Woman admits killing neighbour in hammer and knife attack

A woman has admitted murdering her neighbour in a hammer and knife attack after going to round to her home to watch TV.

Claire Kilduff, 40, stabbed and hit Ann Coll with a hammer after taking more than £300 from the grandmother's bank account.

She later lied in a 999 call that she had found the 61-year-old in a pool of blood having gone to her flat in Rutherglen, South Lanarkshire, days before Christmas 2023.

Kilduff pleaded guilty at the High Court in Glasgow days before she was due to stand trial. She had earlier blamed another woman for the crime.

Prosecutor Gavin Dewar told how the women had been both friends and neighbours.

They often walked their dogs together near where they stayed in Newfield Place, Rutherglen – including shortly before the murder.

Kilduff had gone to Coll's that night to watch television.

Dewar said the killer was "financially embarrassed" having owed money to others.

The court heard that Kilduff – who knew how to access Coll's banking app – arranged that evening to transfer £320 from the victim's account into her own.

Coll – who lived alone with her dog Lola - was on benefits at the time.

The lawyer said the murder took place some time between 19:30 and 00:50 the next morning.

He told the court: "Kilduff repeatedly struck Ann Coll with a hammer causing extensive blunt force trauma injuries to the head and neck.

"The blows caused extensive fractures to Ann Coll's skull. Kilduff repeatedly stabbed her with a knife."

The killer called 999 and, during the call, she was breathless and crying.

She said: "I have came up and found my neighbour in a pool of blood and she is not breathing."

Emergency services arrived to find Coll in her bedroom, but she could not be saved.

The lawyer told the court the mum-of three had suffered at least 21 blows to the head.

This resulted in multiple fractures. She also had seven stab wounds to the neck, back and side of the chest.

Kilduff had been found sitting in the common close when police turned up after the murder.

She was arrested in February 2024 after her phone was examined.

The court heard she made a number of Google searches on the night of the attack.

These included "deadliest stab wounds", "stab wound to the neck", "hammer to head injury" and "killed by single blow to head".

She also searched "killed by my debt" and "killed by single blow to head" on the night of the murder.

Police went on to find incriminating items having been alerted to an underfloor cavity in Kilduff's flat in November 2024 – almost a year after the murder.

The hammer and knife were discovered and the weapons had Kilduff's DNA on them as well as traces of the victim's blood.

Kilduff had been due to stand trial this week before admitting her guilt. She had previously lodged a special defence blaming another woman - a prosecution witness - for the killing.

Dewar told the court Coll was "a much-loved parent, grand-parent and friend" who is "greatly missed" particularly by her children.

A large number of those close to Coll were at court on Monday with several emotional during the hearing.

Gary Allan KC said Kilduff "cannot explain" what she had done, but had "expressed sorrow" for the killing.

Lord Arthurson adjourned the case for sentencing. Kilduff remains in custody meantime.