Conisbrough duo jailed for murder

Angela Dowling (48) claimed to have ended the engagement when she found Alan Easton was guilty of child abuse and had porn on a memory stick when staying at her home in Windmill Avenue, Conisbrough.

A court heard that she drove the 50-year-old victim to a moor with family friend Matthew Duffy and lodger Stephen Schofield, who were also jailed for life.

While she sat in her car, the two men led Mr Easton up a farm track before stabbing him 20 times and hitting him with rocks, a jury at Nottingham Crown Court heard on Friday.

Mr Easton was buried alive and was found dead with one hand and a foot sticking out of the ground at Everton, Nottinghamshire, last February.

Judge Greg Dickinson told Dowling and Schofield they would serve a minimum of 26 years, while Duffy will be in jail for a minimum of 22 years.

The judge told Dowling: “You recruited Schofield and Duffy to attack Alan Easton. You were the malign influence.

“The intention was to inflict serious injury as punishment for his sexual interest in children or to extract a confession.

“You could have put him out of the house and called the police.

“Had you done that, none of this would have happened. It was all completely utterly unnecessary.”

During the trial, the prosecution said the sex abuse allegations against Mr Easton were false but accepted child porn had been found among his belongings.

Duffy, from Doncaster, and Dowling denied murder but were convicted by a jury.

Schofield (33), of Windmill Avenue, Conisbrough, admitted the same charge before the trial.