Hampshire man Matthew Reynolds guilty of killing former babysitter in her Alton home

Matthew Reynolds, 32, from Pound Gate in Alton, was found not guilty of murder, but guilty of manslaughter following a five week trial at Winchester Crown Court.

Bonnie Harwood, a 47-year-old who used to baby-sit Reynolds, was stabbed to death at her home in Alton in the early hours of October 10, 2021.

The prosecution had claimed 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.

But the jury found that Reynolds had not intended to cause the death of Ms Harwood, who used a mobility scooter to get around.

Reynolds said that he had started using heroin at the age of 14 before going on to use crack cocaine as well.

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

Giving evidence, Reynolds told the court that he had known family friend Ms Harwood since he was a child.

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

Judge Angela Morris adjourned the case for Reynolds to be sentenced on a date to be fixed.

Reynolds pleaded guilty to a further charge of robbery relating to a separate incident at an earlier hearing.