Hilda Lockert death: Killer sentenced after DNA link found

Hilda Lockert died in hospital two weeks after being attacked

A "callous" mugger has been jailed for 18 years for killing an elderly woman 20 years ago.

Hilda Lockert, 86, died two weeks after being attacked and robbed of her shopping bag and purse in Brixton, south London, in April 2001.

DNA samples taken from her shopping bag linked Junior Young to the attack.

Young, now 39, was sentenced at the Old Bailey to 18 years in prison for manslaughter and five years for robbery, to run concurrently.

Junior Young was 18 years old when he and an accomplice attacked Mrs Lockert, snatching the pensioner's purse containing £15, a shopping bag and a bus pass on 30 April 2001.

The case remained unsolved for nearly 20 years before Young's DNA was identified on the handle of Mrs Lockert's bag.

During the violent robbery, one teenager took hold of her mouth while the other grabbed her by the throat, the court was told.

She said at the time that she felt as if she had been lifted and thrown through the air before hitting a wall at the bottom of some stairs, jurors heard.

The pensioner was left "shocked and very distressed" and "black and blue", the Old Bailey heard.

She was taken to hospital with a lump on her head, broken leg and pain in her hip and died two weeks later on her 86th birthday.

Young was arrested in June 2001, but released without charge.

New DNA technique

However, in 2015 a forensic scientist re-examined samples taken from the handles of the shopping bag, and matched the DNA to Young.

During the trial, the court also heard that Young had two previous convictions for robbery in 1999 and 2001.

Young, now aged 39, who grew up in Brixton, was charged with her robbery and manslaughter, which he denied.

The defendant, who had an "extensive" record of offending including two robberies before and after the 2001 attack, was found guilty of the charges following an Old Bailey trial.

'Too old to defend herself'

On Monday, Mrs Lockert's nephew Brian Bullock said in a victim impact statement that his aunt had lived on the same Brixton estate since it was built.

Despite being robbed "several times" she refused to move away from the home she had shared with her husband Ted.

At the time of her death, Mrs Lockert's husband of 60 years had moved into a care home because he was suffering from Alzheimer's disease.

He never got the chance to say goodbye and did not understand where she had gone, Mr Bullock said.

Mr Bullock, who is now in his 80s himself, said: "We were devastated when she was killed. I cannot tell you what it was like walking into that hospital ward seeing what they had done to her."

He told how difficult it was to explain to his aunt she had been attacked because she was "too old to defend herself".

Following her death, Hilda Lockert Walk in Lambeth, south London, was named in tribute to the "lively" and independent pensioner.

Judge Nigel Lickley said Mrs Lockert was an independent and active person who was a "popular and respected" member of the community.

He told Young: "She was pulled with force backwards and taken to the ground when you and your accomplice rummaged through her coat.

"Mrs Lockert was just short of 5ft in height, she was vulnerable and you chose to rob her. This was callous and very serious offending."

The judge noted the defendant had attacked his victim to fund a crack cocaine habit and would resort to "reckless and aggressive behaviour".

Sentencing Young, he told the defendant his actions had caused "untold upset" to many people.