A man has been found guilty of the murder and robbery of Kilkenny pensioner John Mackey in London.
Peter Augustine (59) followed frail Mr Mackey to a secluded walkway near the 87-year-old’s north London home in May.
Augustine then beat and stamped on Mr Mackey and stole his takeaway meal of sausage and chips. He also took Mr Mackey’s shopping.
Mr Mackey, originally from a close-knit family in Callan, Co Kilkenny, died of his injuries in hospital two days later.
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His empty food packets were found that day in the bedroom of the budget hotel where Augustine, who was homeless, was staying.
London-born Augustine, who has a history of committing violent crimes, refused to leave his cell at the city’s Belmarsh prison to attend the final day of his trial at the Old Bailey.
He denied murder and robbery, but a unanimous jury of seven women and five men found him guilty after two-and-a-half hours of deliberation on Thursday.
Augustine is to be sentenced to life imprisonment on November 28th.
Speaking outside court after the verdict, Mr Mackey’s family, represented by his nieces and nephews, said their “perfect uncle” would always be remembered.
“He was so much more than the end of his life,” niece Pat Schan said, adding that Augustine’s name would “never be mentioned in our family again”.
Ms Schan said the murder of Mr Mackey had a “huge impact” on his large extended family in Kilkenny and Britain. “It will always be felt,” she said.
Mr Mackey’s nephew, Adrian Kennedy, thanked the prosecution legal team and police and said the family had felt “included and listened to” from the start.
He said Mr Mackey, who moved to London in the 1950s and never married, always had “a twinkle in his eye”.
Mr Kennedy described him as an “ally” to his 22 nieces and nephews, to whom he “never failed to slip a fiver” even as adults.
[ ‘He was perfect, a one-off’: Pensioner killed in London is remembered as proud Kilkenny man ]
Mr Mackey, who was born one of 11, is survived by four remaining siblings in their 80s.
“He was funny, charming, mysterious and very definitely mischievous. He was never seen without his trilby hat and was always immaculately dressed,” Mr Kennedy said. “He was always seeing a man about a dog.”
The trial, which lasted almost a fortnight, was repeatedly disrupted by Augustine, who refused to attend on certain days but shouted at judges and lawyers on the days that he did.
In court he also stared back at Mr Mackey’s family while insisting he had not killed their uncle.
He admitted taking Mr Mackey’s black holdall in the walkway, but claimed he had used no force and insisted he “never hit him”.
A forensic pathologist told the trial Mr Mackey had suffered a violent and sustained assault that had left him with bleeding on the brain and badly fractured ribs.
[ Accused ‘didn’t look back for him to tap dance’ after robbery ]
In court Augustine claimed that maybe Mr Mackey “fell down” when he took the bag from him.
Augustine was captured on CCTV stalking Mr Mackey, whom he had never met before, around a crossroads and strip of shops in Manor House, near Finsbury Park, London. He loitered outside a kebab shop as the pensioner bought sausage and chips inside.
He then tailed Mr Mackey, who walked with the aid of a stick, as he made his way home. When they reached a secluded walkway barely a minute from Mr Mackey’s house, he attacked him.
The incident itself was not captured on CCTV, but nearby cameras suggested the attack lasted a little over 90 seconds.
During the trial on Wednesday, Judge Sarah Whitehouse ordered Augustine out of the witness box for his behaviour while giving evidence.
On Thursday, after the jury returned guilty verdicts, she praised Mr Mackey’s family for their “impeccable” behaviour.
