SOUTHAMPTON MAN JAILED FOR 25 YEARS FOR BRUTAL MURDER OF GREAT-GRANDMOTHER
A 25-year-old man from Chessel Crescent, Southampton, named Jamie Boult, was found guilty of the murder of Delia Hughes, an elderly woman aged 85, who resided alone in her flat in Ocean Village, Southampton.Boult admitted to killing Mrs Hughes but argued that his responsibility should be diminished due to a personality disorder characterized by severe depression, mood swings, and violent outbursts.
The trial at Winchester Crown Court established that Boult entered Hughes’s flat through open patio doors, lurked in her bedroom, and repeatedly struck her at least eight times with a heavy lump hammer he had brought with him.
He also stole her jewelry.
The judge sentenced him to serve at least 25 years, with the possibility of never being released.
During sentencing, Justice Bean described the case as 'shocking' and stressed the attacking’s brutality and the grief felt by Mrs Hughes’s family.
It emerged that Boult had also attempted a burglary at a nearby flat four days earlier, armed with an axe, and was arrested after damaging a police vehicle’s window and self-harming while in custody at the police station.
