A man has denied murdering a mother-of-six found dying on a secluded path after an early morning dog walk.
Anita Rose, 57, was exercising her springer spaniel Bruce when she was allegedly attacked on a track near her home at Brantham, near Ipswich, Suffolk.
She was found unconscious with serious head injuries by a cyclist riding to work at 6.25am on July 24 last year, and died four days later in Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge.
Roy Barclay, 55, of no fixed address pleaded not guilty to murder when he appeared at Ipswich Crown Court today via a video link from prison.
He was arrested after extensive inquiries by the police and shortly after a Crimewatch appeal by Ms Rose’s family.
Simon Spence KC, defending, said that he denied being the ‘assailant’ of Ms Rose.
Judge Martyn Levett adjourned the hearing for a further case management hearing on February 28, with a trial due to start on May 27 this year.
Barclay spoke only to confirm his name and date of birth during the hearing.
Ms Rose was allegedly attacked at the secluded spot between a sewage works and the main Ipswich to London railway line while on her regular early morning walk.
Roy Barclay, 55, of fixed address pleaded not guilty to murder when he appeared at Ipswich Crown Court via a video link from prison
Anita Rose was found unconscious near a train line after taking her dog for a walk close to her home
Suffolk Police issued a map showing the route that Anita Rose walked in Brantham on July 24
She was filmed by a doorbell camera when she set off at 5am on July 24 from her home where she lived with her partner of 13 years Richard Jones in Palfrey Heights, Brantham.
Ms Rose is thought to have walked more than three miles on a network of tracks and paths before she was allegedly attacked.
She was found unconscious, wearing leggings and trainers on her lower half, with her dog lead wrapped around her leg, but only her bra on her top half with her pink Regatta jacket missing.
The cyclist who found her, and a woman passer-by dialled 999, and she was taken to hospital by ambulance with a serious head injury and facial injuries.
Ms Rose who had 13 grandchildren remained in a critical condition with her family at her side before she died on July 28.
A post mortem by a Home Office pathologist failed to establish her exact cause of death and further tests are being carried out.
Her iPhone was missing, along with her pink zip-up jacket, when she was found.
Suffolk Police later said they had recovered her phone, but were still hunting her jacket and her black quilted phone case with a gold crown and stud detail.
Officers have carried out wide-ranging inquiries since Ms Rose was found including forensic searches, house-to-house inquiries and CCTV analysis.
They had spoken to more than 630 people and taken around 90 statements by August 8.
Inquiries included distributing more than 1,200 leaflets in the Brantham area, and speaking to travellers on trains which passed the spot where she was found.
Jessica Cox, Anita Rose’s daughter, spoke to BBC Crimewatch Live about her mother last October shortly before Barclay was arrested
CCTV images of Anita Rose during her last moments near her home at Brantham, near Ipswich
The mother-of-six was out walking her dog Bruce and was found unconscious on a track in Brantham
A photo of Jessica Cox with her mother Anita Rose, shown in the BBC Crimewatch Live appeal
Ms Rose’s daughter Jessica Cox made a new appeal for information to help police last October on BBC Crimewatch Live, shortly before Barclay was arrested.
She tearfully described her mother as a ‘beautiful, strong, independent woman’ who loved being with her children and grandchildren.
Ms Cox added that her mother had moved to Brantham about six years ago and ‘loved the area’, and ‘felt safe’ there.
Ms Rose’s partner Richard Jones, a lorry driver, posted a social media tribute to her after her death, saying: ‘This was my beautiful Anita absolute heartbroken love you always and forever in my heart.’
A tribute from her children released by police said: ‘Our mum was well known and loved in the community.
‘She was brutally taken from us devastatingly too early, and we have been robbed of so much time with her.
‘She wasn’t just a mum of six, she was also a grandma to 13, a long-term partner, a mother-in-law and a special friend to so many.’
