Man given life sentence for murder of 87 year old Surrey woman
Rosemary Hill died last year
A man has been handed a life sentence after he was found guilty of murdering his 87 year old neighbour.
On Sunday 21 June 2020 46 year old Guy Douglas Unmack of Warren Road in Reigate hit Rosemary Hill over the back of the head with a cricket bat and she died in hospital a few days later.
Rosemary was a well-known figure in the local community and was cutting sprigs of rosemary from a neighbour’s garden when she was attacked.
As a resident of Warren Road for many years, Rosemary was retired and lived alone following the death of her husband.
She had expressed how much she was looking forward to spending more time with her children and granddaughter with plans to go on holiday with them once the lockdown had lifted.
On the day of the assault, Rosemary had enjoyed a walk in the local area with her son.
At around 5pm, she went to a neighbour’s front garden to cut some herbs. Without warning, she was approached by Unmack who hit her over the back of the head with a cricket bat, causing her to fall to the ground unconscious.
Witnesses described it as a completely unprovoked attack.
A post-mortem examination recorded her cause of death as a severe blunt force head injury.
Speaking after her tragic death her children said that Rosemary’s untimely death has caused them to lose what should have been happy family time together.
“A life full of caring and enabling other people to achieve their full potential was cruelly cut short.”
Unmack was arrested shortly after the attack on suspicion of attempted murder.
He was assessed and deemed to be mentally unfit for interview and detention.
He was placed under an involuntary order under Section 2 of the Mental Health Act and was subsequently moved to a secure hospital.
Following an investigation, Unmack was re-arrested once fit to be interviewed and subsequently charged with murder on 2 October.
He appeared at Guildford Crown Court today (24 June) where he was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum period of 19 years.
Following the sentence, Senior Investigating Officer, Detective Chief Inspector Charlotte Rimmer said:
“Rosemary Hill’s murder shocked the local community, and left those who knew her bereft.”
“Her family are devastated following her death and our thoughts remain with them at this extremely difficult time. While nothing can bring Mrs Hill back, I hope that the trial and sentence today will give them some form of closure.”