A BED delivery man murdered 87-year-old Doris Crystall and left her body partially clothed in a bath of blood-stained water.

The childless widow was found four days later by a friend concerned about her failure to turn up at a church service.

Stetson Matthew, 41, of Fred Wigg Tower, Montague Road, Leytonstone, was found guilty at the Old Bailey on Tuesday of smashing a teapot over Mrs Crystall's head and strangling her at her flat in nearby Lancaster Road.

Sentencing him to life in jail, Judge Ann Goddard said: "Mrs Crystall enjoyed her quality of life.

"You brought that to a very violent end, bringing horror instead of peace to her last moments and great grief to her family and friends."

It was revealed that Matthew was jailed in 1979 for the violent mugging of a 65-year-old woman.

The court was told by prosecutor Anthony Leonard that Matthew began working at BACC Bedding in Lea Bridge Road, Leyton, in October last year. The same month, Mrs Crystall bought a bed, which he delivered.

In January, the pensioner complained that the mattress was too narrow and Matthew called round to correct the problem.

The following day, she telephoned the shop to say cash and jewellery had been taken from her home.

Matthew, known for his gambling habits, was confronted with the allegation but the items later turned up at Mrs Crystall's home and no further action was taken.

However, in March, Matthew was sacked for failing to appear at work.

Later in the month, the victim's sister, Elsie Pick, tried to ring her but got a continuous ring before the phone went dead.

Police believe the call interrupted Matthew as he began his assault on Mrs Crystall before taking the phone off the hook.

A friend of Mrs Crystall, a keen church-goer, became concerned when she failed to attend her usual service at St John's Church, Leytonstone, on April 1. She used a spare key to enter the house and found Mrs Crystall in the bath wearing only a pink pinafore. Her skirt was in another room and her underwear has never been found.

A post mortem revealed fragments of ceramics in cuts to her head.

Mr Leonard said she had been strangled and had extensive bruising to her legs and fractures to her chest and ribs caused by punches or kicks.

Matthew was arrested seven days later.

During his trial, he claimed he visited Mrs Crystall and offered to turn her mattress, but a row erupted when she accused him of taking her handbag.

He claimed he pushed her once, but left the flat in a panic.

His fingerprints were found in the flat and there were traces of the dead woman's blood on a jacket seized from Matthew's home.

Nothing had been taken from Mrs Crystall's flat and more than £1,800 in cash was found in her bedroom.

After the trial, a statement from members of her family was read outside the court: "No amount of judicial justice will compensate for the loss of Doris, but her memory will live on in the hearts of her family and friends."

Following Mrs Crystall's death, neighbours told the Guardian that she was a lynchpin of the community.

Emmanuel Owuku said: "I've been around to tea a couple of times and she was always very friendly. If you saw her in the street, she'd always have a chat it's hard to believe I won't see her any more.

"Church was more of a social thing for her, because she felt quite isolated and lonely. It was her big outing for the week."

Another neighbour said: "She was a very independent woman with strong views.

"On the day she was found dead, she was meant to drop round after church because we would always go to the Bell pub in the High Road.

"I went up to the pub with another friend of mine and, on my way back I saw the police cars and my heart just sank."

Mrs Crystall, who was born in 1913, married in the late 1950s but had no children. Her husband died 12 years ago.