MAN AND FIANCÉE WENT ON BENDER WITH MURDERED STEPDAD'S CASH AS PLOT UNRAVELLED AFTER ONE NIGHT STAND CONFESSION
Ian Mitchell, 35, and his fiancée, Sarah Pearson, 23, have been sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Mitchell's stepfather, Stephen Kershaw, in September 2022.Mitchell will serve a minimum of 22 years, and Pearson a minimum of 19.
The court heard that after Mitchell was released from prison, he and Pearson moved in with the vulnerable 65-year-old Kershaw and began physically abusing him to get money for drugs and alcohol.
As a result, Kershaw was forced to rely on food banks and loans from friends.
On September 11, 2022, after Kershaw was last seen returning home on CCTV, Mitchell and Pearson went on a spending spree with Kershaw's credit card.
They were captured on video recklessly spending money and even destroying a wine display at an ASDA.
Meanwhile, Kershaw's concerned daughter reported him missing after he failed to contact her.
Several days later, police discovered Kershaw's body hidden in a rug and carpet in an alcove of his room.
The cause of death was believed to be smothering, though a pathologist noted injuries to his skull and a fractured bone in his throat.
Following their arrest and release on bail, Pearson confessed to the murder to a man she met at a hotel.
She claimed they killed him because "he was old and disrespectful," and that "he gave us permission to kill him." She also made a recorded statement in a prison van, telling Mitchell, "suffocation doesn't show up on an autopsy." Both Mitchell and Pearson pleaded guilty to the murder, with Pearson also pleading guilty to fraud and assault.
The judge described their behavior as "parasitic" and stated they had "bullied and abused" Kershaw.
