Spinster 'shot with her own gun'

Mildred Hope-Baldwin died after being shot in the chest

A murder trial has heard how an elderly woman who lived alone with an arsenal of weapons was shot dead by a burglar with her own gun.

Mildred Hope-Baldwin, 81, grabbed a pistol when she was confronted by the "out of control" heroin addict in her bungalow in Kegworth, Leicestershire, a court was told on Monday.

Following a desperate struggle, 21-year-old Stephen Burgess managed to overpower the spinster and shot her in the chest, a jury at Nottingham Crown Court heard.

He then made an anonymous 999 call to the police and told them a woman had been shot before leaving her on the bedroom floor, said Tim Spencer QC, prosecuting.

Weapons cabinet

Mr Burgess, of Suthers Road, Kegworth, has admitted manslaughter but denies murder.

Miss Hope-Baldwin, who was just 5ft tall, was a private woman who was terrified of intrusion and kept a cabinet full of weapons.

The weapons cabinet

Axe

Crossbow

Machete

Sword stick

Cosh

Air rifle

Revolver

She lived alone in the home known as the "Wendy Hut" and had closed-circuit television cameras in her lounge, security lights outside and barbed wire across the top of her fence.

"None of them of course saved her," Mr Spencer told the jury.

Mr Burgess entered her home at about 0900 GMT on 26 February last year.

Within minutes she pulled a gun on him and the struggle ensued after which Mr Burgess shot her, said the prosecutor.

Trigger pulled

Miss Hope-Baldwin, who was shot in the chest crawled six feet to the phone and called the emergency services.

She was taken to Nottingham's Queen's Medical Centre where she later died.

Mr Burgess was arrested later that day and initially denied being at the scene in police interviews.

He later accepted he had gained control of the gun but he said he believed the revolver was not loaded.

He said he pointed it at her and pulled the trigger merely in order to scare her, but a bullet was fired.

The trial continues.