'Psycho' pensioner stabbed neighbour to death in 14-year row over parking
What started as a petty parking row 14 years ago came to a horrifying head in March.
A pensioner branded "psycho" by a neighbouring businessman during a 14-year dispute was convicted on August 29 of killing one of his adversary's employees. Alder Willis now faces a life sentence after stabbing Andrew Darn, 35, on the Tyne Tunnel Trading Estate in March this year.
The 68-year-old, who ran a sandwich shop along with his partner, Susan Clark, had been embroiled in a years-long dispute with a garage door business next door on the trading estate in North Shields. The tension between the Willis and the Easy Access Garage Door owners, Norman Gibbs and his partner, dated back to 2010 over a parking dispute.
The row came to a head on March 26 this year after Mr Gibb's partner Linda Hedgcock allegedly had hit Mr Willis' partner Susan Clark with a piece of sausage roll while feeding seagulls. Newcastle Crown Court heard that Ms Clark reacted by hitting Mrs Hedgcock on the side of her head. An employee at Easy Access Garage Door, Andrew Darn, who had been present during this argument, reported that Willis had followed him home that day after his shift.
When he got home, Mr Darn phoned his boss, Mr Gibb, and said that Willis had followed him and claimed he told him, “You’re dead”.
The next morning, Mr Darn and Willis came to blows as the garage door employee demanded to know why Willis had followed him the day before. In footage recorded by his dashcam, Mr Darn can be heard saying: "Why you trying to intimidate me? Why you following me?”
The court was shown CCTV footage, which saw the two men walk towards each other before Mr Darn suddenly punched Willis, who then stabbed Mr Darn's torso with a knife. Willis called his solicitor instead of the emergency services and Mr Darn later died at the scene. A post-mortem found Mr Darn died from catastrophic internal bleeding, ChronicleLive reports.
When he drove home, Willis told a friend: “It doesn’t look like I’m going to Benidorm son, I think I’ve killed someone.”
Willis was unanimously found guilty on Thursday of murder and having a bladed article by jurors at Newcastle Crown Court. He was remanded in custody and will be sentenced at a future date.
Judge Paul Sloan KC told him: “You must appreciate there’s only one sentence in respect of the offence of murder and that’s a sentence of life imprisonment. You may go down.”
The Northumbria Police said that "for Andrew’s death to come as a result of a disagreement over something as trivial as parking is truly reprehensible"
Senior Investigating Officer in the case Detective Chief Inspector Katie Smith, of Northumbria Police, said: “This is a truly tragic case in which a beloved family man has lost his life. Our thoughts very much remain with Andrew’s heartbroken loved ones as he leaves behind a fiancée and three beloved children."
Det Ch Inp Smith continued: "Today, a man has been found guilty of murder but no conviction or any length of sentence will ever bring Andrew back. There is never any justification for carrying a knife, or any weapon, but for Andrew’s death to come as a result of a disagreement over something as trivial as parking is truly reprehensible.
“We want to send a clear message to anyone who chooses to carry a weapon of any kind or believes that violence is acceptable that the consequences can be devastating.
“Look at the pain this tragedy has caused – not only could you take away someone else’s future and destroy the lives of their loved ones, but also ruin your own and those of your family and friends.”
