Family of antiques dealer Robyn Mercer who was found beaten to death: We are still getting to grips with the tragedy

Robyn Mercer, seen here in fancy dress for a recent party, have spoken of their shock after she was found battered to death
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The family of a Mayfair antiques dealer found battered to death outside her Surrey home today spoke of their devastation, saying they were still trying to “get to grips” with the tragedy.

Robyn Mercer, 50, a renowned silverware expert, was found face down on her front lawn in a pool of blood with injuries so severe police at first “thought she had been shot.”

Officers were called to the semi-detached £700,000 house in West Molesey, neart Hampton Court, where she lived with her two teenage children, at 8am yesterday.

She was found by a neighbour leaving for work and it is believed her body may have lain outside the property for much of the night.

Detectives have arrested a 52-year-old man, understood to be known to Ms Mercer, on suspicion of murder. He remains in custody.

Silverware expert Robyn Mercer worked at antique dealer J H  Bourdon-Smith in St James’s Nigel Howard
Nigel Howard

Today Ms Mercer’s niece, Claudia Spickernell, speaking from South Africa, said: “We have just heard the news.

“We are all a bit in the dark. Everyone is still just trying to get a grip of everything.”

Ms Mercer worked at JH Bourdon-Smith in Masons Yard, St James’s, a family-owned firm that is one of London’s most prestigious independent antique dealers.

She was a respected expert in antique silver who had contributed to academic studies of 16th-century silver spoons.

Art specialist Paul Crane, 40, from the neighbouring Brian Haughton Gallery, who knew Ms Mercer for over 20 years, said: “She was full of the most golden energy. She was so polite it was unbelievable. She was just full of kindness.

“I only knew of her family in South Africa because her father died before Christmas.

“She was extremely well thought of in the industry. She will be missed by everyone in the silver trade.

“She had worked in the trade for more than 20 years and had a great deal of knowledge of the history of silversmithing.

Found dead in her garden: Robyn Mercer
Facebook

“She was a very private person. I’m so shocked this happened. “

A colleague at her company said: “We are in shock at the moment. It’s a tragedy and we are just trying to come to terms with it.”

Ms Mercer was also a keen rower and a member of Walton Rowing club, who had taken part in its 2014 tour to Venice.

One friend and spokeswoman for the club said: “She was an absolutely lovely woman who was full of life.

“She would go the extra mile for anyone. She would help behind the bar and anyone around the club. I spoke to her only on Saturday and she seemed fine.

“We are all in shock. She only recently turned 50 which was a happy time. No one can believe that this is happened. She also lost her father recently at the end of last year so it’s been a really tragic time.”

The friend told how Ms Mercer had taken part in the Vogalonga boating event in Venice, recently attended a training camp on Lake Banyoles in Spain, and competed in the British Rowing Masters Championships at the National Watersports Centre in Nottingham.

Ms Mercer was also active in the local community and organised a charity auction which raised £12,000 for a new church roof at nearby St Mary the Virgin in East Molesey.

One churchgoer who had helped run the event, where Ms Mercer valued the antiques, said: “She was a lovely lady. She was happy to give up her time to help a church where she was not a member of the congregation.”

Paramedics, an air ambulance crew and detectives rushed to Ms Mercer’s home in Walton Road yesterday morning, but there was nothing that could be done to revive her.

One neighbour: “Her body was in the front garden and I think her children were in the house.

He added: “Police said she had her head bashed in with a blunt object. Apparently her injuries were so bad they thought she’d been shot.

“She could have been out there all night because I heard she’s been dead for a while. We didn’t hear anything.”

A spokesman for Surrey Police said: “A murder investigation has been launched following the death of a woman in West Molesey.

“The investigation is still in the early stages. A 52-year-old man from West Molesey has been arrested on suspicion of murder and is currently in police custody.”

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