London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Oct 08, 2025

Widow, 76, 'beaten to death with walking stick' while trying to help neighbour

The first victim of a double murder in a West Sussex village has been identified as a ‘Good Samaritan’ who stepped in when she saw another woman being attacked by a man.

Sandra Seagrave, 76, was named locally last night by witnesses who said she had been ‘beaten to death with her own walking stick’ while trying to intervene in the attack.

The other woman is understood to be 32. Both women died in the street on Hazel Way in Crawley Down, West Sussex, at around 10.20am on Sunday.

Witnesses said they heard a man shout ‘I’m going to kill you’ before Mrs Seagrave, known as Sandy, and the other victim, were both found dead on the street.

Police found a man, 37, badly injured inside a house on the road and arrested him on suspicion of murder.

He is now in a ‘very unstable condition’ under guard at Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton, police said.

The force also confirmed one of the victims was known to the suspect and added it was not a knife attack.

Mrs Seagrave’s heartbroken brother Dan Peckett, 84, told reporters outside her home yesterday: ‘I’m going to miss her so much. I adored her.

‘I kept in touch with her all the time on the phone.’

Mr Peckett, of the nearby village of Copthorne, added: ‘It’s a big shock at the moment.

‘I found out what happened on the telly. I haven’t been told anything yet.

‘The police have told me to go home and they’ll speak to me later.’

Mr Peckett’s son Michael, 60, said Mrs Seagrave tried to help a woman who was being attacked by a man.

Michael told MailOnline: ‘Her sister Maureen said she’d gone to help the lady who was getting a hiding and he attacked her as well.

‘We didn’t even know where she was attacked. She used a crutch or walking stick, but Maureen said she didn’t have the crutch that day.

‘I’m absolutely gutted. How do you put it into words? It’s just mad. She helped anybody that woman.’

He claimed the man used a knife to slash his own neck after the attack.

But Detective Chief Inspector Alex Geldart, of the Sussex and Surrey major crime team, has now stated that the incident was ‘not a knife crime’.

She added: ‘This is a tragic incident which has led to the death of two local women, one of whom was known to the suspect.

‘Members of the public, police and paramedics did all they could to help the victims but sadly the two women died at the scene.

‘I extend my heartfelt sympathies to their families, who are being supported by specialist trained officers.

‘I ask that people respect their privacy at this distressing time.’

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
×