Pensioner mum and son who murdered runner for jogging on their land jailed for 31 years

A PENSIONER and her son who murdered a man after pursuing a vendetta against him for using a footpath over their land were today jailed for 31 years.

Scott Dawson, 41, and his mum Carol Dawson, 72, killed 48-year-old Gary Dean after a long-running dispute.

He was found dead in woods near Barnsley, South Yorkshire, after the row about a piece of their land he would regularly use to go running and for other activities.

Mr Dean was shot in the back with an air rifle and beaten with the weapon and branches before his body was left in a ditch, where it was found by a walker in September last year.

The Dawsons were found guilty of Mr Dean’s murder after a five-week-long trial at Sheffield Crown Court.

The trial heard how the dispute over the path involved the Dawsons securing a restraining order against Mr Dean after they complained to police about him, saying he was damaging their property.

A “stay away” sign had been posted on a stile leading to the path, the court heard.

Mr Dean’s wife, Caroline, told the jury that she and her husband were terrorised in the run up to his murder.

Mrs Dean said the couple were regularly followed and threatened; their house in Silkstone Common, Barnsley, was daubed with offensive graffiti; and four youths burst into their home and injured them.

In a statement read to the court, Mrs Dean said: “The brutal nature of Gary’s death haunts us all.

“He had tried to get away, already seriously injured, when the attack continued in an unnecessarily brutal way.

“I have to come to terms with the fact that my husband suffered a painful and violent death and that he died alone in a ditch.

“I cannot begin to imagine the pain and terror he felt as he was beaten to death.”

Police described Mr Dean’s murder as “an absolutely brutal attack over a small dispute”.