A COUPLE strangled and 'mummified' an OAP before looting £13,000 in savings from her bank account and going on a "massive spending spree", a court has heard.
Xyaire Howard and Chelsea Grant were motivated by "greed and self interest" when torturing 71-year-old Susan Hawkey at her London home, a court heard.
Ms Hawkey's decomposing naked body was only discovered 20 days later under a duvet in her living room in Neasden, north-west London, jurors were told.
She had been tied up, with her hands taped and tied behind her back - while her eyes were taped shut and a ligature knotted around her neck, the court heard.
Howard, 23, and 28-year-old Grant, living nearby, have gone on trial at the Old Bailey accused of repeatedly robbing Ms Hawkey before murdering her last September.
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Annabel Darlow, opening the prosecution case today, said the defendants identified Ms Hawkey last summer as an "ideal victim" and "easy pickings".
Ms Hawkey was described as a "highly vulnerable" elderly woman who lived an isolated life and had little contact with friends and family.
The court was told she was also a "creature of habit" who would take the same route with her bank card to the shops and Post Office to take out cash.
Ms Darlow said the defendants first robbed her on July 27 and then again on August 22 - "ripping her bag from her shoulder with enough force to knock her over to the ground".
They are said to have let themselves into her home with her stolen keys the following day before pinning her down in a chair and stealing more money.
Ms Hawkey cancelled her card but not before the pair used it for several small transactions, the prosecutor said.
She was last seen alive on September 6 - the same day the defendants were seen walking to and from her home, jurors heard.
Howard allegedly used a bank card the following day to take £250 out of a cash machine.
Ms Darlow said: "The evidence indicates that Susan Hawkey had committed her PIN to memory and would not have given the PIN to anyone - still less two people who had robbed her three times before - unless she was the victim of considerable violence and aggression.
"When Susan Hawkey's decomposing corpse was found by the authorities, she was bound and blindfolded and a ligature was around her neck.
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"For some reason, all of her lower clothing, including underwear, had been removed and her upper clothing had been cut down the front.
"An item of clothing had been placed over her head and her body concealed under a duvet."
The prosecutor added: "The ligature around Susan Hawkey's neck had been tightened with sufficient force to break one of the bones in her neck.
"The prosecution say that she was strangled by these defendants during an attack motivated by greed and self-interest.
"They wanted to stop Susan Hawkey from blocking the card and prevent her from reporting them to the police for the multiple crimes they had already committed against her."
Ms Darlow said the defendants carried out a "massive spending spree" over the following three weeks and "burned their way through almost £13,000" of her cash in 146 transactions.
The victim's bank account went from a balance of more than £16,000 to only £3,434.03, jurors were told.
The prosecutor also said Howard searched Google for "Barclays transaction limit" and Grant typed in the search phrases "can you smell a dead body from outside the house" and "is a dead body a very strong smell".
Ms Hawkey's bank card was finally stopped on September 28 after a police request and the defendants were arrested at a bus stop.
The couple, from Press Road in Neasden, have denied murder and robbery charges.
Howard has admitted a charge in relation to the August 22 robbery.
