A handyman has been found guilty for the second time of murdering a British pensioner in order to steal €550 (£480) from her purse.
The body of Margaret McNulty, 70, was found in her Granja de Rocamora home, in Valencia, Spain, in November 2019.
The Supreme Court ordered the retrial of Nicholas Pijnenborg after he was convicted of murder and robbery at his first trial in September 2022 as they claim there were irregularities in the judge’s instructions to the jury which may have influenced their deliberations.
His 25-year jail sentence was annulled and the new hearing in Elche, southeast Spain, saw the accused plead guilty.
The murderer's sentence was reduced to 13 years for the killing and a further 21 months for the robbery.
Pijnenborg will be on probation for 10 years once he’s released and has been ordered to pay €52,000 (£45,700) in compensation to both of Ms McNulty's daughters, it has been reported.
Last year’s trial heard that Mrs McNulty had been brutally assaulted by Pijnenborg when he went to her house to ask for a loan.
The pair had been friends for four years and when she pulled €50 (£43) out of her purse, he noticed a large wad of cash.
The 6ft accused man then grabbed the pensioner by the neck and threw her to the floor, before punching and kicking her to death, then stealing €550 (£480).
Pijnenborgh fled the scene but was arrested around two months later and held on remand in prison until his trial.
His lawyer argued that he stole the money because he was a drug addict and he needed more cash to fund his drug habit.
Judge Joaquin Maria Orellana Piera said: "His victim had no escape because she was surrounded by four walls and her only way out towards the street was through the dining room which her attacker had covered.
"His attack was so sudden, quick and intense that she had no possibility of defending herself."
The lawyer said in court: "Margaret's killer was motivated by the intention to obtain an illicit economic benefit at someone else's cost. He went to her house when he knew she'd be alone."
Margaret's son David, a 50-year-old engineer from Morecambe, said that the wake of his mother's death has been the hardest time of his life.
He said: "We've had to fight from day one to get information on what happened to my mum and what was happening with the court investigation.
"We weren't even told she had been murdered for nearly a couple of weeks and just before we were due to cremate her in line with her wishes.
"We ended up having to bury her so they'd release mum's body.
"Mum was loving it in Spain. She wanted to spend the rest of her life here."
