New CCTV footage shows a grandmother socialising with friends just hours before she was murdered in her own home, as part of an unsolved probe. Rose Johnston, 68, was found dead at her home on Ancroft Road in Dovecot at 12.35pm on October 4 last year with a blunt force head injury.
Footage released ahead of anniversary
Two men have been arrested in connection with the killing and are currently on conditional police bail, but no one has yet been charged. Ahead of the one-year anniversary of the murder, Merseyside Police and Ms Johnston's family have released CCTV footage of the nan socialising with friends in the hours before her death.
The footage shows Ms Johnston in The Watch Maker, a Wetherspoons pub in Prescot town centre, on October 2. After entering the pub, the nan can be seen helping herself to a coffee at the hot drink station before moving through the tables to find a seat.
Police know Ms Johnston left the pub at around 12.40am on October 3 and took a taxi back to her home, where she was found dead the following day.
Family's plea for answers
Detective Chief Inspector Catherine Walsh, who is leading the investigation, told the ECHO that Ms Johnston was discovered wearing the same all-white outfit she was captured in on the CCTV footage. Ms Johnston was said to have been her normal self, "having a good time socialising with friends in the pub on that afternoon and evening".
Ms Johnston's family said: "Not a day goes by that we aren't desperate to find out what happened to her. The way in which she died was senseless and devastating and as a family we struggle to understand why anyone would want to hurt her."
They added: "Two people have been arrested on suspicion of murder, but we still do not know who was responsible or why my mum, a pensioner, was attacked in her home. As a family we desperately need answers and are pleading with everybody, please give peace to my mum and us as a family."
Det Ch Ins Walsh said Ms Johnston's family and friends were "absolutely devastated by the loss and deserve to get answers". Independent charity Crimestoppers also offered a reward of up to £20,000 for information it exclusively received that leads to the arrest of those responsible for the murder.
Investigation continues
Det Ch Ins Walsh accepted the investigation was complex due to the fact it happened behind a closed door inside Ms Johnston's own home. But the officer added: "We've carried out extensive enquiries over the past 12 months, including house-to-house, CCTV, forensics and witnesses.
"We have arrested two males who are currently on conditional bail, and we are continuing to pursue any line of enquiry to find the persons responsible and bring them to justice...I remain absolutely committed to that."
Investigators hope releasing the footage of Ms Johnston and showing the clothes she was wearing at the time of her death will encourage people who saw her in the area of her home in the early hours of October 3 to come forward. Likewise the appeal extends to residents or drivers passing the area who saw anyone acting suspiciously around the same time.
Det Ch Ins Walsh said: "We need the public to come forward and tell us what they know." She added: "I want the public to be reassured that we're doing everything within our powers to find those responsible and bring them to justice."
On what would have been Ms Johnston's 69th birthday in August, her family remembered the "kind, caring and compassionate" mum and nan. In a statement issued through the police, her family said being without her on what would have been her birthday was "one of many firsts".
The statement said: "The impact the loss of my mum has had is a constant source of pain for our whole family. Knowing my mum would likely have been arranging a break in a caravan to celebrate her birthday with her beloved sister or even a couple of nights in a hotel in Southport.
"Mum loved nothing more than the chance to take a walk along the beach or prom, go to the market or maybe go to one of her favourite chippies in Rhos-on-Sea. Mum would have had my cousins helping to plan and arrange a lovely day for us all, but now I won't get the opportunity to take my mum out for tea and spoil her.
"Those little things that we enjoyed as a family have been brutally snatched away from her and us. As a family we are still in a state of shock and disbelief as to why this has happened to my beautiful mum."
