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BBC News
6 days ago
- BBC News
Anita Rose murder: Fears prevail one year on from Brantham attack
When a mother-of-six was murdered while walking her dog exactly one year ago, it left many people in a small Suffolk community living in fear. Earlier this month, the killer of Anita Rose was found guilty following a trial, but how do the residents of Brantham now feel?Fifty-seven-year-old Anita was walking in the early morning of 24 July 2024 before she was discovered with severe injuries near Rectory Lane in Brantham, about eight miles (13km) south of died in hospital four days later, leaving her family distraught and villagers event sparked a murder inquiry, and three months later police announced they had charged Roy Barclay - a 55-year-old man already wanted by officers - over her death. Marti Mower, 77, has lived in Brantham for more than 40 years and said she would never have imagined an attack like this to happen."It was scary... my daughter has a dog and we used to walk him in the same place," she recalled."We don't walk down there any more - you just never know what's going to happen."Ms Mower said she believed the community had pulled together, but felt many people were aware "these things can happen even in a small village". Simon Barrett, 51, had moved to the village just months before the attack, which he said had led to a lot of "unease"."When I went out I was turning around, looking if I heard something behind me, because we didn't know what had happened and what the outcome was going to be," he Barrett said tensions had since relaxed, with "a lot more going on" in the village."It's a quiet area anyway with country lanes and there's always people dog walking, jogging, whereas before there was nothing for quite a while," he said. Jane Frame, 59, is from nearby East Bergholt, but comes to Brantham weekly to walk her dog."A place like Brantham, it's quiet around here so you just don't expect it," she said."I didn't walk around here for a while. I didn't want to come around here."Mrs Frame said she would not walk in the village early in the morning any more."It does make you think twice about the whole area and who's here," she added. Jane Carrington, 69, said she had previously interacted with Ms Rose."I used to see her out with her dog quite often when I had a dog as well," she said."I have seen her [Ms Rose's] partner out with the dog and had a chat with him, they seem to be doing OK."I think it took a lot out of him, especially the court case."She felt the community was pleased to have seen Barclay found guilty of her murder. Roy Plowright, 73, is from East End, but regularly comes into Brantham."It was terrible, attacking a poor lady and just leaving her there, it's disgusting," he said."I've only been here six years... where we live there is no street lighting, it's so quiet, there's no police or fire engines every night, it's a lovely place to live."[Everyone] was relieved that they got him [Barclay] and he had been charged." Barclay was on the run from police for two years, living in a makeshift camp in Brantham when he attacked Ms Rose. He had also been jailed in 2015 for the violent, unprovoked assault on an elderly man in an Essex seaside town, and was released on parole in was arrested and charged three months after the Brantham attack, with his DNA discovered on a jacket and headphones she was wearing at the time. Barclay is due to be sentenced on 6 August at Ipswich Crown Court. Follow Suffolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
Daily Mirror
20-07-2025
- Daily Mirror
Anita Rose killer was free to roam streets before beating dog walker to death
Roy Barclay was found guilty last week of murdering 57-year-old Anita Rose, who died in hospital from her horrific injuries after being attacked in Brantham last July Police left a "violent" killer to stroll the streets for two years despite him breaching his licence. Roy Barclay was found guilty last week of murdering 57-year-old dog walker Anita Rose, who died in hospital from her horrific injuries in Brantham, last July. Jurors were told that Barclay was on the run from police when he attacked Ms Rose, having previously been jailed 10 years for a committing grievous bodily harm with intent. He had been living in makeshift camps, which breached his licencing conditions, that stated he should live at a fixed address. The 56-year-old was jailed following an attack on pensioner Leslie Gunfield, then 82, after he told Barclay he would inform security about him going through rubbish bins at a Co-op supermarket in Walton-on-the-Naze, Essex. He was later released on parole in 2020. But despite not living at a fixed address, Barclay was able to use his bank cards to order items online, and left dozens of reviews on Google Maps, showing his location was in Suffolk and Essex. Police failed to arrest Barclay for the breach for two years. Ex-Met Police officer Peter Bleksley told The Sun:"This was an utterly avoidable and preventable murder. "He clearly should have been a priority. His previous violent offending - not only should he not have been released halfway through his sentence, I think he pulled the wool over the eyes of the Parole Board - but a man with that kind of violent history, should be a priority. "These people should not be walking the streets of Britain. Proper analytical examination of his postings, of his behaviours, his lifestyle, should have meant he could have been found." At court, jurors had heard evidence that injuries to Anita's brain were similar to those inflicted by 'high speed car crashes'. Barclay opted to give no evidence in his defence, a move the prosecution said saw him maintain a 'wall of silence' throughout his trial. Prosecutor Christopher Paxton KC said Barclay made internet searches after Ms Rose was attacked which included 'Can barbed wire be swabbed for DNA?' and 'How long does DNA last at a crime scene?' The prosecutor told jurors: 'Roy Barclay made that search on barbed wire because he killed Anita by the barbed wire fence. These internet searches alone are evidence enough for you to be sure of Roy Barclay's guilt.' Mr Paxton said Barclay also read numerous press articles relating to the attack on Ms Rose. He added: 'While for the next four days Anita fought for her life – Roy Barclay stalked and followed every twist and turn of the news. He did so because he is Anita's killer. 'He was looking and relishing in what he had done.' The prosecutor said Barclay had kept a 'treasure trove' of Ms Rose's items including her jacket and phone.
