This is the moment a career burglar walked along a garden fence and clambered on a roof in a bid to evade police after murdering a grandmother in her own home.
Aaron Fyle, 29, battered Eulin Hastings, 73, over the head with a wooden coffee table after smashing his way into her house in South Norwood, London, on January 10 2017.
After smashing through the patio door he broke a lamp and emptied the retired midwife’s jewellery box.
When he was disturbed, he attacked Mrs Hastings and used napkins from the kitchen to set a fire at the bottom of the stairs where she lay dying.
He tried to put out the blaze before fleeing the scene and burgling another nearby home while the occupants, a mother and baby, were inside.
The woman managed to escape with her daughter and alerted police, who found Fyle still in the house, armed with a knife.
Fyle jumped over fences and leapt on to a roof, where he threatened to harm himself during a five-hour stand-off, the Old Bailey heard.
Aaron Fyle, 29, jumped over fences and leapt on to a roof, where he threatened to harm himself during a five-hour stand-off with police on January 10 2017
Aaron Fyle, 29, (left) battered Eulin Hastings, 73, (right) over the head with a wooden coffee table after smashing his way into her house in South Norwood, London, on January 10 2017.
The 29-year-old, of Croydon, south London, admitted the burglaries, possessing a knife and the manslaughter of Mrs Hastings and was convicted of her murder following a trial.
The jury had rejected his claim he saw a ‘demon’ and acted in self-defence or killed the mother-of-three while mentally ill.
On Friday, Judge Mark Lucraft QC jailed him for life with a minimum term of 31 years, with sentences for the other offences to run concurrently.
The judge noted the defendant’s previous convictions and told him that burglary had been his ‘way of life for many years’.
He said: ‘In this case I have no doubt that Eulin did disturb you whilst you were in the process of the burglary and that you picked up the coffee table close to you and you then hit Eulin with the table with great force.’
The judge acknowledged a ‘moving’ statement from Mrs Hastings’ daughter, Sonia Rhone, made on behalf of the family.
Ms Rhone wrote: ‘We have been left bereft and lost since the death of our mother.
The 29-year-old (pictured walking along a garden fence), of Croydon, south London, admitted the burglaries, possessing a knife and the manslaughter of Mrs Hastings and was convicted of her murder following a trial at the Old Bailey
Aerial images show Fyle running through people’s back gardens in a bid to escape
‘As her daughter, we were more like sisters but she was always there to provide helpful, sage advice and valuable life lessons to us all, whenever we had problems.
‘Her life was cut short whilst enjoying her final retirement years by someone who had never done an honest day’s work in his life.’
A family statement added: ‘There is no waking from this nightmare it continues every waking moment it disturbs our sleep and disrupts our daily lives.
‘Our mother was a pillar within the community spent her life helping others. She was loved by everyone who knew her.
‘Mum worked as a midwife for over 30 years delivering hundreds of babies at St Thomas’s and St George’s Hospitals.
‘Our mother’s final moments will play on our minds and these thoughts will haunt us for the rest of our lives.
‘Aaron Fyle you are a parasite who has preyed on vulnerable people who have worked hard for their possessions.
‘We believe you to be an evil, monstrous individual who killed a defenceless elderly woman, our mother. You destroyed our family home and all our mother’s treasured belongings and possessions.
Infra-red images show Fyle on the roof of a garden shed during his five-hour stand-off with police
‘You, Aaron Fyle, have destroyed our lives, you have taken away our beautiful mother and grandmother’s precious life, leaving us with only her badly burnt body lying naked on the floor of her home.’
After his arrest, Fyle told officers: ‘Burglary is one thing, murder’s another,’ before adding ‘I will not be linked to this matter in any way.’
Police then discovered the prolific criminal was wanted on recall to prison for other burglaries at the time of the murder.
On 31 March 2015 he was convicted of four burglaries committed in September and October 2014 at Woolwich Crown Court and released in May 2016.
Prosecutor Brian O’Neill, QC, earlier told jurors Fyle is a ‘career burglar with numerous convictions over many years for dwelling house burglaries.
He told jurors he did not see Mrs Hasting’s but only a ‘devil’ which he began to batter with the leg of her coffee table.
The Muslim convert had announced 10 months after Mrs Hastings’ death that he was possessed by demons and was moved to the hospital wing at High Down Prison in Surrey.
Fyle is seen clambering over a garden fence in South Norwood, south east London on January 10 2017
But psychiatrist Dr Richard Latham told jurors there was ‘nothing’ to suggest Fyle had been suffering any mental illness.
Fyle’s criminal record dates back to his teens and in 2009 he was sent to a young offenders’ institution for two and a half years for a £180,000 burglary spree across London. He first started offending in 2002.
One previous burglary had happened on Mrs Hasting’s street.
‘It is right that the court should know that although it was left on the file one of the matters, he was indicted on was a burglary in Birchanger Road,’ he said.
Emma Currie, from the CPS, said: ‘As a career criminal Fyle went to vast lengths to satiate his malicious greed. It ended devastatingly, with the death of a 74-year-old grandmother in her own home.
‘Throughout the burglary of Mrs Hasting’s home, Fyle wreaked havoc: a glass lamp was broken, a jewellery box was emptied, and her personal belongings were strewn across the floor.
CCTV images show him walking near Mrs Hasting’s house before he committed the robbery and murder
‘Having set fire to Mrs Hastings, Fyle left his victim alone in her house, and sought out his next victim just some 400metres away.
‘The defendant appeared so casual and relaxed that his second victim thought he must have been a friend of her husband at first.
‘The lengths that Fyle went to for his own greed resulted in burgled homes and a woman’s life callously cut short. He will now have to face justice for his actions.’
DCI Richard Leonard of Specialist Crime (Homicide) said: ‘Eulin Hastings was a retired nurse, well liked in the local community and an active member of the church.
‘Her life had been spent looking after others and it is tragic that such a caring person should have been murdered in her own home, a place where she should have been safe.
‘In contrast Fyle is a serial offender with a horrendous criminal record. This predator roamed the streets browsing homes to identify targets for larceny.
‘He was a prolific offender and, after committing an offence would carry on roaming the streets looking for the next target to burgle.
‘I have no doubt he burgled this poor woman’s home, fatally assaulted her and then set her home on fire to cover up his actions. It shows the depth of this man’s depravity that just a short while later, he was burgling another home.
‘Fyle has shown no remorse whatsoever and I am thankful that he has been convicted and will now face the consequences of his despicable acts.’