Man found guilty of murdering woman found stabbed to death at home days after Christmas
A man has been convicted of the murder of a woman who died at her home on Christmas Day in 2021.
Lucy Clews, aged 39, from West Chadsmoor, was found dead at her home on Bath Road on December 29, after her mother raised concerns about not hearing from her over the festive period.
Thomas Grant, aged 28, of no fixed address, had denied killing Miss Clews at her property, claiming someone else was responsible but refused to tell the court who.
However, he was found guilty of murder by a jury following a five-week trial at Stafford Crown Court on Tuesday.
Grant has been remanded in custody ahead of sentencing which is due at the same court on Thursday, August 10.
The court heard how Grant met the recently-widowed Ms Clews on Christmas Eve and she offered him a place to stay over Christmas as he had nowhere else to go.
Grant, a drug addict, then used her home as a base, spending several days visiting people he knew, to persuade them to give him money to fuel his habit.
It was the prosecution’s case that Grant stole and sold Ms Clews’s jewellery, including her wedding ring and a necklace belonging to her late husband, in order to raise money for drugs and also sold her mobile phone.
