Schoolgirl sisters aged 14 and 15 'scoured internet for 'easy' ways to kill grandfather, 89, and get their inheritance early'

Mother, brother and girlfriend 'all involved in operation '

Victim 'battered with bricks wrapped in plastic bags'

Afterwards, one of the attackers 'rang 999 to say man had slipped and fallen'



Two schoolgirls were part of a 'shocking' family plot to kill their own grandfather and steal his inheritance early, a court heard.



The sisters, aged 14 and 15, scoured the internet with their 48-year-old mother, 18-year-old brother and his 16-year-old girlfriend for 'the easiest way to kill an old person', it is alleged.



They are accused of hatching a number of plans and carrying out a savage attack on the 89-year-old dementia sufferer using bricks in plastic bags.



'Planned operation': Scarring from the alleged brick attack can be seen on the pensioner's head following the culmination of an alleged plot to kill him 'Shocking': The alleged attack was carried out with a brick, shown here stained with blood, inside a plastic bag

A jury was told it was the last in a catalogue of attempts to try to 'frighten to death' the pensioner, having already thrown bricks through his window late at night and cut the fuel line on his car in a bid to make it explode.



The elderly victim, who along with the rest of the family cannot be named for legal reasons, lived with his 87-year-old wife and was left with 11 areas of injury on his head and body but managed to survive the beating.

Jurors were shown appalling pictures of the blackened eyes plus cuts and bruising he suffered across his body.



He was subjected to the attack on November 15 last year after being lured out of his bungalow in a village near Winchester, Hants, believing the 48-year-old woman - his adopted daughter - had collapsed in the garden.

But as he stepped outside he was set upon by his grandson and then hit by his granddaughters who were 'armed with bricks' in plastic bags.





'This was the execution of an operation planned days in advance... the final act in a conspiracy to kill him'



The family involved cannot be named because of legal restrictions designed to protect the children accused in the case.



The jury at Winchester Crown Court was told by prosecutor Christopher Parker QC that the family plot had been concocted in October and November last year.



He said the man had given her adopted daughter lavish gifts, including a car, in the months leading up to the attack but that she was not prepared to wait for her inheritance.



Blood-stained: Another picture shows the bloodied head of the 89-year-old man, who had been attacked over an alleged plot to get his inheritance early

Police analysis of computers seized from the family home in Eastleigh, Hants, revealed Google searches including '1,000 ways to die', 'how to kill someone' and 'ten easy ways to kill someone with no trace'.



There were further searches for 'can you kill someone with a punch?', 'dangerous drugs for the elderly', 'if you hit someone across the back of the head with a brick will they die or just get a bruise?' and 'easiest way to kill an old person'.



Others included: 'delayed symptoms of concussion', 'sugar in petrol tank', 'poisonous salts', 'suffocation symptoms', 'heart attack symptoms' and 'dying in your sleep'.



The court was told one of the first attempts to kill the grandad was on Guy Fawkes night when the pensioner and his 87-year-old wife suffered 'a fright' when they heard a bang on the bedroom window.



'Cover-up': After the alleged attack, Winchester Crown Court heard one of the granddaughters phoned 999 and said the pensioner had slipped and fallen

Mr Parker said: 'He was frightened and went outside and in the darkness he saw a figure, a man aged around 18 wearing a hat or hoodie.



'Whoever that was stood looking straight at him and then moved on.' After he went back inside, a brick was then thrown at the window, smashing a pane.



When police arrived they could smell petrol, but could not find the source.



A silent phone call was also made to the house while officers were there.



Mr Parker added: 'Someone that night tried but failed to frighten him to death.'



The court was told how days later, on November 10, the elderly man went to start his car in the garage but it wouldn't work so he called the AA.





'The man was lured out of bungalow believing that his adopted daughter had collapsed in the garden '



When they arrived they discovered the car had been sabotaged, the fuel line had been severed and a bolt placed over the battery compartment.



Mr Parker said: 'It appears to be an attempt, fortunately which failed, to cause an explosion when the car started.'



Jurors heard the bid to kill the grandad culminated on November 15 after the mother drove her daughters, son and his girlfriend to their grandparents' home.



Mr Parker added: 'We say the plan between them came to a head that night when the five of them went to the bungalow and battered him with bricks and possibly other weapons, in order to kill him.'



The mother lay on the ground outside while one of the children ran to get the elderly man.



As he stepped outside he was 'set upon' by his grandson - who went on to steal £355 of his grandfather's pension from inside the house - and then his granddaughters began to hit him with bricks concealed in plastic bags.



Mr Parker described the five defendants plotting together to kill the pensioner 'in order to inherit his estate'.



He said it was the execution of 'an operation planned days in advance' and added: 'They wanted to make it look as though he had died as a result of an accidental fall.



'A final act in a conspiracy to kill him.' After the attack, one of the granddaughters made a 999 call, claiming her grandfather had slipped and fallen.



The five defendants all deny charges of conspiracy to murder and wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily.

