A burglar broke into a grandmother’s home and brutally beat her to death. Catherine "Queenie" Flynn, 69, was sleeping in her bed when Dean Mears broke in.

The 34-year-old man, high on cannabis and ketamine, smashed a downstairs window and entered the house. He went on to stomp on Catherine 15 times. Catherine’s daughter, Natasha Flynn-Farrell, was forced to listen to the entire attack on her mum’s Ring camera. She said that she just "had to watch it play out” as her mum pleaded with the burglar not to hurt her. Natasha said: "It was horrendous, it was sickening.”

Mears fled the house through the broken window and was spotted on CCTV walking semi-naked through the nearby town of Rhyl, north Wales. He was later charged with and admitted manslaughter.

Prosecutors said he left Catherine "dying on the floor of her own bedroom". Catherine suffered catastrophic injuries and died the next day in hospital,

A post-mortem likened her injuries to those received in a car crash. The pathologist said they "repeated, severe blunt force trauma that shattered all her facial bones" and she had “no chance of surviving this vicious, unprovoked attack”.

Catherine’s family said: "Catherine was a wonderful mum, nan, great nan, auntie, and sister, and also a second mother to many and a great friend. She loved her family more than anything, she was a fantastic cook and was always wanting to feed anyone in her company.

"Her pride and joy (after her family) was her love for her garden, she would sit for hours just watching the birds and the bees come in and out of her little wonderland, with every flower imaginable. We often wondered how her garden was always so beautiful - now we know, it's because she was the ray of sunshine."

Mears was found guilty of murder and remanded in custody ahead of his sentencing in June.