A Washington woman has been jailed for 20 years after causing the death of a pensioner who suffered a fatal heart attack minutes after his home was burgled.

Sarah Daniel entered the home of 71-year-old Billy Jackson on September 24 last year with the view to steal from him while co-defendant Leanne English waited outside.

They, in the company of a third suspect, who was cleared of any wrongdoing relating to Mr Jackson’s death, were then seen leaving the area together while their victim suffered a fatal heart attack due to the immediate stress.

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Daniel, 34, denied manslaughter and conspiracy to commit burglary but was found guilty of both offences following a four-week trial at Newcastle Crown Court in April.

She was also convicted of a further count of aggravated burglary and fraud relating to a separate incident against a different victim.

The Northern Echo: Sarah Daniel. Picture: NORTHUMBRIA POLICESarah Daniel. Picture: NORTHUMBRIA POLICE (Image: a)

English, 40, denied conspiracy to commit burglary but was found guilty of that offence, as well as a separate charge of common assault against a different victim.

Today (Wednesday, November 9), at the same court, Daniel was jailed for a total of 20 years and English received a custodial term of five years and five months.

Following the hearing, Mr Jackson’s family issued a heartfelt statement, which paid tribute to a “kind, gentle and generous man”.

The Northern Echo: Billy Jackson. Picture: NORTHUMBRIA POLICEBilly Jackson. Picture: NORTHUMBRIA POLICE (Image: a)

In an emotional statement, they said: “We have struggled to come to terms with what happened to Billy and that we have had to endure a trial.

“This has brought extra stress through this awful time. We hope as a family we can have justice and Billy can finally rest in peace. Our whole world from that Saturday morning turned completely upside down.

“Billy was such a kind, gentle generous man. He was a very old school man who would go out of his way to help and do what he could for anyone. To think that someone had hurt him makes us feel physically sick to the stomach and absolutely broken.

“As a family we know it wasn’t Billy’s time to go, he should have passed peacefully in his favourite chair just how he always wanted to. We have been robbed of the many years, memories, and precious time as a family together.”

A third defendant, David Bulmer, 20, of Bramston Way, Washington, was found not guilty of both manslaughter and conspiracy to commit burglary relating to Mr Jackson by a jury.

But Bulmer and Daniel were each found guilty of a count of aggravated burglary against a different victim which happened one week before Mr Jackson’s death.

The court heard that on the evening of September 17 last year, Bulmer and Daniel forced their way into the victim’s address, assaulted him with a baseball bat and stole cash, a mobile phone and a bank card.

Daniel was also convicted of fraud and English was convicted of common assault relating to crimes against the same victim a few months prior, on June 18, when they stole his wallet and later used a card to withdraw cash on two separate occasions.

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