Suffolk murder suspect was on the run from police before Anita Rose attack in Brantham, court told
Murder accused Roy Barclay was on the run from police when he attacked Anita Rose, a trial has heard. ITV News Anglia's Tanya Mercer was at Ipswich Crown Court.
A man accused of murdering a dog walker in a "vicious and brutal attack" had been on the run from police for two years, a court has heard.
Roy Barclay, 56, denies murdering 57-year-old mother-of-six Anita Rose in Brantham, Suffolk, on 24 July 2024.
On Thursday, the prosecution for his trial at Ipswich Crown Court said Ms Rose had been walking her dog Bruce and sustained head injuries "equivalent to a road traffic accident" after suffering "kicks, stamps and blows" near Rectory Lane.
She was found unconscious by passers-by around 6.25am, but died four days later at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge on 28 July.
Roy Barclay was "unlawfully at large" - prosecution
As his trial began, jurors heard Mr Barclay had been living off-grid in the countryside for two years and was "sleeping in various makeshift camps", prosecutor Christopher Paxton KC said.
Mr Paxton said: “He lived off-grid because for two years, Roy Barclay had been unlawfully at large.
“He had been on the run trying to avoid the police and authorities to try and avoid being recalled back to prison.”
Mr Barclay's internet search records in the days after Ms Rose's attack showed he had searched "how long does DNA last at a crime scene", as well as "how are outside objects swabbed for DNA" and "can barbed wire be swabbed for DNA".
Ms Rose’s body was found just feet away from barbed wire.
Searches also showed that Barclay had been following the police investigation on media websites - the prosecution claim because he had a vested interest in the case and wondered whether his time was up.
Kept jacket "as a trophy"
A pink jacket belonging to Ms Rose which she was wearing on the day of the attack was later found by police in what prosecutors claim was a make-shift camp belonging to Mr Barclay.
He said the 56-year-old kept the jacket “as a trophy” and it had his “semen on the neckline”.
Mr Paxton said Mr Barclay’s walking boots, which “amounted to the murder weapon”, were found at the same camp.
There is “support for the conclusion that the marks on Anita’s face were made by these boots”, the barrister said.
He said Ms Rose’s phone case was also found there, and her Samsung earbuds were located at a different makeshift camp Mr Barclay had used.
A facial recognition expert concluded that CCTV footage showed Mr Barclay not far from the Brantham area on 21 and 24 July.
The defendant, who wore glasses, a grey prison-issue tracksuit and has a grey beard and long, thinning grey hair, listened to proceedings from the secure dock of the court.
Relatives of Ms Rose listened from the public gallery.
The trial continues and is expected to last for eight weeks.
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