The Sun
19-07-2025
- The Sun
Cops' shocking blunder left monster free to murder innocent gran on dog walk – he had all the traits of a serial killer
"LAZY" police made a shocking blunder which allowed an evil monster to murder a grandmother while she walked her dog, a top cop claims. Roy Barclay was on Suffolk Police's list of most wanted criminals but he was able to avoid being recalled to prison for two years before killing defenceless Anita Rose in Brantham, last July. 17 17 17 Ex-Met cop Peter Bleksley told The Sun: "This was an utterly avoidable and preventable murder." Barclay, 56 - who was convicted of the gran-of-13's murder last week - had been living off-grid in makeshift camps, thus breaching his licencing conditions which stated he should remain at a fixed address. He had been jailed in 2015 for the violent, unprovoked assault on 82-year-old Leslie Gunfield in Walton-on-the-Naze, Essex, before being released on parole in 2020. Despite his nomadic existence, Barclay left a sizeable digital footprint, including using his bank card to order items online, and leaving hundreds of reviews on Google Maps, showing he was in Suffolk and Essex. But, crucially, police failed to act and arrest him for the breach for two years before it was too late. "He clearly should have been a priority," continued Mr Bleksley. "His previous violent offending - not only should he not have been released halfway through his sentence, I think he pulled the wool over the eyes of the Parole Board - but a man with that kind of violent history, should be a priority. "These people should not be walking the streets of Britain." Barclay stalked Anita, 57, on the morning of July 24 2024 before kicking and stamping on her so viciously her injuries were akin to the victim of a head-on crash. He fled the scene, leaving loyal dog Bruce by his owner's side. She died in hospital four days later. Mr Bleksley said: "This man could and should have been arrested. With the right amount of officers, with the necessary experience and expertise, this should have taken days and not weeks because he was leaving a significant footprint." He went on to say: "It is possible to find and arrest virtually any wanted person, so long as sufficient resources and expertise are deployed." He added "the harsh reality" is that so many more people are being released early from prison or given non-custodial sentences "that huge numbers" are breaching orders and probation. But overrun forces are simply kicking the can down the road, in the hopes such people turn up after committing further crimes, preferably in other force areas, he claims. Mr Bleksley said: "Wanted people are not pursued like they should be. The files are put away, they're put on the police computers and left to collect dust in the hope they are picked up for a lesser crime. That's the reality. "That's what a current working detective told me just days ago." He added: "That is the harsh, contemporary reality because of resources and such like. "The harsh reality of increasingly dangerous and lawless Britain, and women are losing their lives." 17 17 He compared Ms Rose's murder to that of 35-year-old Zara Aleena, who was sexually assaulted and murdered by Jordan McSweeney as she walked home in Ilford, East London, in June 2022. In 2010, when he was a teenager, McSweeney was convicted over an attack on a young woman he had left with a swollen eye. Eleven years later, he was made the subject of a restraining order that barred him from contacting another female victim, but breached his probation and was not picked up before attacking Ms Aleena. "With the right resources he would have been picked up quickly, and Zara Aleena would be alive today, just like Anita would be alive today," Mr Bleksley said. He went on to explain an analyst would be able to "pinpoint" the areas Barclay was active in without much issue - as happened once he became a suspect in Ms Rose's murder. "Proper analytical examination of his postings, of his behaviours, his lifestyle, should have meant he could have been found. "Like he was eventually, sadly, once he's committed murder and sufficient resources were deployed to it. "Once you put the resources into it, you find these people. "Tragically, it took a woman's life to be taken before resources were deployed." Mr Bleksley said various police services clearly prioritise "where they see fit", adding: "Policing is a numbers game, to a certain extent. 