An Edinburgh man has been jailed for life after pretending to be a postman and killing a pensioner. The incident occurred on January 24, 2020, at a flat in Restalrig Circus.
Martin Stewart gained access to Margaret Grant's flat under false pretences and shoved her after stealing cash from the 79-year-old. She suffered a heart attack as a result of the fall and tragically died in hospital.
The 41-year-old had been freed eight months into a two-year sentence for robbing another elderly woman when he struck. Stewart was only released for two days when he killed Margaret before later targeting other pensioners in their homes. He appeared at the High Court in Glasgow after he pled guilty to a culpable homicide charge in November 2021.
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The Record reports how Lady Stacey imposed an Order for Lifelong Restriction on Stewart, whose crimes span the last 25 years. He must serve a minimum of four and a half years in jail. The judge said: "The woman you killed was an elderly and defenceless person. You got into her home by deception, assaulted her and ransacked her house.
"She died later in hospital having had a heart attack brought on by the stress of what happened in the hours before. That is a despicable crime and you should be ashamed."
Lady Stacey added Stewart would be freed "if and only if" the Parole Board are eventually satisfied he is no longer a danger. The court heard last year heard how Margaret lived alone, was virtually housebound and needed carers three times a week.
Stewart turned up to Margaret's ground floor flat around 6pm on the evening of the attack, pretending to be a postman and claiming he had a parcel for her. Once inside, Stewart reportedly grabbed Margaret and demanded she give him money. After saying she only had £15 handy, he called her a liar and ransacked the flat.
Stewart also made off with £200 from a charity tin and then searched Margaret's handbag as said she was going to get help. But, he grabbed her again and threw the four-foot pensioner to the ground. The OAP's carer came to her rescue and Stewart ran off - but his DNA was left at the scene as well as his fingerprints on a Christmas card.
Margaret - who already had a number of medical issues - was taken to hospital. She was initially able to talk freely, but her condition got worse and she passed away that night in hospital.
A medical consultant concluded the pensioner had suffered a "major heart attack" as a result of "acute and severe stress" from what happened. Stewart was eventually arrested, but only after he had targeted other properties in Edinburgh where pensioners lived between January 27 and February 17 2020.
He carried out thefts - which he also admitted to in court - by claiming to be a workman doing repairs. Ian Duguid QC, defending, said it was "sad" that Stewart's "persistent offending" to fund a drug habit had eventually lead to Margaret's killing.
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