A WOMAN who brutally battered a kindly lonely man to death with a heavy dumbbell as a guest in his own home has been jailed for life.

Jeremy Dickinson's horrified mother discovered her son's blood-stained body lying at the foot of his stairs with the murder weapon lying on his back and his head distorted and she cradled his lifeless body until the emergency services arrived.

Jailing drug addict killer Lyndsey McCool for life today the judge, Mr Justice Jeremy Baker, told her: "You bludgeoned to death 57-year-old Mr Dickinson in his own home.

"I'm satisfied the ferocity and brutality was borne of an intent to kill Mr Dickinson."

He said that the victim's mum had described "the unfillable void left by her kind and gentle son."

The court heard that after the killing 37-year-old McCool stayed in the victim's home in Albermarle Road, Seacombe, for several hours and after stealing cash from his wallet went to her grandmother’s home to change her clothing and told her to let no one in.

The judge ordered that McCool, who appeared via video link from Styal prison, must serve 17 and a half years before she can apply for parole.

The mum-of-one had pleaded guilty to the murder which took place in the early hours of March 28 this year - just six days after she had been released on licence from prison.

The court was told that in a "pre-echo" of the murder that previous 12 month sentence had been imposed for assaulting a woman at a friend's house in Wallasey and then striking her several times with a 12 inch tall statute of the 'Grim Reaper'.

Nigel Power, QC, prosecuting, said: "It was a particularly brutal and repeated attack with a weapon which would have caused considerable pain."

He explained that the victim’s mum, Barbara Miller, called at the home of her son, who she described as "her world", on the morning of March 28 after he did not answer her phone calls about taking her dog to the vet.

On going inside with a woman friend they found his body lying face down the at the bottom of the stairs with his legs on the stair and his face at the base.

There was a large amount of blood around him and on the walls.

"There was a dumbbell on his back and the shape of his head was distorted."

She called an ambulance and found items had been smashed in the kitchen.

Police investigations revealed that he was regarded by his next door neighbour "as a nice man who was also lonely and vulnerable".

He was taken advantage of and allowed people into his home for company and to drink with him and had been robbed there in the past.

The neighbour was awoken by loud music from his home at 3am and on going round to complain saw McCool and another man sitting inside.

Another neighbour, who described him as "a very kind man towards us" was awoken by a loud bang between 4-4.30am which sounded like something or someone falling down stairs.

Later that morning McCool went to her grandmother's home to change and appeared "frightened and panicked".

She then went to the Wallasey home of John Render, where she was staying and told him: "I think I've killed him, his brain was hanging out the back of his head."

The court heard that at 12.15pm she asked a bodyshop worker in Withens Lane for a lift which he declined but offered to get her a cab and she pulled out money to pay for it which she had stolen from the victim's wallet.

Mr Power said that she told the worker: "I've done something … it doesn't matter, everyone will find out anyway.

"I think I have just murdered somebody. I hit him on the back of the had and his brains came out and looked like yellow gunge. It just didn’t look real. I robbed him as well."

She then pretended she "was kidding" and left.

She was arrested on March 29 after a police officer was flagged down and told she was in a nearby flat.

When interviewed she said she had left the Birkenhead YMCA just before 11pm on March 27 and then used crack cocaine and heroin together, known as speed-balling for two days before her arrest.

After initially making no comment about the murder she eventually admitted: "I think I threw something at him, at Jeremy at the top of the stairs.. don't know if I hit him.. think he was still stood up.

"Don't know what happened, I didn't try to get downstairs … went to bedroom and hid and fell asleep."

When shown the photograph of Mr Dickinson with the dumbbell on him she said: "I've done that haven't I?"

Mr Power said that a post-mortem revealed that Mr Dickinson, who was four times the legal drink driving limit, had died from blunt force injury.

He said that Mr Dickinson "had been assaulted to the head whilst standing at the top of the stairs, struck multiple times while he was lying with his head near the top of the stairs, and was then moved or pushed down the stairs and then moved again at the bottom of the stairs."

The court heard McCool has committed 87 previous offences including violence with her last offence leading to her being jailed in April last year.

She was released on licence but recalled after failing to attend for a mental health assessment and was re-released on March 22 - six days before the murder.

In a victim impact statement the victim's mum said that he was known as Jem.

"He was full of life and joke and quite simply my world and not simply my son. No one had a bad word to say about him."

“To go into the house and find him passed away in such a horrific way will stay with me forever …. Having him ripped from my life has left an unfillable void."

The victim’s sister, Sara Owen, told how her mum had tried to see if his heart was still beating "and cradling him in her arms" before the emergency services took over.

And she spoke of the devastating impact on her mum and the rest of the family.

Ian Unsworth, QC, defending, said McCool had a dysfunctional background and been troubled from her childhood days and began taking drink and drugs from an early age.

She left home and became homeless and she explained how she had become entrenched in the homeless community.

"The lifestyle is horrendous, sex, drugs and alcohol but it is still a community."

He said that she had lived in that community for too long but her family are supporting her, though they were not present in court.

"She expresses deep remorse for his mother, family and his friends.

"She describes herself as a coward and had done something evil.

"She is at a loss to understand why these events happen in the way that they did.

"She is riddled with remorse."

The judge said McCool had visited Mr Dickinson on previous occasions and on the fateful night she had been there with another man and they sat around drinking and listening to music until the other man left at about 3am.

A neighbour heard the sound like someone or something falling down stairs out 4am but "the precise events leading to his death may remain a mystery." 

He said: "The pathologist’s evidence discloses that he died due to repeated blunt force injuries to his head with a heavy weapon such as the dumbbell which Mrs Mller found lying her son’s body when she entered his home."

He added that McCool, who showed no emotion during the hearing, has since attempted to take her own life.

"Whether that is evidence of true remorse is difficult to discern."

Detective Inspector Paul Lamb said: "Firstly, we'd like to express our deepest sympathy to the Dickinson family for the loss of Jeremy, who was a son, brother and father.

"This was a horrific attack carried out by McCool on Mr Dickinson in his own home, where had every right to feel safest.

"I would like to thank the family for their bravery and courage during the whole ordeal and also the professionalism of the officers involved in this investigation.

"The sentence McCool has been given is a reflection of the seriousness of the offence and ultimately nothing can bring Jeremy back, but today we hope the family can take some small comfort in the fact that justice has been served."