17 17 "Many chiefs argue for more funding, and they do have a point." He compared UK policing to Italy, where he recently visited, saying: "It's got 10 million less than the UK but twice as many officers and half the amount of crime. It's basic, simple numbers." Three months after the Ms Rose murder, Barclay's final few Google reviews were about Flatford, a historic area on the Essex-Suffolk border famed for inspiring iconic paintings. He was camping just a mile away from the murder site. Mr Bleksley said he was essentially goading cops. "By the time he started putting those posts, after this dreadful murder, he clearly thought they're not going to find me." He said the descriptions of Ms Rose's murder are "particularly galling", and added he believes Barclay would certainly have killed again if he wasn't caught. He said his "trademark" of leaving a dog lead wrapped around the victim's leg was also done in his previous assault offence. Asked if he could have become a serial killer, Mr Bleksley said: "Of course, without any doubt whatsoever. "He takes trophies, he leaves trademark wrapping of the leads twice round the leg, he attacked an elderly vulnerable man beforehand. 17 17 "This is an absolute monster and danger to the elderly, a coward because he picks on the elderly. Picks on a lone female. Absolutely revolting waste of space." He went on to say: "The cases that grab people's attention and frighten them to their very core are when the ordinary becomes extraordinary, and that is exactly what happened in this case. "This wonderful woman, mother of six, grandma of 13, much loved partner, should of course have been free to walk her dog as she chose." Asked why someone like Barclay would target random strangers, Mr Bleksley continued: "It is often a complete and utter waste of time trying to rationalise the workings of an irrational mind. "That said, his similar behaviour in the past went some way in helping to convict him. "As for his mentality, deal with what's in front of you, and there should have been plenty in front of detectives to have arrested him before he murdered and not after he'd murdered. "That didn't happen. It's 2025 we're talking about, when analysis, geographical analysis, geographical patterns, the science is so far advanced, crimes these day are solved by mobile phone evidence, digital footprints, CCTV. "These things could quite easily have been utilised to find him, they weren't and a woman is dead as a result, needlessly." Mr Bleksley added: "There'll be more cases. In the current situation, if this is allowed to go on, there'll be more and more cases. "There are too many dangerous people out there and not enough prison places for them." 17 17 17 A chance meeting with a Suffolk Police officer near White Bridge, between Brantham and Manningtree, finally led to Barclay's arrest in October last year. Barclay gave the officer, Det Con Simpson, a fake name, coming across as "quite nervous and quite anxious", the detective said. Six days later, at Ipswich County Library, Barclay was arrested and was subsequently charged with Anita's murder, which he denied. After his conviction, the Crown Prosecution Service described Barclay as "an individual that… has a history for acting violently so we knew that this was somebody that could act unprovoked in a very violent manner". Assistant Chief Constable Alice Scott said: 'Following the conviction resulting from the trial of Roy Barclay for the murder of Anita Rose last summer, a voluntary partnership review will now be conducted under the MAPPA* process involving the police and the probation service. 'It will look closely at the information sharing processes and how the organisations collaborated in terms of Barclay who was wanted on recall to prison when he murdered Anita. 'This review will be a thorough assessment and scrutiny of the processes concerning Barclay. "It will be expedited as soon as possible so we can provide clear and definitive answers for Anita's family. "Our thoughts remain with Anita's family and friends as they reflect on the past year, and our force Family Liaison Officers will continue to remain in close dialogue with them as the review progresses.' A Suffolk Police spokesperson told The Sun: "As this review is ongoing, it would be inappropriate to comment further." 17
The Sun
10-07-2025
- The Sun
Chilling moment mum-of-six, 57, walks dog completely unaware of her killer prowling the streets behind her
The doorbell footage shows Barclay creeping along the road - and a further clip includes his arrest VILE KILLER Chilling moment mum-of-six, 57, walks dog completely unaware of her killer prowling the streets behind her THIS is the chilling moment a fugitive calmly walked away after viciously beating a mum-of-six to death. Anita Rose was walking her dog down a country lane when she was attacked by evil Roy Barclay, who was found guilty of her murder yesterday. Advertisement 6 Roy Barclay is seen stalking along the road before committing the murder Credit: Suffolk Police 6 Anita Rose with her dog Bruce was completely unawares Credit: Suffolk Police 6 Barclay is arrested at a library months later Credit: PA Ring doorbell footage released by Suffolk Police shows Anita, 57, leaving her home moments before being approached by her killer. In separate footage, Barclay, 56, is seen strolling after his victim carrying a bag in his hand. Cops also released bodycam footage of the killer being approached by officers in a library before being arrested. Twisted Barclay subjected Anita to "numerous kicks, stamps and