On 10 July 2017 in Sheffield Crown Court guilty verdicts were returned against Storm Blueitt for the murder and robbery of a 64 year old woman, who was working alone in her family’s newsagents in Rotherham. Mr Blueitt committed the robbery, which resulted in his stealing just £40, by hitting his victim repeatedly over the head with a weapon, thought to have been a claw hammer, causing her serious injuries. A Home Office pathologist gave evidence that younger and fitter patients had died of less.
The victim was admitted to hospital, where her condition briefly improved, but fifty days later she died from breast cancer, which had spread to the brain. The cancer had been diagnosed two years before and was successfully treated, but she never recovered sufficiently from the assault to be able to receive further treatment for the spread.
Mr Campell Q.C. led Richard Thyne in the case, in which a great deal of medical evidence was put before the court, and the jury indicated by their verdicts that they were sure that Mr Blueitt had committed the robbery and that, by his actions, he had made a significant contribution to his victim’s death by accelerating its date.
Mr Blueitt was given a life sentence with a minimum term of 27 years. Further details of the case may be found on the BBC News website.