Teenager guilty of vampire murder

A BRITISH teenager was yesterday found guilty of murdering his elderly neighbour and drinking her blood in a vampire ritual.

Art student Mathew Hardman, 17, was jailed for a minimum of 12 years after being found guilty of butchering Mabel Leyshon at her home in Llanfairpwll, Anglesey, last November.

The 90-year-old widow’s heart was cut out and her blood appeared to have been drunk from a pot. The teenager was obsessed by vampires and killed Mrs Leyshon in a bid to become one of the creatures.

He denied any involvement in the murder and claimed his alleged fascination with vampires was no more than a “subtle interest.” The jury at Mold Crown Court retired to consider its verdict yesterday.

After the verdict was reached, trial Mr Justice Richards lifted an order banning his identification.

Hardman was convicted by a unanimous verdict. The 17-year-old wept when the male foreman read out the verdict and his mother shrieked and sobbed in the public gallery. Mr Justice Richards said all the evidence pointed to the fact that Hardman believed he could achieve immortality by killing Mrs Leyshon and drinking her blood.

Mr Justice Richards said: “You have been convicted by the jury on the strength of the most compelling evidence.

“The horrific nature of this murder was plain to all.

“It was a vicious and sustained attack on a vulnerable old lady in her own home, aggravated by the mutilation of her body after she had been killed. It was planned and carefully calculated.

“Why you should have acted in this way is difficult to comprehend, but I am drawn to the conclusion that vampirism had indeed become a near obsession with you; that you really did believe that this myth may be true; that you did think that you would achieve immortality by the drinking of another person’s blood and you found this an irresistible attraction.”

Hardman was born and raised in Amlwch, on the north coast of Anglesey. He moved to Llanfairpwll in 1998, when he was 13 years old.

That same year, his father died from a massive asthma attack. Although his parents had separated, Hardman had remained close to his father and was upset by the tragedy.

He and his mother Julia, a nurse, and her partner Alan Benneyworth, a former British Ministry of Defence fireman, lived in a bungalow in Llanfairpwll. Mrs Hardman, a tall, striking woman with long bleached-blonde hair, stood by her son and attended court every day, occasionally waving to him from the public gallery.

Hardman has two elder sisters, but neither was living in the family home when Mrs Leyshon was murdered in November last year.

The dyslexic teenager was given extra tuition at school for two hours per week and hated English, although he was keen on art and media studies.

He left David Huws School at the age of 16 and went on to study art and design at Menai College.

He had only completed one term when he was arrested in January of this year.