Buczek Guilty of Eleanor Whitelaw Murder

Labourer Robert Buczek has been convicted of the horrific murder of an 85-year-old grandmother in her own home in Edinburgh. Buczek, 24, attacked Eleanor Whitelaw with a pair of scissors he grabbed from the hallway of her home at Morningside Grove and plunged them seven times into her neck.. At the High Court in Glasgow, Buczek showed no emotion as the jury of 10 men and five women returned a unanimous guilty verdict. It then emerged Buczek already had a previous conviction for assaulting and robbing a pensioner - when he was only 14. Prosecutor Alex Prentice QC explained how in 2005, Buczek knocked over an 82 year-old woman in Poland and took her handbag containing money. Mr Prentice went on to say Mrs Whitelaw's tragic death had left her family "deeply distressed". The advocate depute said: "She leaves her husband, children and wider family. "They have explained that this death was particularly painful in that it occurred in the house where the grew up." Buczek will be handed a life sentence when he returns to the dock at the High Court in Stirling on March 17. Judge Lord Matthews told him: "You have been found guilty - frankly unsurprising given the evidence - of the brutal murder of a vulnerable, elderly women in her own home. "This was a revolting crime." The court earlier heard how Mrs Whitelaw - who was known to family and friends as Norah - fell to the ground fracturing her skull during the attack. Callous Buczek then dragged her along the hallway like a rag doll before dumping her in the morning room. He then prowled round the house rummaging in cupboards and drawers before leaving with an envelope of stamps and a box containing spoons. The brutal attack took place on July 11, 2014, sometimes between 3pm and 4.10pm. The carelesss killer left his DNA at the house and was also identified by a woman who saw him running past her house that afternoon. Throughout his trial he denied ever being in the house and said he could not explain when his DNA was found on the murder weapon.