Woman jailed for killing neighbour in hammer and knife attack

A woman who admitted murdering her neighbour in a "frenzied" and "intentional" hammer and knife attack has been jailed for a minimum of 21 years.

Claire Kilduff, 40, stabbed Ann Coll, 61, and repeatedly struck her with a hammer after going to her home to watch television.

She was sentenced at the High Court in Glasgow, one day after admitting to the murder.

The court heard Kilduff lied in a 999 call that she had found the 61-year-old in a pool of blood having gone to her flat in Rutherglen, South Lanarkshire, days before Christmas 2023.

Kilduff pleaded guilty days before she was due to stand trial. She had earlier blamed another woman for the crime.

Sentencing Kilduff, Lord Arthurson said he had read "heart-rending victim impact statements from her grieving daughters, son and grand-daughter".

"As one eloquently expressed, their lives will never be whole again," he said.

"This crime can be characterised as a frenzied and sustained episode of multi-instrumental violence.

"Your victim's injuries were catastrophic, extensive and horrifying."

The judge concluded that motive was not necessary to prove but a number of factors were "highly suggestive of a cold-blooded and intentional murder carried out for financial gain".

He further said the killing had been "completed when your defenceless victim had no idea about the savage, merciless and murderous attack which you were about to unleash upon her".

Prosecutor Gavin Dewar previously told the court the women had been friends as well as neighbours.

They often walked their dogs together near their homes in Newfield Place, Rutherglen – including shortly before the murder.

Kilduff had gone to Coll's that night to watch television.

Dewar said the killer was "financially embarrassed" having owed money to others.

The court heard that a transfer was arranged that evening of £320 from the victim's account into an account belonging to Kilduff, who knew how to access Coll's banking app.

Coll – a mother-of-three who lived alone with her dog Lola - was on benefits at the time.

The lawyer said the murder took place some time between 19:30 and 00:50.

He told the court: "Kilduff repeatedly struck Ann Coll with a hammer causing extensive blunt force trauma injuries to the head and neck.

"The blows caused extensive fractures to Ann Coll's skull. Kilduff repeatedly stabbed her with a knife."

When Kilduff later called 999, she was breathless and crying, saying she had "found my neighbour in a pool of blood and she is not breathing".

Emergency services found Kilduff sitting in the common close and Coll in her bedroom with at least 21 blows to the head and seven stab wounds to the neck, back and side of the chest.

Kilduff was arrested in February 2024 after her phone was examined.

The court heard she made a number of Google searches on the night of the attack, including "deadliest stab wounds", "stab wound to the neck", "hammer to head injury" and "killed by single blow to head".

She also searched "killed by my debt" and "killed by single blow to head" on the night of the murder.

Almost a year after the attack, police searched an underfloor cavity in Kilduff's flat and found a hammer and knife with Kilduff's DNA and traces of the victim's blood on them.

Kilduff had been due to stand trial this week, previously lodging a special defence blaming another woman - a prosecution witness - for the killing.

Gary Allan KC said Kilduff "cannot explain" what she had done, but had "expressed sorrow" for the killing.

Lord Arthurson stated the minimum sentence would have been 22 years, but for the guilty plea.

Coll's family said her death had "shattered" their entire family and left an emptiness at every family event.

"We live every day with a grief that cannot be measured, and a loss that can never truly heal," they said in a statement.

"Our mother was more than a victim. She was a loving mother, grandmother, sister, and friend. She was the person we turned to for comfort, guidance, and strength."

They added: "The way she died has made our grief even harder to bear."

Det Supt Lynsey Watters, from Police Scotland, said it was a "violent and shocking attack".

"While no outcome can truly ease the pain of their loss, we hope this sentencing will bring some comfort to her loved ones as Kilduff faces the consequences of her actions."