Two admit murder inquiry offence

£200 was stolen in the fatal attack on Elsie Hughes

Two men have admitted perverting the course of justice after the murder of a 90-year-old widow from north Wales.

Elsie Hughes died the day after she was attacked at her home in Abermorddu, near Wrexham, in September.

John Thomas, 37, of Ellesmere Port in Cheshire, and Charles Jones, 32, of Buckley, Flintshire, admitted giving police false information over a van.

The Mold Crown Court case was adjourned, and both men were remanded in custody for a week.

The men accepted they gave false information to police when they were involved in a murder enquiry.

It was in relation to a blue Ford Escort van with the registration M960 KFX, and concealing material evidence by disposing of the van.

The offence happened between 1 September, 2005 and 7 March, 2006.

Witness statements

Steven Everett and John Hedgecoe, defending, asked for sentence to take place on Friday, and that it was accepted that the defendants would receive custodial terms.

But Judge Nicholas Woodward refused and adjourned the case.

The judge said that the papers in the case had not been delivered to court and he would need to read the 1,200 pages of witness statements before he could sentence.

No details of the case against the men were given in court on Friday.

Detectives are still hunting the killer or killers of Mrs Hughes.

About £200 in cash was stolen from the home of Mrs Hughes, and police believe the murder was motivated by theft.

Officers have appealed for information about a man in a hooded top who was seen in the area on the night she was attacked.

Last December, detectives offered a £30,000 reward for information that could lead to arrest and conviction.