{"id":99958,"date":"2023-10-13T19:29:28","date_gmt":"2023-10-13T19:29:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebritycovernews.com\/?p=99958"},"modified":"2023-10-13T19:29:28","modified_gmt":"2023-10-13T19:29:28","slug":"pensioner-85-murdered-his-neighbour-60-with-a-spade-in-petty-feud","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebritycovernews.com\/world-news\/pensioner-85-murdered-his-neighbour-60-with-a-spade-in-petty-feud\/","title":{"rendered":"Pensioner, 85, murdered his neighbour, 60, with a spade in petty feud"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>EXCLUSIVE Pensioner, 85, murdered his Falklands veteran neighbour, 60, with a spade while he slept after a petty feud over a scratched car in &#8216;real-life Midsomer Murder&#8217;<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Thomas Dunn, 85, was in a feud with Roy Costello, 60, over a scratched car\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>The two men lived next door-but-one to each other in Sandbach, near Crewe\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>A pensioner of 85 murdered his neighbour with a spade in their sheltered accommodation after a feud over a scratched car.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Thomas Dunn battered 60-year-old Falklands veteran Roy Costello over the head as he dozed on the sofa in what has been described as a \u2018real-life Midsomer Murder\u2019.<\/p>\n<p>The pair lived next door-but-one to each other in a warden-controlled block of flats in the leafy Cheshire town of Sandbach, near Crewe.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In the months before the killing, the men had clashed because Mr Costello believed Dunn had twice deliberately scratched his vehicle.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Yesterday, Dunn, also an Army veteran, pleaded guilty to murder.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The Mail has learned that tensions between the pair had been brewing for months because Mr Costello suspected Dunn of vandalising his Hyundai Tucson. In May last year, Mr Costello, who lived with his second wife Cathy, 66, discovered the letter \u2018x\u2019 etched into the car\u2019s doors. He reported it to police, but officers claimed there was not enough evidence to prosecute.<\/p>\n<p>Eight months later, Mr Costello discovered similar scratches \u2013 this time the letter \u2018z\u2019 \u2013 on the doors of his new electric Nissan Qashqai. He reported Dunn again and, on February 19, officers from Cheshire police arrived at the complex and interviewed him.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/13\/18\/76530657-12628669-image-a-22_1697216467749.jpg\" height=\"634\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Thomas Dunn (pictured) battered 60-year-old Falklands veteran Roy Costello over the head as he dozed on the sofa in what has been described as a &#8216;real-life Midsomer murder&#8217;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/13\/20\/76534993-12628669-image-a-42_1697224816766.jpg\" height=\"845\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Falklands veteran Roy Costello<\/p>\n<p>The following day, Dunn waited for Mrs Costello to go out to walk the couple\u2019s chihuahua, Chico, before attacking Mr Costello in his home.<\/p>\n<p>Armed with a spade, Dunn entered the couple\u2019s apartment via the front door, which was open, and struck Mr Costello three times over the head.<\/p>\n<p>Mrs Costello found her husband of 20 years moaning and struggling to breathe with \u2018blood all over the suite, the carpet, everywhere\u2019 when she returned 15 minutes later.<\/p>\n<p>Father-of-two Mr Costello was taken to the Royal Stoke Hospital in a critical condition and spent three weeks in a coma and six weeks in intensive care. Despite his injuries, he was recovering well when he died two days after surgery to fit a feeding tube in his stomach on April 20.<\/p>\n<p>Dunn, a widower who is suffering from cancer, left the block of flats on his electric bike after the assault. He was arrested by police 20 miles away, in Wilmslow, and admitted attacking Mr Costello, but insisted he did not vandalise his cars.<\/p>\n<p>In an exclusive interview, Mrs Costello told the Mail she had asked managers at Anchor, the housing firm which manages the flats, to install CCTV cameras outside the block after their car was vandalised.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018I just feel so angry because it should never have happened,\u2019 she said.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018We had asked Anchor to install CCTV, but they said it wasn\u2019t necessary. The police have also told me Dunn has a record for assault, so why was he allowed to move here?\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Mrs Costello, a retired carer, said she was considering taking legal action against the housing company.<\/p>\n<p>She added: \u2018The scene I came home to that day was absolutely horrendous, it still plays on my mind. Roy was asleep and wouldn\u2019t have known what was happening. But I am full of what-ifs. What if I had woken him up, what if I hadn\u2019t gone out at that time \u2013 but I can\u2019t let myself think like that.\u2019<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/13\/18\/76530709-12628669-image-a-23_1697216552490.jpg\" height=\"361\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Chester Crown Court (pictured) heard Dunn had been assessed by a psychologist and had underlying mental health problems<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/13\/20\/76535123-12628669-image-a-43_1697224947734.jpg\" height=\"422\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>The pair lived next door-but-one to each other in a warden-controlled block of flats in the leafy Cheshire town of Sandbach, near Crewe<\/p>\n<p>Mr Costello, a grandfather of six, served in the Royal Engineers for 14 years and survived the bombing of the RFA Sir Galahad in June 1982, which killed 48 soldiers and crew.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>He worked as a security guard on the railways, but was forced to retire because of heart problems. Mrs Costello said there were always \u2018niggles\u2019 between her husband and Dunn.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Describing Dunn as \u2018belligerent,\u2019 she added: \u2018I just told Roy to ignore him.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u2018The other residents loved Roy. They had a bench made for the communal garden, where I go to sit. It has a plaque which says, \u201cin memory of a true friend\u201d, which he was.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>A source told the Mail: \u2018It is not something that usually happens in a place like Sandbach, it\u2019s a real-life Midsomer Murder.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Chester Crown Court heard Dunn had been assessed by a psychologist and had underlying mental health problems.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>But Peter Wright, KC, defending, said: \u2018These are insufficient to satisfy the requirement so far as a defence of manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Judge Steven Everett told Dunn he would be jailed for life when he is sentenced next month.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>An Anchor spokesman said Dunn had failed to disclose his convictions when he moved in.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u2018We extend our deepest condolences to Mr Costello\u2019s family at this extremely distressing time,\u2019 he added. \u2018We will continue to work with the police and other agencies.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/news\/article-12628669\/Pensioner-murdered-Falklands-veteran-spade-Midsomer-Murder.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>EXCLUSIVE Pensioner, 85, murdered his Falklands veteran neighbour, 60, with a spade while he slept after a petty feud over<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":99957,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - 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