Lawrence Bierton (born 1960) is an English convicted triple murderer.[1] In 1996, he was convicted of the double murder of two elderly sisters in Rotherham. In 2023 he was convicted of a third murder he committed while released on licence.[2]
On 25 June 1995, 79 year old Aileen Dudill and her 72-year-old sister Elsie Gregory were murdered as they prepared cups of tea.[3] They were bludgeoned and suffocated with their home robbed in a "burglary gone wrong".[4] Bierton and his accomplice Michael Pluck then placed the sisters' bodies under a pile of burning furniture in their living room.[5]
Bierton and Pluck were both jailed for life at Sheffield Crown Court in 1996.[6]
Michael Pluck died in HMP Rye Hill on 13 February 2012.[5] This was after failed appeals in 2002 and 2010.[7]
Bierton was released from prison on licence in 2017. He was recalled to prison in 2018, but was released on licence again in 2020.[8]
On 9 November 2021, Bierton battered his 73-year-old neighbour Pauline Quinn to death with her coffee table at her home in Rayton Spur in Worksop, Nottinghamshire.[9] The cause of death was traumatic head injuries.[10] His abuse of drug and alcohol was considered by the prosecution to be a contributing factor.[11]
In January 2023, the Probation Service released their review of the case.[12] The local MP for Bassetlaw Brendan Clarke-Smith called for a public inquiry.[13] On 20 December 2023, Bierton received a whole life sentence.[14][15] The Probation Service apologised to the families for its failings.[16]