Mandy Riley suffered 11 wounds to her neck
Murderer Tommy Turner is now behind bars(Image: Derbyshire Police)
A Derby drug user who stabbed his “frail” friend 11 times to the neck and stole her cash has been found guilty of her murder.
Following a two-week trial at Derby Crown Court, a jury took almost a week to convict Thomas Turner of killing Mandy Riley in her Normanton home.
The trial heard how the 64-year-old had only been out of prison a matter of days when he fatally wounded Mandy before stealing cash from her handbag and spending it on crack cocaine and alcohol..
Following conviction, Detective Chief Inspector Laura Sanders, who led the investigation, said: “Mandy Riley was killed in the one place she should have felt safe, and by someone she trusted as a friend.
“Having murdered Mandy, Turner then stole from her before using the money to feed his drink and drug habit.
“He has repeatedly denied murdering her, but the jury has seen through his lies and Turner is now facing a lengthy spell behind bars, where he belongs.”
Prosecutor Andrew Vout KC, opening the trial, said: “At about 6.30pm on the evening of June 4, 2025, Mandy Riley, a somewhat frail 47 year-old woman, was sitting on a sofa in her living room.
“A few feet away, in another chair, was Tommy Turner.
Mandy Riley was called a ‘woman of strength and resilience’ by her family(Image: Derbyshire Police)
“Mandy Riley thought that Tommy Turner was her friend and that was why she had allowed him into her home.
“They were both drinking, and smoking but Tommy Turner needed money and Mandy Riley had money.
“It is likely that he asked, then demanded that she give him money, and that she refused.
“Her refusal angered him, Tommy Turner lost his temper and he attacked Mandy Riley with a knife, stabbing her again, and again, and again.
“He stabbed Mandy to her neck. Eleven times in all.
“She didn’t stand a chance.
“Mandy died by her sofa, still holding onto the strap of her handbag, which contained her purse.
“And having killed her, he reached into her handbag, took out Mandy’s purse, and removed the banknotes that were inside before putting the purse back into Mandy’s handbag.
“He stole a couple of other items from her too, before leaving at about 10.30pm and very soon afterwards he was using the money he’d taken from Mandy to buy drink, and drugs.”
During the trial, which was held in Loughborough, Mr Vout told the jury how Turner was a user of crack cocaine, heroin and alcohol and for some time he had been homeless, often sleeping rough and hanging around the Cavendish area of Derby with other drinkers and drug users.
The prosecutor said after being released from HMP Fosse Way, in Leicester, on May 20, Turner was provided with temporary accommodation at a flat at 248 Uttoxeter New Road.
He said following his release, the accused did not engage with support from housing services and health services and returned to sleeping rough in the Cavendish area where he found it difficult to cope and talked of wanting to return to prison.
He said at around 9am on June 5 a close friend of the deceased called Gillian Turner telephoned Ms Riley as she was due to take her to a medical appointment but there was no He said she went to her address and found her body on the floor in the living room, leaning against the sofa, in a pool of blood.
In a previous tribute, Ms Riley’s family said: “She was a woman of strength and resilience.
“Life never gave her an easy path and she faced many challenges that would have broken most people.
“Yet no matter what she went through she remained strong and carried herself with courage that inspired those around her.
“She was always welcoming, opening her heart and home to others and no matter how busy she was, she always made time for the people she cared about.”
Turner, of no fixed address, will be sentenced on April 21 at Lincoln Crown Court.