blows" on her face, head and body. Advertisement She had been walking her dog Bruce at the time, and was later found on a path with boot marks on her face. Barclay was living in makeshift camps in the countryside and "wandering the fields and lanes", the court heard. He had been "unlawfully at large" for two years and went on the run to avoid being recalled to prison following an attack on a pensioner in 2015. Barclay was on Wednesday found guilty of murder following a trial at Ipswich Crown Court. Advertisement On July 24 last year, Anita left her home in Brantham, Suffolk, to walk Bruce "as she often did". The mum-of-six was found by passers-by after being subjected to a "vicious and brutal attack", jurors were told. First pic of 'superyacht slasher' accused of murdering stewardess in £9.5m vessel engine room days before 21st birthday Bruce's lead was tightly wrapped around her ankle in a bid to stop the dog from "running off". Anita was rushed to hospital but died four days later after suffering injuries likened to a road traffic accident. Advertisement At the time, Barclay "lived mostly in the countryside, wandering the fields and lanes, sleeping in various makeshift camps". He was wanted by police after he caused grievous bodily harm with intent to an 82-year-old man in Walton-on-the-Naze, Essex, in 2015. Prosecutor Christopher Paxton KC said: "In his mid-40s, he (Barclay) fractured nearly all of the bones of an 82-year-old's face, having taken him to the ground in 2015. "Anybody that attacks an 82-year-old man in that way displays a ruthlessness and callousness that defies logic." Advertisement The court heard a pink jacket worn by Anita on the day she was attacked was found at one of Barclay's makeshift camps. Barclay kept the jacket "as a trophy" and it had his "semen on the neckline", the prosecutor said. His walking boots, which "amounted to the murder weapon", were found at the same camp. Police searching a different camp Barclay used discovered Anita's phone case and her Samsung earbuds. Advertisement Mr Paxton said Barclay made various internet searches after the attack, including "how are outside objects swabbed for DNA". He continued: "Two very different worlds collided: Anita, partner to Richard, a mother and grandmother, out with the family dog Bruce, before she went off to work. "Her world collided with Roy Barclay's world, a desperate man on the run from police for two years, having been in prison for beating Leslie Gunfield's face to a pulp. "Roy Barclay took Anita Rose's life in an explosion of violence. Advertisement "Blow after blow, stamp after stamp and kick after kick. "Roy Barclay's determination to keep his liberty and save his skin is revealed in the brutality of the injuries he inflicted on Anita Rose. "Slight and slim Roy Barclay might seem, but his force, his brutality, is revealed in what he did to Leslie Gunfield and Anita Rose." Advertisement Barclay will be sentenced on August 6. 6 Anita seen leaving her home moments before she was attacked Credit: PA 6 Anita was beaten to death as she walked her dog Credit: PA 6 Barclay was convicted of murder on Wednesday Credit: PA
Daily Mail
10-07-2025
- Daily Mail
The tragic final moments of mother-of-six Anita Rose as she walks her dog oblivious to her killer prowling the streets behind her
Chilling footage shows a mother-of-six walking her dog down a quiet country lane oblivious to her killer prowling behind. Anita Rose, 57, was enjoying a stroll near her home in Brantham, Suffolk when she was randomly attacked by Roy Barclay, 56, an occult-obsessed drifter who had been living off-grid to avoid being recalled to prison. Video shows Barclay appearing to change direction and follow Ms Rose along a path as she walked her springer spaniel, Bruce, on the morning of July 24 last year. Moments later he rushed the grandmother before punching, kicking and stamping on her during a 'vicious and brutal assault'. She was found by passers-by on a footpath beside a sewage works but died four days later. Barclay will now receive a 'very lengthy' life sentence after a jury at Ipswich Crown Court took just two-and-a-half hours to convict him of murder. The fiend left Ms Rose with a dog lead wrapped around her neck, a 'calling card' he also used in an earlier 2015 attack where he left an 82-year-old man with serious head injuries. He had been released from prison in February 2020 but had not been living at a fixed address. Speaking after yesterday's verdict, Ms Rose's eldest daughter, who gave her name as Jess, fought back tears as she said the probation service urgently needed change. 'We will now look towards changes that need to be made within the probation services and the justice system,' she said. 'We need to make sure that our communities are safe and that people are monitored, that criminals are taken back to prison when they break the terms of their probation. 