Hard-up amateur beekeeper Matthew Reynolds from Alton denies murdering disabled woman who used to babysit him

Matthew Reynolds is on trial at Winchester Crown Court accused of killing 47-year-old Bonnie Harwood at her home in Alton in the early hours of October 10 2021.

James Newton-Price QC, prosecuting, has told the jury that Reynolds, a drug addict, had financial difficulties and was in a ‘state of turmoil’ on the day of the fatal attack.

He said Reynolds had drug debts which had led to him attempting to set up credit cards and bank accounts in his mother’s name.

The amateur beekeeper had also sold his hives and honey to raise money, having recently lost his job as an assistant at a builder’s yard, Mr Newton-Price said.

The prosecution claim that Reynolds stabbed Ms Harwood – who was also a drug user and who sold heroin – multiple times in a robbery to steal her money and drugs.

The defendant then left her to bleed to death, the prosecution claim.

Giving evidence, Reynolds told the court that he did not kill Ms Harwood, who used a mobility scooter to get around, and said he had known her since he was a child.

He said: ‘We used to go camping together and she would babysit and we would go to London together.’

Reynolds, from Alton, said he started using heroin at the age of 14 and had gone on to take crack cocaine as well.

He said he would visit Ms Harwood’s home ‘practically every day’, where he would swap crack cocaine for heroin from her.

The defendant said he had previously witnessed Ms Harwood having a nose bleed, which caused him to get her blood on his shoes and clothes.

The court has heard that Reynolds denies killing Ms Harwood and claims he had only been in her flat between about 10pm and 11pm on October 9, the night before she died.

He said: ‘I saw her at some point in the late evening to get two deals of heroin for smoking for two of my friends.’

He added that he later received a call from Ms Harwood during which she asked him to get £20 of crack cocaine for her.

The trial continues.