A Walsall pensioner suffered up to 130 severe injuries after a paranoid schizophrenic woman  attacked him in an horrific case that has shocked even seasoned crime workers.

Expert witnesses today told a jury the case was one of the worst they had come across in decades.

Home Office pathologist professor Helen Whitwell said: “This is one of the most severe cases I have seen in 20 years. The injuries were extremely severe and considerable force would have been needed to cause most of them.”

The jury at Wolverhampton Crown Court ruled Deborah Edwards, who had absconded from Dorothy Pattison Hospital, Walsall, was responsible for the murder of William Plant, pictured.

The 45-year-old had been declared unfit to stand trial on mental health grounds. She will now be detained indefinitely in a secure mental health hospital.

Mr Plant, dubbed Paperboy Bill for the years he spent delivering the Express & Star, was found dead at his home in Paddock Lane, Chuckery, on August 22 last year.

The 76-year-old’s skull and virtually every bone in his face was fractured and he had stab wounds to his heart and lungs.