'Criminals cannot remain at large. There's too much at stake and our communities need protecting.' It is understood that the Probation Service issued a recall notice for Barclay following a breach of his licence conditions. When a person's licence has been revoked, the relevant local police force will be notified, and the individual will become wanted by police. The Mail previously revealed that Barclay was a follower of the late David Farrant, the President of the British Occult and Psychic Society. Farrant was best known for helping to spark panic in the 1970s about the sightings of alleged vampires in Highgate cemetery, north London. Barclay was a keen amateur artist who drew cartoons satirising the rivalry between Farrant and self-proclaimed exorcist Sean Manchester, which once made tabloid headlines. But he apparently broke off links with Farrant's supporters at least 20 years ago, leading to rumours that he had 'disappeared in mysterious circumstances', according to one blogger. In fact, he had become a homeless drifter as his mental health deteriorated, living in makeshift camps and in temporary bedsits, while surviving largely on food scavenged from bins. Barclay was living off grid when he viciously attacked Leslie Gunfield, then 82, who had threatened to inform security about him going through rubbish bins at the back of a Co-op supermarket in Walton-on-the-Naze, Essex. Mr Gunfield was on his way to buy a newspaper just before 7am on February 22, 2015, when he spotted Barclay with an armful of pizzas and made an 'innocuous' remark to him, saying: 'You had a good haul tonight'. Barclay's response was to punch him repeatedly in the face and head, out of sight of CCTV cameras, leaving Mr Gunfield with multiple fractures to his nose, eye sockets and cheeks, and his jaw detached. The pensioner nearly died in the attack but survived after having ten titanium plates screwed into his skull in operations at Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge. Barclay, who was known for his love of dogs, left what the prosecution would suggest was a tell-tale calling card by tying the lead of Mr Gunfield's terrier around the foot of his victim to ensure the pet would not run away. He would later wrap Ms Rose's dog's lead around her leg after the fatal assault. He denied causing grievous bodily harm with intent against Mr Gunfield but changed his plea to guilty on the day his trial was due to start and he was jailed for ten years at Chelmsford Crown Court in August 2015. His release from prison on February 24, 2020, was on condition that he stayed in touch with the probation service but he effectively disappeared in 2022 and avoided contact with the police or authorities. It was his failure to obey the conditions of his licence that meant that he was wanted on recall for prison for two years. Barclay avoided being reincarcerated by living 'off grid' in a variety of camps, including one hidden in deep undergrowth close to a local beauty spot called Decoy Pond in Brantham, Suffolk, and in a clump of trees underneath the Orwell Bridge in nearby Wherstead. He attacked Ms Rose early in the morning of July 27 last year while she was walking her springer spaniel, Bruce, on an isolated path between the main Ipswich to London railway line and a sewage works around 200 years from Decoy Pond. Prosecutors suggested that he may have carried out the 'vicious and brutal' assault after Ms Rose saw him breaking into the sewage works to use its washroom, and possibly confronted him about what he was doing. The court heard Barclay subjected her to 'numerous kicks, stamps and blows' in a 'vicious and brutal' assault. Barclay displayed a surprisingly erudite side in a letter he wrote to the Halifax Evening Courier in May 2001, bemoaning the 'national scandal' that the burial place of Robin Hood at Kirklees Priory, near Brighouse, West Yorkshire, was not being promoted more by the local council She was found by passers-by on a footpath beside a sewage works but died four days later. Barclay, of no fixed abode, had denied murder. But a jury at Ipswich Crown Court took just two-and-half hours to convict him of Ms Rose's murder. Prosecutor Christopher Paxton KC said Barclay had kept a 'treasure trove' of Ms Rose's items including her jacket and phone. Mr Paxton said Barclay's walking boots, which 'amounted to the murder weapon', were found in one of the defendant's camps. Earlier in the case, jurors were told how 'cunning' convict Barclay tried to trick police into arresting an innocent man by leaving his victim's phone in a public place. The killer swiped Ms Rose's phone and distinctive pink jacket before then reading media reports on his mobile detailing how both items were 'key' to the police investigation, the court heard. Mr Paxton told the jury how the report was 'a signal to Roy Barclay that he had to get rid of the phone'. Barclay attempted to dump the phone to 'set a false trail for the police, throwing them off the scent', he added. Barclay was arrested by police at Ipswich Library on October 21 last year. He is due to be sentenced at a later date.
