'Vulnerable' Hampshire woman 'brutally' stabbed, murdered, and robbed by drug addict in her own home, court told

Jurors at Winchester Crown Court were told Matthew Reynolds, 32, ‘brutally’ stabbed Bonnie Harwood in the neck and ‘abandoned’ her to die alone in her home.

Reynolds, of Pound Gate, Alton, is on trial, accused of murdering Ms Harwood, 47, at her home in the Hampshire town in the early hours of the morning on October 10, 2021.

James Newton-Price QC, prosecuting, told the jury Ms Harwood would have been a ‘vulnerable target’ as she suffered from health problems and used a mobility scooter to get around.

He added: ‘Bonnie Harwood was murdered in a brutal knife attack in her own home.’

Mr Newton-Price said that ‘feisty and sociable’ Ms Harwood had been a drug addict for many years – regularly using crack cocaine and heroin and even selling small amounts to he friends.

He said Reynolds, also a drug addict, was in financial difficulties caused by drug debts which had led to him attempting to set up credit cards and bank accounts in his mother’s name.

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

He added that Reynolds was in a state of ‘inner turmoil’ when his mother refused to lend him more than £600 on the day before the killing, which led to him losing his temper and smashing up his bedroom.

The prosecutor said the 32-year-old then arranged to visit Ms Harwood, who he knew through his mother, in the early hours of October 10.

Mr Newton-Price said: ‘He was in financial need because he was in debt to drug dealers and he was stealing or borrowing to pay for drugs and debts.

‘The prosecution case is Matthew Reynolds murdered Bonnie Harwood.

‘He cycled to her flat. When he arrived there was a struggle.

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‘Bonnie had numerous puncture wounds to her upper body and defensive wounds to her hands, he killed her by stabbing her in the neck, which caused her to collapse and over time to bleed to death on the floor of her living room.

‘He abandoned her there, he sought no assistance for her, he left her body to be found by one of her friends who called on her on the Sunday afternoon.

‘The evidence is that Matthew Reynolds also robbed Bonnie Harwood of her money and heroin, which he tried to sell on to make money for himself.’

Mr Newton-Price said Reynolds denied the murder of Ms Harwood, with the defendant claiming that he had only been at her flat earlier in the evening.

The trial continues.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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