Pensioner beaten, court is told

A pensioner, Mr Andrew Spence (78), who choked to death on his own blood, was tortured after being beaten, Belfast Crown Court…

A pensioner, Mr Andrew Spence (78), who choked to death on his own blood, was tortured after being beaten, Belfast Crown Court heard yesterday. State Pathologist Prof Jack Crane said cuts and abrasions to the man's legs were inflicted after his jaw, cheek, nose and eight right ribs had been fractured. Mr Spence had multiple bruising to his body and was found dead in the bedroom of his Battenberg Street home off the Shankill Road, Belfast, on January 6th, 1997, two days after he had disappeared. His neighbour, Mr William Murphy (21), denies his murder and claims prints found in the house got there when he burgled it three weeks earlier.