Stephen Koszyczarski: Women who carried out 'sadistic' killing of neighbour found guilty of murder

Two women who tortured and beat their "quiet and shy" neighbour to death after falsely accusing him of being a paedophile, have been convicted of murder.

Jurors took just two hours and 35 minutes to find Zoe Rider, 36, and Nicola Lethbridge, 45, guilty of killing Stephen Koszyczarski.

The pair filmed some of the "sadistic attack" of Mr Koszyczarski at his home in Sheffield on August 9th last year.

The court was shown footage from their mobile phones of the killers taunting the 60-year-old while they robbed and attacked him.

On some of the footage, the two women, could be heard hurling sickening abuse at a defenceless Mr Koszyczarski.

The court heard that the women had no evidence to prove Mr Koszyczarski was a sex offender.

A South Yorkshire Police investigation also uncovered no wrongdoing on his part.

Prosecutor Andrew O'Byrne KC told the court that Mr Koszyczarski lived alone at his flat in Fraser Drive, in Woodseats.

On the day he died Mr Koszyczarsk had gone to a cafe and was having a conversation with the woman who owned it.

He told her he hadn't been getting much sleep because people in his block were "making a lot of noise and disturbing him."

CCTV footage captured Mr Koszyczarski returning home but at 11.20pm that night he pressed a button activating an alarm used for assistance for those with mental health issues.

Mr O'Byrne said: "He spoke to an operator and asked for assistance. He told them he had been attacked and was bleeding."

It was said female voices were heard in the background of that call.

Mr Koszyczarski was taken to hospital but died on August 11. Rider and Lethbridge were arrested and their mobile phones seized.

In a video of the attack found on one of the devices, one of the women, was wearing cream jogging bottoms.

Forensic examinations later found a small amount of blood on the joggers belonging to Mr Koszyczarski, with both women's DNA in the waistband of the clothing.

Mr O'Byrne said a pathologist who carried out a post-mortem examination on Mr Koszyczarski's body said he "died as a consequence of what he describes as a sustained and blunt-force physical assault and haemorrhage of the skull".

It was said Mr Koszyczarski had injuries to his head and neck, bruises to his ear, eyes, cheeks and lips. He had also suffered bruising to his chest that were "most likely caused by kicks".

Mr O'Byrne described the assault as "sadistic."

Lethbridge and Rider, both of Fraser Drive, Woodseats, were remanded into custody and will be sentenced on June 5.

Detective Chief Inspector Tom Woodward said he was "pleased with the jury's verdict."

He said: “Stephen was described as a quiet man. Although he had a close circle of friends, he kept himself to himself and just went about his business. He didn’t cause any problems or hurt anyone and his death was callous.

“Lethbridge and Rider had not only subjected Stephen to mental torture and physical abuse but they humiliated him during the attack wrongly accusing him of being a paedophile which was simply not the case."