In court on a drip in hospital gown: ex CPS worker accused of murdering Hornchurch pensioner

 
Murder trial: Mrs Shearman’s body was discovered last Tuesday
John Dunne @jhdunne9 September 2013
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A former prosecution case worker appeared in court today charged with murdering a pensioner in her own home.

Thomas Blazquez, 50, is accused of murdering Rosemary Shearman, 72, in Hornchurch, east London.

An unshaven Blazquez appeared at Westminster Magistrates Court wearing a blue hospital gown. His right arm was bandaged and he had a drip tube on his left hand.

Blazquez spoke clearly giving his name and address and was remanded in custody to appear at the Old Bailey on September 11.

Prosecutor Simon Ringrose said the killing had happened half a mile from the defendant’s address in South Woodford.

He said: “He is charged with the murder of Rosemary Shearman on 3 September.”

The defendant’s sister, who was visibly upset, was in court for the five minute hearing.

Mrs Shearman’s body was discovered last Tuesday when a taxi driver arrived at her £500,000 detached home to take her on holiday but got no reply.

The grandmother-of-five had moved into the house with her husband Albert in 1979. Mr Shearman, a company director, died five years ago.

She regularly attended a weekly social group in her area and would take frequent trips with friends to the coast or abroad.

On the day she was killed she was preparing to travel to the Canary Islands for a cruise.

Charlotte Fitch Murphy, who runs the Ardleigh House Community Association where Mrs Shearman was a regular, described her as a “real giggle.”

“She would come to all our events, would pop in to the centre several times a week and would go on every trip going,’ she said.

“She loved sports, would play bowls and tennis and table tennis, and would make sure she had her tickets for Wimbledon every year. She was very fit for her age. She was a bit lonely and very trusting.”

Mrs Shearman leaves a son, who runs a catering business in Wales, and a daughter who lives in Hong Kong.

A CPS spokeswoman confirmed that Blazquez worked for CPS London as a case worker between January 1988 and November 2012.

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