THIS is the chilling moment a burglar is caught creeping through a 94-year-old’s flat before savagely beating the pensioner to death.
Paul Topham, 46, was today sentenced to serve a minimum term of 33 years at Wolverhampton Crown Court after the brutal murder.
West Midlands PolicePaul Topham savagely beat 94-year-old Harold Monk to death[/caption]
Topham was seen prowling around the pensioner’s house moments before the savage murder took place
The killer travelled from Birmingham to Inglewood Avenue, Wolverhampton, in the early hours of October 3 last year with the intent of robbing Harold Monk’s flat.
Chilling footage shows Topham sneaking through the 94-year-old’s home moments before he beat the elderly man to death.
The 46-year-old killer was seen on CCTV wearing a black hooded top and a balaclava, he was carrying a rucksack and wore grey tracksuit bottoms.
He was picked up by cameras at the train station and on the streets as he made his way to the elderly man’s flat to burgle the property.
Topham would then gain entry to the flat using a set of stolen keys he had nicked on a visit to his mum, who lived in the same sheltered retirement block as his victim.
A still image taken from CCTV inside the home shows the killer making his way towards a set of stairs in the property.
Topham would kill Mr Monk moments later in his own home after the pensioner interrupted his burglary and challenged the murderer.
After he was confronted by the great-grandfather Topham brutally restrained the 94-year-old and beat him to death in a savage attack.
The vile assault was overheard by a neighbour who heroically went to investigate.
They were left horrified when they arrived at the flat to find Topham on top of Mr Monk savagely beating him.
The neighbour immediately contacted the police who raced to respond to the incident.
Officers arrived within minutes and arrested Topham from the roof of the property.
Armed cops who responded to the harrowing scene provided first aid to the severely injured Mr Monk.
He was then rushed to hospital where he was treated for brutal injuries including fractures to his face, skull, spine and ribs.
West Midlands PoliceThe great-grandfather was attacked after he interrupted the burglar[/caption]
West Midlands PoliceHarold Monk’s family have issued a heartbroken tribute to the pensioner[/caption]
Tragically, despite the best efforts of medics, he died the following day in hospital with his family beside him.
The brave 94-year-old was able to speak after the vicious assault and provided information to cops that would prove vital to charging and jailing Topham for murder.
Mr Monk’s heartbroken family previously shared details about his life in the wake of his tragic murder, saying: “Harold when he was young worked as a book keeper.
“He worked for Mitchell and Butlers Brewery and then Goodyear where he worked for a long time.
“He was married twice, with two good women behind him, and was very proud of his family.
“He had three children who have blessed him with, six grandchildren, 11 great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren.
“Over the years he has lived in a number of areas in the UK , Cornwall, Devon, Shrewsbury settling back in Wolverhampton to be near his family in his latter years.
“He was enjoying living in Inglewood Court and felt safe, chatting with the other residents and engaging in activities etc.
“He was intelligent and astute and loved completing crosswords and suduko and every night he would complete the Express and Star crossword.”
Topham denied murder but was found guilty by a jury in July and sentenced to life in prison with a minimum term of 33 years today.
Detective Inspector Phil Poole, from West Midland’s Homicide Unit, said: “Cases like this are thankfully extremely rare. It was a unique set of circumstances with Paul Topham being a man on a mission who very deliberately travelled from Birmingham to Wolverhampton to carry out a burglary.
“But Topham’s actions and decisions that night resulted in the tragic death of Harold Monk and today he has been jailed for a very significant length of time.
“Our teams have remained dedicated throughout to bring the callous and cowardly man who killed Mr Monk to justice.
“Mr Monk’s statement proved a powerful and crucial piece of evidence in seeing Topham locked up and we hope that Mr Monk’s family can now find some peace in having seen justice done.”
Topham denied murder but was found guilty by a jury
Topham was seen on camera travelling to the property where he murdered the pensioner Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
