A jury has been shown the final footage of a woman alive before she was allegedly murdered and dismembered before her body was left in a freezer for nearly three years. Delia McInerney was found dead in George Gordon's flat on Gerards Court in St Helens alongside her five "beloved" guinea pigs, who he is alleged to have drowned, in January this year.
The 62-year-old, from Anfield, was said to have been killed as long ago as April 2023, having apparently been hit over the head with a hammer. She had supposedly been planning to move to Portugal to enjoy a "new life" only days later.
Gordon meanwhile bought a sledgehammer and electric handsaw from eBay in the weeks before his "soulmate's" death before stealing thousands of pounds from her bank account and taking out a £10,000 loan in her name. The 65-year-old is currently on trial at Liverpool Crown Court accused of her murder.
Sequence of events on the day of the alleged killing
Today, the jury of five men and seven women continued to hear of the sequence of events from April 11 2023, when Ms McInerney is believed to have been killed. At 12.31pm on that date, Gordon received an email confirmation showing a receipt from JD Wetherspoon, having purchased a pint of San Miguel, a pint of guest ale, a five-bean chilli, half a chargrilled chicken with mashed potato and gravy, a small bowl of chips and an eight-inch garlic bread with cheese for £37.33 at the Glass House pub on Market Street in St Helens.
A receipt which was subsequently recovered from Ms McInerney's car meanwhile showed that, at 5.06pm, she made a purchase totalling £20.95 from Asda on Utting Avenue in Walton. This recorded that she had bought items including chocolate, milkshake, courgettes, yoghurt, broccoli, peppers, a vegan pie, onions, cake, soft drinks, milk and a bag for life.
Another receipt later found in Ms McInerney's car then recorded that she had purchased £14.18 of fuel from a petrol station in Kirkby at 5.21pm. At 6.06pm, Gordon would record a video on his mobile phone showing her feeding guinea pigs and a rabbit in his flat, which was said to be "the last time that she was seen alive".
Final video and subsequent messages
This footage showed her kneeling on the floor while telling the animals: "Look at you. You wouldn't know you were Fred's offspring, honestly. You look just like your mum. A bit more patchwork. Hello Timmy. And you Fred, the best one."
Ms McInerney is then seen reaching into a hutch and adding: "Rabbit, come on. Come on rabbit. Come on, are you going to eat. Are you going to come out tonight? You're not having it. I don't think she can see, you know. I think she thinks I'm attacking her with these gloves."
Around half an hour later, at 6.34pm, Ms McInerney would message a friend, Miguel, scheduling a Skype call for 7pm, having told him that her "friend was cooking ratatouille for her". At 6.50pm, she then told another contact, Esther, in an email that she was "off to Portugal tomorrow".
A further email was subsequently sent to Miguel at 8.44pm in which the "grammar was different" and the message had "not been signed off with a D" for Delia, as had been seen in her earlier communications, while the previously lower case 'i' were now in upper case. In the early hours of April 12 2023, Gordon was said to have used her phone to access her Co-op bank account before using her Capital One account to purchase a £38.69 meat cleaver from Amazon at 7.13am.
Financial transactions after the alleged murder
Then, at 8.15am, Ms McInerney's Co-op account made a £750 transaction into the defendant's Santander account with the reference "dad". While this was the first transaction between the two accounts, there were a total of 153 until Gordon's arrest in January this year.
The £750 payment was subsequently followed up by a £1,367.44 transaction from Ms McInerney's Co-op account into Gordon's Nationwide account, the court heard. This was similarly the first activity between the two bank accounts, with 142 transfers having been noted between then and January 2026.
At 10.48am, Gordon was then shown making a £300 cash withdrawal before completing a £41.10 purchase from Wilko at 11.48am. His Nationwide account also recorded a £500 withdrawal.
Then, at 11.35am, Gordon received an email from Stonegate Pub Group confirming an order at the Sefton pub on Baldwin Street in St Helens. This showed the £23.10 purchase of a full English breakfast with brown bread toast and butter, white bread toast with butter, a double Lagavulin 16-year-old whisky, a pint of Strongbow Dark Fruit and a bottle of Strathmore spring water.
At 11.43am, activity on Gordon's Amazon account showed the purchase of a Haier chest freezer for £307.50. He subsequently went on to make another £5.40 purchase, for two pints of Theakston's mild, at the pub at 12.41pm.
Prosecution opening and trial continues
Martin Reid KC, appearing for the crown, previously told the jury during the prosecution's opening last week: "On the 8th of January this year, the police attended the defendant George Gordon's flat in St Helens. They went there because concerns had been raised by a number of people and agencies about the whereabouts and wellbeing of Delia McInerney."
"Ms McInerney had been friends with the defendant for many years and spent much of her time living at his flat, although she had her own house in Liverpool and property abroad. Ms McInerney's friends had not seen her for some time. The defendant, for over 18 months, lied to them about her whereabouts and sometimes pretended to be Ms McInerney when communicating with her friends by phone messages or email."
"Unbeknown to them, but known very well to the defendant, Delia McInerney had died in April 2023 at the defendant's hands. Her dismembered body was found in a chest freezer in the defendant's flat on the 8th of January this year."
"In the meantime, the defendant fraudulently obtained thousands of pounds from her bank accounts and obtained a loan and credit cards in her name. The defendant admits that he killed Delia McInerney but claims, we understand, that he acted in self-defence."
Gordon, who is represented by Gordon Cole KC and Philip Tully, denies murder and causing unnecessary suffering to an animal after allegedly drowning five guinea pigs. The trial, before Mr Justice Goose, continues.
