Daily Mirror - 24.07.2019

mirror.co.uk WEDNESDAY 24.07.2019 DAILY MIRROR^13

DM1ST

Dryer firm in

MP recall rap

A RECALL of Whirlpool
dryers has been blasted by
MPs for taking “too long”.
And product safety offi-
cials must make a “greater
show of strength” in such
situations, insisted the
Business, Energy and Indu-
strial Strategy Committee.
Chairwoman Rachel
Reeves said the “secrecy of
businesses like Whirlpool”
meant those who had fires,
allegedly 750, from faulty
dryers did not get justice.
Whirlpool said: “The
recall encourages owners
of affected dryers to make
contact immediately.”

Pub ‘buyer’ in

booze arrest

AN OAP was arrested for
being drunk in charge of a
car outside a pub he said
he was thinking of buying.
Police saw Edward
Brady, 83, parked in a
“strange position” by the
vacant Stag’s Head in
Great Warford, Cheshire.
Subi Chowdhary told
Stockport magistrates: “He
smelt of alcohol.”
The retired engineer, of
Ollerton, who was almost
three times the drink-drive
limit, told officers he was
looking to buy the pub.
He got a four month
drive ban and £440 fine.

Pilot’s drone

‘miss’ shock

THE pilot of a light aircraft
was left “frightened” after
missing a drone by just
25ft, a report reveals.
The incident came at
2,200ft, while 400ft is max -
imum height for drones.
A UK Airprox Board
report said the mystery
remote-controlled craft
passed directly below the
Beechcraft Duchess BE
south-west of Reading,
Berks, on May 1.
It added: “The pilot said
the risk of collision was
very high and that he had
been very frightened.”

a car accident three years ago. A police

search kicked off when she was reported

missing last Wednesday, although it is

believed she was last seen on July 11.

Lesley’s brother Stephen, 72, said:

“This is such a shock.

“I spoke to her last on my birthday in

June and all was well.

“She lived in Spain for many years. Her

house in Algar was tremendous.”

The Civil Guard has not made an

official comment about a possible

motive for the killing. Although Becerra

is said to have confessed to the crime, he

has not yet been charged – as is normal

in Spain, where formal charges are only

laid shortly before trial.

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@MirrorAsp

judge said: “[The court] has today, at the

request of state prosecutors, ordered the

remand in prison of the man arrested

over the death of the

woman whose body

was found on Sunday

in Algar.

“The court is investi-

gating the man on suspi-

cion of a crime of

homicide and he has

acknowledged the facts.”

Burly Becerra looked

impassive as he was led

away to prison in handcuffs by four

police officers after the hearing.

Lesley, a masseuse and pilates teacher

from the North West of England, lost

husband Frank, an electrical engineer, in

started selling off her belongings. He

also said Becerra – believed to have

worked for Lesley as a maintenance man

• claimed she gave
  him permission to
  sell her things too.
  But a friend of the
  expat told the same
  paper the house had
  not been sold, fuel-
  ling speculation she
  found out what
  Becerra was doing
  and confronted him.
  Civil Guard officers held Becerra the
  day her body was found in woodland
  behind her home and held him for two
  nights ahead of his court appearance.
  A spokesman for the investigating

EXCLUSIVE

BY ADAM ASPINALL in Arcos de la

Frontera, Cadiz, Spain

o

w

w

h

a

ACCUSED

A HANDYMAN accused of murder-

ing a 74-year-old British expat was

allegedly flogging her belongings.

Francisco Javier Becerra, 45, report-

edly beat Lesley Anne Pearson to death

after a row over money and buried her

in a shallow grave behind her property.

Her body was found in Algar, near

Cadiz in south-west Spain, on Sunday

nearly a fortnight after she was last seen.

During a court appearance in Arcos

de la Frontera yesterday, Becerra is said

to have confessed to killing her.

A police source told the Mirror he said

it was done in a “fit of rage”.

But a local named only as Antonio

told newspaper La Voz de Cadiz that

Becerra told villagers Lesley had sold her

home to a Romanian family and had

‘Killer of Costa Brit

was selling her stuff’

Fears Lesley, 74, died after confronting handyman

Lesley lost husband 3 years ago

VICTIM

Becerra is led from court in cuffs

She was buried near Algar house

HOME

HORRIFIC Story on body discovery

But Jermaine’s dad Tinyefun Kool

took issue with the “tragic acci-

dent” verdict, saying: “This will

not sit well with the public.”

Coroner Ian Arrow said it was

not his role to apportion blame.

suspicious findings”. He told the

Plymouth coroner the most likely

cause of death was asphyxiation.

DC Kate Hillman said her

inquiries also confirmed there

were no suspicious circumstances.

“unable to cry out” for help. She

could not revive him at her home

in Plymouth, Devon, in February.

Consultant paediatric patholo-

gist Dr Andreas Marnerides said

DESPAIR Sheree Harris there were “no fractures” and “no

Tragic tot dies ‘trapped between cot and bed’

A SEVEN-month-old baby rolled

off his mum’s bed into a tiny gap

and died, an inquest heard.

The body of Jermaine Harris

was found by mum Sheree, 41,

trapped between his cot and

Picture: ROWAN GRIFFITHS

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