A 22-year-old homeless man was today charged with the rape and murder of a pensioner who police believe was battered to death by burglars in Tottenham.
Reece Dempster from Haringey appeared at Highbury Magistrates’ Court this morning after police found a 89-year-old Dorothy Woolmer was found dead in her home on Sunday.
He is also accused of sexual assault by penetration and burglary at the address in north London and will face the Old Bailey on Friday.
Mr Dempster has been remanded in custody ahead of his court appearance and was arrested on Monday following the death of the ‘frail’ victim, whose death sparked London’s 86th murder investigation of this year.
Forensics officers are pictured at the scene in Tottenham on Monday after an 89-year-old was killed in north London
Dorothy Woolmer (pictured) was found dead in her own home in Tottenham, north London, on Sunday by neighbours
Mourners are pictured arriving at the scene today to pay their respects to the 89-year-old killed in her own home
Detectives believe intruders got into the victim’s her address at some point on Saturday night before beating the pensioner, who was frail and walked with a zimmer frame.
Police were called by paramedics at around 10.45am on Sunday after the body was found at an address in Waltheof Gardens.
DCI Garry Moncrieff, of the Met’s Specialist Crime unit, said: ‘The woman had clearly been assaulted and, as such, a murder investigation has been launched.
‘I want to hear from anyone who saw anything suspicious in and around Waltheof Gardens and the surrounding area on Saturday night or Sunday morning.
Police wearing riot gear enter a house in Tottenham, north London, as they investigate the death of an 89-year-old
Officers are pictured entering an address in Tottenham, close to where the 89-year-old was killed on the weekend
Police are pictured as they appear to raid a house in Waltheof Gardens, where the 89-year-old was killed
Pictured: Forensics officers are at the scene in Tottenham, north London, this morning as they investigate the death
Pictured: The blocked-off crime scene in Tottenham, north London, this morning, where forensics are scouring the scene for evidence
Police are pictured at the scene of the murder in Tottenham, north London, this morning, where residents are in shock over the killing
The pensioner died in her own home after intruders broke in. Police (pictured at the scene) have opened a murder investigation
Pictured: Police at the scene in Tottenham, north London, this morning, where an 89-year-old woman has been killed
Forensics are pictured at the scene in Tottenham, north London, following the death of the pensioner
Forensics officers are pictured scouring the scene in Tottenham, north London, following the death of the pensioner
The former housewife and keen gardener lived in a two-storey terraced home in Tottenham with her husband Ken Woolmer, a former Royal Navy engineer, for more than 60 years. Ken passed away a few years ago, according to neighbours.
Former RAF conscript John George, 91, who lived near the woman, said: ‘I couldn’t wish for a better neighbour. She used to trim her hedges and tidy her garden. I used to say, ‘Alright, gardener!’
‘She was a very pleasant lady; and Ken was a most helpful man, any time of the day. They were just good neighbours from ex serviceman to another ex serviceman, he was just a nice guy.’
Former RAF conscript John George, 91, who lived near Dorothy, said: ‘I couldn’t wish for a better neighbour. She used to trim her hedges and tidy her garden. I used to say, ‘Alright, gardener!’
‘She was a very pleasant lady; and Ken was a most helpful man, any time of the day. They were just good neighbours from ex serviceman to another ex serviceman, he was just a nice guy.’
He added: ‘It’s an absolutely disgusting attack on a 89-year-old. It’s bloody awful, even as a 91-year-old and I’ve got me principles. You think we are all safe, but then something like this happens. We don’t often see a policeman.
‘We only had a break in two weeks ago and they stole a television and laptop. I don’t know if they are going around sussing everybody out.’
Another neighbour, who gave his name as George, 77, added: ‘It’s disgusting what’s happened. A lot of them are targeting elderly people who live on their own.’
Police have opened a murder investigation after thugs broke into a Tottenham home and left the pensioner dead
Police outside a house in Tottenham and at the cordon after an elderly woman was found dead inside her own home
Father-of-one Sayed Hussain, 40, lives two doors from the home of tragic widow Dorothy Woolmer where her body was found on Sunday morning.
Accounts manager Mr Hussain said: ‘I have only two words – not human. No human can think like that. I’ve not a single word to explain my sorrow.’
He added: ‘We all have to go some time, but it shouldn’t happen like that. Secondly, I don’t understand why, to our senior citizens? They are exceptional. Most of them on this road are senior citizens; all of them are very good. It’s really terrible, it shouldn’t happen.’
She is the 88th – and oldest – murder victim in London this year. A local resident said of the neighbour who found the body: ‘She checks in on Dorothy every couple of days, but hadn’t heard from her.
‘The door was left open, so she walked in to find her still in bed. She had been sleeping downstairs because she couldn’t make it up them anymore. She said it was truly horrible. She called an ambulance straight away.’
The neighbour added: ‘We don’t know how long she had been there for.’