A man visited a Wetherspoons pub for a full English breakfast, a pint of Strongbow Dark Fruit and a double whisky the morning after he is alleged to have killed and dismembered his 'soulmate' before keeping her body in his freezer for nearly three years, a jury has been told.
Delia McInerney was found dead in George Gordon's flat on Gerards Court in St Helens alongside her five 'beloved' guinea pigs, which he is alleged to have drowned, in January this year, it was claimed in court.
The 62-year-old, from Anfield, was said to have been killed as long ago as April 2023, apparently struck over the head with a hammer. She had reportedly been planning to move to Portugal to enjoy a "new life" only days later.
Alleged purchases and bank activity
Gordon allegedly bought a sledgehammer and an electric handsaw from eBay in the weeks before Ms McInerney'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. He denies the charges he faces.
The jury of five men and seven women heard of the sequence of events on 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 later recovered from Ms McInerney's car showed that, at 5.06pm, she made a purchase totalling £20.95 from Asda on Utting Avenue in Walton. This recorded items including chocolate, milkshake, courgettes, yoghurt, broccoli, peppers, a vegan pie, onions, cake, soft drinks, milk and a bag for life. Another receipt found in her car recorded a £14.18 fuel purchase from a petrol station in Kirkby at 5.21pm.
Last sighting and messages
At 6.06pm, Gordon recorded 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". Around half an hour later, at 6.34pm, Ms McInerney messaged a friend, Miguel, scheduling a Skype call for 7pm, having told him that her "friend was cooking ratatouille for her". At 6.50pm, she told another contact, Esther, in an email that she was "off to Portugal tomorrow".
A further email was 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 seen in her earlier communications, while previously lower case 'i' letters 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. 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 followed 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 noted between then and January 2026. At 10.48am, Gordon was 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.
Freezer purchase and prosecution case
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 made another £5.40 purchase, for two pints of Theakston's mild, at the pub at 12.41pm.
Martin Reid KC, appearing for the crown, previously told the jury during the prosecution's opening: "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, 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.
