Man found guilty of murdering his neighbour in Congleton

A 47-year-old man has been found guilty of murdering his neighbour at her flat in Congleton.

David Mottram found guilty of murder following an eight day trial at Chester Crown Court, which concluded today (Thursday September 23).

Mottram, of Nursery Lane, Congleton will be sentenced on Monday September 27, for the murder of his neighbour during the third lockdown.

At 10.27pm on Tuesday March 2 2021 Mottram called Crisis Line and told them that he had killed his neighbour, 45-year-old Samantha Heap.

Officers attended the supported living complex on Congleton's Nursery Lane, and while in his flat, Mottram admitted that he had killed his neighbour.

Mottram was immediately cautioned and arrested on suspicion of murder. Six months later, he has been found guilty.

Mottram later told a psychiatrist that he said to Samantha that he had been locked out of his flat, and asked to come in whilst he rang a family member to get a spare key.

He then subjected her to a sustained and brutal assault, murdering her.

A Home Office Post Mortem revealed Heap's cause of death was strangulation, with many other serious injuries sustained by the victim.

Detectives searching his flat found a blue holdall with a number of handwritten letters inside, stating that he didn't want to live in the community and wanted to go to prison.

Over the course of two days Mottram was interviewed by detectives but he answered no comment. Due to the overwhelming evidence he was charged with murder and remanded into custody.

The jury heard that Mottram has Autism Spectrum Disorder, and that as part of reaching their verdict they needed to decide whether his condition affected his rational judgement and provide him a defence of diminished responsibility.

They concluded that it didn't and he was found guilty of murder unanimously.

Detective Inspector Julien Culham said: "What Mottram did that evening was inconceivable and has left a family absolutely devastated.

"Despite admitting to officers at the time, and on his initial call to the crisis line, he decided to plead not guilty causing the family further distress of having to go through a trial.

"I hope that following today's verdict Samantha's family can now try to move on from this nightmare, knowing that Mottram is now facing a significant prison sentence."

Samantha loved music and helping people. Her family are still in mourning, and are still being supported by specialist officers.

Samantha's family said: "Samantha was a warm lovely person who had no bad in her and did not deserve what happened to her.

"As a family we have suffered a great loss and we are struggling to come to terms with what happened.

"While it won't bring Samantha back to us, knowing he is in prison for what he did to Samantha and our family will, I hope, help us in some way as we try to come to terms with our devastating and cruel loss.

"We would like to take the opportunity to thank the police and CPS for their advice and support throughout this traumatic time."

Nursery Lane is located in the Congleton East policing ward.

The most comment crime in the area is anti-social behaviour, with 27 crimes in July 2021. Violence and sexual offences are also high, with 25 recorded two months ago.

In total, there were 82 crimes in Congleton East for July 2021.

At the time of Samatha's death, Congleton East crimes were at their highest since October 2020.

In March 2021, 108 crimes were committed in Congleton East.

See Also: Congleton cops to show criminals the yellow card.

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