The God-hating killer: Drifter accused of murdering vicar and widow had left note threatening 'Christian scum'



Stephen Farrow, 48, accused of murdering Rev John Suddards in February this year

Admits manslaughter of vicar on grounds of 'diminished responsibility'

Also accused of murder of retired teacher Betty Yates, 77, found stabbed to death in her own home after the New Year

Also accused of burglary at separate property - where 'Kill Christian scum' note was found

Accused: Stephen Farrow, 48, is on trial for murdering a vicar and a retired teacher

A killer scattered gay DVDs, a Bible and party popper streamers over the body of a murdered vicar, a court heard yesterday.

Stephen Farrow, 48, then stayed at the vicarage for several hours watching an Indiana Jones DVD and drinking beer.

The stabbed body of Reverend John Suddards, 59, was later discovered by workmen next to a carefully propped-up painting of Jesus.

A Bible was left on the dead man’s chest, opened at the Letter of Jude.

The killer had also arranged condoms, silver rings, a parking ticket and half eaten food around the crime scene in Thornbury, Gloucestershire.

Four days later, the court heard, Farrow, who admits killing the vicar, sent a text from the clergyman’s mobile phone which read: ‘RIP Mr Suddards. Pervert.’

Bristol Crown Court was told that DNA evidence links Farrow to the murders of Mr Suddards and retired teacher Betty Yates, 77, as well as the burglary of a property in which a note was found threatening to kill ‘Christian scum’.

Opening the case, prosecutor Michael Fitton QC, told the jury the three offences spanned a period of eight weeks, from December 21 to February 15.

Farrow has admitted breaking into another country house in Thornbury weeks before he killed the vicar.

He left a note to the owners pinned to their kitchen table with two knives.

In bright pink pen, it read: ‘Be thankful you did not come back or we would have killed you Christian scum. I ****ing hate God.’

Farrow is accused of murdering Mrs Yates at her detached riverside home in Bewdley, Worcestershire, in the days after the burglary.

He is alleged to have hit the grandmother on the back of the head with her own walking stick before stabbing her four times in the face and neck.

She suffered a three-inch knife wound to the neck – hitting the jugular vein – from which the blade was later found protruding.

Her body was found in a pool of blood at the bottom of her stairs.

Rev John Suddards and teacher Betty Yates were both murdered in their homes at the start of this year



Murder scene: Aerial view of the scene in Thornbury, South Gloucestershire, where Reverend John Suddards was found dead on February 16 Mr Fitton said: ‘There are no injuries to suggest she had any opportunity to defend herself. ‘She may have been struck from behind without any opportunity to defend herself from her attacker.’ He continued: ‘She has not been killed by the beating in a straight line to the back of the head. ‘The weapon with which she appears to have been felled appears to be one of her own walking sticks. ‘There were in total four stab wounds to the neck and head. The most significant was to the left side of the neck. ‘It cut through the left jugular vein and was measured to be seven and a half centimetres.’ The walking stick used to beat her over the head – which had splintered because of the level of force used – had been placed upside down in her walking stick holder, it was said.

An officer stands guard as floral tributes are left at the home where the Rev John Suddards was murdered

The court heard that Farrow, who was allegedly spotted walking along the riverbank by two women on January 2, knew the area well from fishing on the Severn.

The jury heard that Farrow was linked to the scene of Mrs Yates’s murder by DNA on her hand and a boot print that was left on an exercise mat.

The same boot marks linked Farrow to the break-in in Thornbury where the scrawled note was left referring to ‘Christian scum’.

Mr Fitton said the message offered ‘a disturbing insight into the mind of whoever wrote it’.

He added that Farrow travelled around much of the country, staying in ‘all sorts of accommodation’ and occasionally slept rough.

The home of retired schoolteacher, 77-year-old Betty Yates, who was found dead just after New Year

Six weeks after Mrs Yates’s murder, the drifter returned to Thornbury and went on to kill Mr Suddards, the court heard.

After inflicting multiple stab wounds to the vicar’s face, neck and chest, Farrow carefully arranged a ‘scene’ around the vicar’s body with objects he found by ransacking his home, it was said.

‘Over the legs of the deceased was arranged a calendar and over the body were streamers discharged from party poppers,’ said Mr Fitton. ‘In order to find all these items and distribute them over the body the defendant has trawled through the house.

‘It is obviously what the effect is – to spoil and harm the reputation and memories of those who loved and knew the Reverend John Suddards.’

Mr Suddards’s body was discovered on the morning of February 14 after workmen arrived at the vicarage. Farrow, who is of no fixed abode, was arrested in Folkestone, Kent, after a nationwide appeal.

He admits the manslaughter of Mr Suddards on the grounds of diminished responsibility but denies murder. He also denies the murder of Mrs Yates, but admits breaking into the house where the note was found.