"Savage & cruel" Tillydrone thug jailed for murder

A grandmother who murdered a "generous" pensioner and then tried to 'blag' her way into gaining access to the man's finances has been jailed for life.

Evil Sharyn Stewart, 53, killed Alan Cowie, 65, by knocking him to the ground and placing her two feet on his neck causing him to stop breathing.

The High Court in Edinburgh heard how Stewart attacked Mr Cowie following a confrontation in Alexander Terrace in Aberdeen on January 2nd last year.

The court heard how Stewart occasionally lived with Mr Cowie at his property in Aberdeen. Jurors heard how the pair had a "confusing relationship".

Mr Cowie regarded Stewart as being his partner whilst they were just friends.

In the months before his death, Mr Cowie inherited £86,000 from a relative.

But after Mr Cowie died, Stewart tried to get her hands on his money.

The court heard how Mr Cowie gave her money throughout the time he had known her.

She phoned the banks which held his inheritance and tried to gain access to his accounts.

She even enlisted the help of a man to pretend to be Mr Cowie during the calls.

But Stewart failed to gain access to Mr Cowie's finances as he had previously reported his cards stolen.

Stewart, a prisoner of HMP Grampian, admitted killing Mr Cowie but claimed she didn't murder him because she had mental health problems and was unable to know right from wrong.

However, a psychiatrist told the court he couldn't find anything wrong with Ms Stewart.

On Friday, jurors convicted the drug addict and alcoholic of murder.

Passing sentence, judge Lord Pentland ordered Stewart to serve a minimum of 15 years in prison.

He said: "I conclude that you committed a savage and cruel murder with deliberation.

"The medical evidence showed he was fighting for his life but you showed him no mercy.

"The jury has rightly in my view rejected your defence of provocation.

"They have seen through your tissue of lies.

"After murdering Mr Cowie you tried to cover your tracks and showed a callous disregard for what you have done.

"Although your relationship with him was a difficult one, my overall impression is that you preyed and manipulated him in order to secure money to feed your addictions to drink and drugs.

"There is only one sentence which I can impose in this case and it is life imprisonment."

The verdict came on the eighth day of proceedings.

Stewart admitted killing Mr Cowie but denied murder.

Initially, she claimed that she suffered from mental illness but later claimed Mr Cowie provoked her into attacking him.

The court also heard that Stewart spent her life battling drink and drug addictions.

She once worked as a prostitute in Aberdeen to obtain money to feed her habit.

Alistair Smith, 28, gave evidence.

He told prosecutor Angela Gray how he lived with Stewart's daughter Lauren and their three children at the flat next door to Mr Cowie's.

He said that Mr Cowie and Stewart had a "confusing" relationship.

He said: "To Alan, they were partners. To Sharyn they were good friends."

He said that both Mr Cowie and Stewart had drink problems.

Stewart also had a drugs problem.

Mr Smith said that Mr Cowie was a "generous" man who often gave money to people.

He added: "He was a generous man. I knew he had money.

"He bought us a sofa - this was so we didn't have to take out finance and we paid him back.

"He took us on holiday. He was a generous guy. He bought my eldest daughter teddies and gifts."

Mr Smith said in the time he knew Stewart and Cowie, the pair would often bicker and argue. However, he would give her money to buy things.

On January 2nd last year, Stewart took Mr Cowie's life.

It is suspected that she murdered him to get money to feed her habits.

Although Stewart wasn't charged with any financial crimes, the jury heard tape recordings of her phoning the banks where Mr Cowie held his finances.

In one call, a man pretended to be Mr Cowie. However, Stewart didn't manage to get her hands on Mr Cowie's finances as he had previously reported his bank cards stolen just days before he died.

The court heard that Mr Cowie told the bank workers who took his call.

He said: "It has been stolen because my girlfriend stole it out my house."

Following Mr Cowie's death, Stewart didn't bother to make amends for what she had done.

Instead she chose to go to a house party in Aberdeen where she told a party-goer she had murdered Mr Cowie.

John Patterson, 39, said: "She looked a bit depressed. She came over and sat beside me.

"She told me that she had just killed someone. She had stood on his neck and put a bag over his head."

Stewart gave evidence during proceedings.

She said she wasn't romantically involved with Mr Cowie and only lived with him occasionally so she could have easy access to see her daughter and grandchildren next door.

She said that Mr Cowie repeatedly wanted to sleep with her but she refused.

She said that he would verbally abuse her after refusing. He would call her 's-----t' and 'prostitute'.

Stewart said they had spent the moments leading up to the assault, drinking and arguing.

Ms Stewart wept as she said: "The argument was going back and forth. I said 'p--- off you old b------d - that's the last thing I said to him.

"He was going on about how my pyjamas were made of steel as I wouldn't let him anywhere near me.

"I remember him running into me and pushing me - I fell back.

"It was like slow motion. When I got up, I don't know - I exploded. I remember standing over him with my feet on his throat.

"He was laughing at me. I was banging him of the floor. I was shouting 'shut the f--k up, shut the f--k up."

She told the court that she didn't feel in control - she had avoided taking medication which included methadone for four days.

Her lawyers argued that she suffered from diminished responsibility at the time of the attack.

However, psychiatrist Dr Alasdair Forrest, who works at Aberdeen's Royal Cornhill Hospital, said he examined her and couldn't find evidence she didn't know what she was doing when she killed Mr Cowie.

Jurors convicted Stewart of murder after spending a day deliberating their verdict.

Following conviction, Ms Gray told the court that Stewart had previous convictions dating from 1988 to the present day for violence, dishonesty and fraud.

Defence advocate Stephen O'Rourke QC said there was very little he could say on behalf of his client.

He told Lord Pentland: "She has been in custody since January 5th last year and she has been described as being a model prisoner.

"The drug issues which you have heard about are being addressed and managed."

Before ordering Stewart to be taken to the cells, Lord Pentland told her: "You have not shown the slightest bit of regret or remorse for your actions.

"I will set the punishment part for your crime at 15 years.