Anish Vij
A woman and her boyfriend have gone to prison after she confessed a shocking crime to a stranger on a night out.
Sarah Pearson and her boyfriend Ian Mitchell, from Bradford, were out on bail when Pearson was sent to an Ibis hotel in Shipley.
After meeting a drinker in a church garden, Pearson told the man where she was staying.
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While the man noticed the clothes Pearson was wearing were given to suspects out on bail, the pair went on to have sexual intercourse.
Pearson then confessed to the horrifying murder of her boyfriend's stepfather.
"When he asked her who she had killed she said 'just some old guy with dementia'," Bradford Crown court heard on Friday (19 January).
Pearson told the man: "I will only get two years won't I?" and added: "He gave us permission to kill him."
Mitchell's stepfather Stephen Kershaw, 65, was reported missing on 13 September by a concerned family member before he was found dead in his bedroom on 16 September.
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“Stephen was murdered in his own home by two people he thought he could trust," senior investigating officer Detective Superintendent Marc Bowes of the Homicide and Major Enquiry team explained.
“Mitchell and Pearson took advantage of Stephen and used him for financial gain."
Hours after Kershaw's murder, the couple were spotted on CCTV spending money on his card as footage from an ASDA showed Pearson being spun around in a trolley by Mitchell, before it crashed into a wine display.
Kershaw had moved into the home in Shetcliffe Lane in East Brierley in September 2021 and was soon after joined by Mitchell when he was released from prison.
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When Pearson moved in, the couple would use violence to force Kershaw to give them money for drink and drugs, the court also heard.
The pair pleaded guilty to murder and fraud as Mitchell was sentenced to life with a minimum term of 22 years (minus 483 days for time served)
Pearson was sentenced to life with a minimum term of 19 years (minus 483 days for time served).
“We welcome the guilty plea and conviction for murder, they both deserve to be behind bars for a very long time," Bowes added.
“Although the sentence will never bring Stephen back, I hope that the conclusion of this case provides his family with some comfort knowing that they have got justice for him.”
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The family of Stephen Kershaw released a heartbreaking tribute, which reads: “We cannot begin to put into words the devastation caused by the cruel and senseless death of our beloved father and grandfather Stephen. Our lives will never be the same again.
“Those two took our lovely dad and grandad away; when they should have been protecting him; caring for him. Due to dad’s physical vulnerabilities, he was incapable of defending himself and it is truly heartbreaking to realise the full extent of the cruelty they inflicted on him.
“Dad was a kind and gentle soul and was much loved and cared about by his family and friends and he is greatly missed by all of us.
“They will serve their sentences but the heartbreak and grief we feel for the loss of our dad and grandad will be never ending."