A MAN has been convicted for the second time of bludgeoning his elderly neighbour to death.
Peter Smith, 48, was originally jailed for the murder of Hilda Owen in 2008 but had the conviction overturned.
However yesterday at Nottingham Crown Court a jury again found him guilty.
He was sentenced to life in prison and will serve a minimum of 27 years before being considered for parole.
Mrs Owen, 71, was found dead at her home in West Hill, Skegby, in March 2007.
A Home Office post-mortem examination found she had died from severe head injuries caused by a blunt instrument and a screwdriver. There was also evidence of strangulation.
Smith, who had reported finding Mrs Owen's body, was arrested a few weeks later and charged with her murder.
He originally went on trial in November 2008 and after being found guilty was sentenced to a minimum of 30 years in prison.
However in April 2010 he was granted the right to an appeal, which led to the conviction being overturned in May 2011 and a retrial ordered based on the poor quality of fingerprint evidence.
The retrial began in October and had to be restarted three times as the jury had to be discharged.
During the seven-week hearing, the prosecution argued that Smith, who had large debts, had befriended Mrs Owen to gain access to her money and that had been his motive for murdering her.
He even bought a will-making kit shortly before her murder, backdated it and filled it out in her name, stating that her property would be left to him after her death.
The jury was sent out on Tuesday morning and came back with the verdict yesterday. After the hearing, Detective Superintendent Paul Cottee said: "Once again, a jury has found Peter Smith guilty of the brutal murder of Hilda Owen.
"The evidence against Smith in terms of motive, his behaviour prior to Mrs Owen's murder and his movements on and immediately after the day of her murder was overwhelming.
"Smith exercised his legal right to appeal and was granted a retrial. This has obviously placed significant demands upon police time and has also come at a cost to the taxpayer, yet has ultimately reached the same result as the original proceedings.
"Nevertheless, it was essential that the right outcome was achieved and we believe that, once again, it has."
Mr Cottee added: "This process has also meant that Mrs Owen's relatives have again had to endure details of the ordeal she would have suffered at the hands of her killer.
"However, they can now be assured that the man who murdered her has been returned to prison, where he will remain for a very long time."
