Rosalind Gray jailed for killing Linda Rainey in row over £200 debt

Linda Rainey, 60, died in hospital two days after suffering a head injury

A woman has been jailed for 17 years for killing a mother-of-five by pushing her down the stairs in a row over a £200 debt.

Linda Rainey, 60, died in hospital two days after suffering a head injury at a flat in Great Yarmouth in August 2019.

Rosalind Gray, 54, of Marlborough Square, Great Yarmouth, was found guilty of manslaughter and conspiring to pervert the course of justice.

Judge Stephen Holt said he hoped the family of Mrs Rainey found "closure".

Adrian Lawrence, 55, who owned the home at South Market Road, Great Yarmouth, where the killing took place, was jailed for 38 months for conspiring to pervert the course of justice.

Prosecutor Andrew Jackson QC said Rosalind Gray had the "propensity to be violent"

Judge Holt, at Norwich Crown Court, told Gray: "It should have been blindingly obvious to you that pushing someone backwards down stairs was high risk."

In a statement the family of Ms Rainey said: "Losing Mum in these circumstances has torn a hole right through the centre of our worlds... Losing her has been so painful."

The court was told an ambulance was called to South Market Road at about 23:40 BST on 5 August after reports a woman had fallen down stairs.

Ms Rainey was taken to James Paget Hospital with serious head injuries and later transferred to Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge but died two days later.

On 10 August, the court heard, police received a phone call from a woman who had been drinking with the three friends, claiming she saw Gray push Ms Rainey.

Prosecutor Andrew Jackson QC said Gray had the "propensity to be violent" and had "deliberately" pushed her friend down the stairs.

Adrian Lawrence, 53, was also convicted of conspiring to pervert the course of justice

The two women had discussed going on holiday together and texts revealed a dispute over £200 allegedly owed to Ms Rainey, he said.

The court heard the unnamed witness had been told to hide in a room while the ambulance attended "as she couldn't be trusted to keep quiet".

Gray and Lawrence then "applied more pressure" and met the witness at a pub "to get their story straight", police said.

The court heard that Gray had been sentenced to 10 years for arson endangering life in 2010 and served five years.

Linda Rainey suffered head injuries at the flat in Great Yarmouth last August