A man who bludgeoned his 82-year-old neighbour to death with a claw hammer has been convicted of murder.
Raymond Sykes, 35, brutally beat to death pensioner Arthur Walters-Girout in his own home before fleeing in his victim's car.
He denied murder, claiming the attack, on 15 June last year, was part of a warped mercy killing pact, but a jury unanimously found him guilty this afternoon.
This morning the prosecution launched a last ditch bid to discharge the jury, after discovering Sykes had deliberately lied to psychiatrists who gave evidence in the trial.
It was discovered that Sykes had claimed his father died in a car crash in 2012, but he is in fact alive and well and living in southeast London, the court heard.
Police knew the father was alive but it was overlooked in the murder investigation, the court heard.
Sykes admitted killing Mr Walters-Girout by inflicting four serious head injuries with the claw hammer.
But he denied the attack had been part of a plot to raid the pensioner's savings.
Sykes was caught on CCTV fleeing from the flats where they lived in Sidcup, Kent, on the day of the attack, but the body was not discovered until four days later, on Friday 19 June, by his son Rowland.
He could see his father slumped in a chair in the living room through the half-drawn curtains and eventually managed to open a window and climb inside.
A post-mortem exam found that he could have been alive - although unconscious - for up to 48 hours after the attack.
The telephone had also been flung to the other side of the room away from the victim, jurors heard.
Judge Peter Rook QC remanded Sykes in custody and warned him to expect a life sentence when he is dealt with tomorrow.
A second charge of conspiracy to defraud was withdrawn against Sykes during the trial and will be left to lie on file.
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