Brothers who killed sex offender, 85, and left his body in country lane are jailed

Two brothers who beat a convicted paedophile to death before taking his car and bank card have been jailed for life.

Matthew and Luke Roe killed 85-year-old Henry Thwaites, who was friends with their mother, after getting him to drive them to a remote location in Nottinghamshire on July 23 2022. Mr Thwaites, who had previously served two prison terms for sexual offences against boys under 16, had offered to buy a car for the brothers and believed he was driving them to see a Mercedes on the night they killed him, Nottinghamshire Police said.

He was taken out of his Fiat Punto at around 10.40pm and beaten in a rural road near Worksop, leaving him with 26 head injuries including skull fractures. The brothers then took his bank card and used it at cash machines having obtained the correct PIN.

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Mr Thwaites’s body was found under a metal fence by a member of the public the next morning and Matthew, 25, and Luke, 34, were arrested after police found them driving Mr Thwaites’s car less than an hour after he was reported missing. Luke Roe, of Potter Street, Worksop, and Matthew Roe, of Franklin Road, Jacksdale, were convicted of murder on May 26 following a nine-week trial at Nottingham Crown Court.

Matthew was also found guilty of four counts of fraud by false representation in relation to Mr Thwaites’s bank card, while the jury found Luke guilty of one count of fraud by false representation. Luke was also found guilty of criminal damage after dam aging a car windscreen using an unopened can of beer.

After the murder, the brothers travelled to the home of Abby Dixon, 27, who was in a sexual relationship with Luke, in Watson Road, where she helped them