Two women who tortured and kicked their ‘shy’ neighbour, 60, to death jailed for at least 26 years

Two women who murdered a ‘quiet and shy man with a heart of gold’ to steal jewelery to fund their drug habit were today jailed for a minimum of 26 years.

Zoe Rider, 36, and Nicola Lethbridge, 45, falsely accused their vulnerable neighbor Stephen Koszyczarski, 60, of being a pedophile, when in reality he was ‘kind and generous’ and had no history of misconduct.

Under the influence of drugs and probably alcoholthreatened to mutilate him before kicking and assaulting him to death at his Sheffield home last August, a court heard.

Mr Koszyczarski suffered 22 wounds to his face, head and body and died of a brain haemorrhage in the sadistic robbery, which the judge said was carried out to steal valuables to fund their drug habit.

Rider and Lethbridge were found guilty of robbery and murder by a jury at Sheffield Crown Court last month.

Stephen Koszyczarski, 60, was described as a ‘quiet’ man who kept to himself in Sheffield

Zoe Rider (left) and Nicola Lethbridge (right) were jailed for a minimum of 26 years today

Judge Sarah Wright today handed them a mandatory life sentence and told them they must serve a minimum of 26 years behind bars.

She said they accused their vulnerable victim of being a paedophile ‘completely falsely and without any reason’.

Mr Koszyczarski lived alone, was frail with a mild learning disability and was in poor health with a history of heart problems, diabetes and epilepsy.

He was helpless when he was attacked by the ‘sadistic’ women who targeted him, the court heard.

The judge told them: ‘You have dealt with him in the most brutal, heartless and despicable way. You launched a vicious and extremely violent concerted attack on him. You exposed his genitals, threatened to mutilate him and shouted obscenities at him. You have singularly failed to listen to his denials of the accusation, or offer him any sympathy, when he was clearly injured.”

The judge said they intended to “humiliate, frighten and harm” him and leave him “disoriented, injured and bleeding.”

Mr Koszyczarski was able to call an ambulance but later died in hospital.

The court heard evidence that he was ‘financially comfortable’ and that his daily routine was to go to a cafe to chat.

But in his last few weeks he was “short of money, unkempt and on edge,” which the judge said was due to Rider and Lethbridge “keeping him awake and frightening him.”

Sheffield Crown Court, where Rider and Lethbridge were convicted of the murder of Stephen Koszyczarski on August 9 last year

They then proceeded to beat him to death. Harrowing mobile phone footage, filmed by Rider and played during the trial, showed him bleeding as two women threatened him with a knife and scissors.

The court heard that an extensive police investigation revealed that no children had gone to his home and that he was in no way linked to pedophile activities.

A victim impact statement from close friend Mary Jones, who knew him for 38 years, said: ‘Stephen was kind and gentle.’

She said: ‘It’s heartbreaking that I won’t see him again. I cry most days and nights. He was a special man. He would help anyone and had a heart of gold. Why did they kill him when he should still be alive and enjoying his life? Ever since he was taken from me, I’ve been looking at his photo – he’s smiling in that photo. I will love Stephen and miss him for the rest of my life.”

John Ryder, QC, for Rider, told the court she had a terrible upbringing. As a young child, she was forced to shoplift to finance her mother’s drug habit and was beaten by her parents. She was introduced to cannabis at the age of 12 and switched to Class A drugs.

Inevitably, Rider had a long criminal history, including robberies, he said.

Jamie Hill QC, for Lethbridge, told the judge his client also had a troubled past and would not have committed the offenses on his own.