MAN SENTENCED TO 30 YEARS FOR VICIOUS MURDER OF GEORDGINA EDMONDS
A man who brutally assaulted and murdered Georgina Edmonds with a marble rolling pin has been sentenced to 30 years in prison.Matthew Hamlen was convicted of her murder in a trial that concluded on Tuesday.
Previously, he was acquitted of the same charge in 2012 due to insufficient DNA evidence.
Hamlen was re-arrested after new strong evidence emerged.
During the sentencing at Winchester Crown Court, Mr.
Justice Saunders stated: "The killer must serve a minimum of 30 years in prison." During the trial, jurors learned that Mrs.
Edmonds was stabbed multiple times, tortured for her debit card PIN, and then battered with a rolling pin.
The prosecution argued that Hamlen intended to kill her when he inflicted the fatal blows.
The judge explained that although a 30-year sentence might seem brief for such a heinous crime, Hamlen would qualify as an old age pensioner by the time eligible for parole and that there were limited mitigation factors, as Hamlen had led a blameless life for four years since his 2012 acquittal.
Mrs.
Edmonds was found by her son Harry at her cottage, which she lived in alone on the River Itchen's banks.
Her family expressed their grief, with Mr.
Edmonds describing the case as "almost as many twists and turns as an Agatha Christie thriller." Detective Ian Harris from the Crown Prosecution Service emphasized that "Georgina Edmonds was brutally and callously murdered in her own home," and it took two trials spanning eight years for justice to be achieved following the discovery of new DNA evidence on her blouse.
