the pretext of using his phone, and was followed by her boyfriend Reece Gledhill.

Their 60-year-old victim, known as Brushy from his days as a roadsweeper, was vulnerable because he was suffering from a lung disease, needed an oxygen supply to breath and had been given only six months to live.

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He was a family friend and Hardy had previously claimed to others, including Gledhill, that during her early teens he had indecently abused her.

Simon Bourne-Arton QC, representing Hardy, said her own parents had not believed her and over the years as her mother Gillian Pearson in particular maintained the friendship, the teenager felt the pain of her abuse like a sore, constantly being rubbed. She went off the rails, drinking and smoking cannabis, becoming a drifter.

When she learned Mr Greer was dying she "became obsessed with the determination he should not die without having accepted and admitted his involvement in the abuse to her."

That afternoon, when Mr Greer would not accept that, she snapped and they struggled. She tried to strangle him with a cord and Gledhill then joined in.

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Maura McGowan, for Gledhill, said he accepted grabbing Mr Greer by the neck when he saw what was happening to Hardy with whom he was besotted.

Gledhill, 18, who admitted murder, was sentenced to custody for life and ordered to serve a minimum of 12 years.

Hardy, 19, of Close Lea Way, Rastrick, was sentenced to eight years in a young offender institution after admitting manslaughter on the grounds of provocation

Mr Justice Blair said they arrived at Mr Greer's home on the evening of September 4 looking for a confrontation.

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"He could not have possibly put up any meaningful resistance. Having tricked your way into his house the deceased was strangled and his throat was cut with a knife."

The judge said he was satisfied Hardy was the instigator, she was the dominant partner in the relationship.

"Whatever may have happened in the past there was not the slightest excuse for going to John Greer's home that night. You took the law into your own hands with disastrous results."

After the killing they stole Mr Greer's television and hi-fi system to make it look like a burglary but that helped to lead to them being traced. Hardy had by then told a friend she had "slit" his throat. The knife used was not found.

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Mr Bourne-Arton said Hardy's account of abuse was supported by the fact that at the time of his death Mr Greer was facing a court appearance in the south of England on similar allegations.

After the case Det Supt Dave Pervin paid tribute to the witnesses who provided vital information and the expertise of forensic scientist Gillian Leake.