Two men and a woman from Falmouth are waiting to be sentenced this afternoon after being found guilty of murdering a vulnerable man.

Aaron Mallen, 25, Michelle Casterton, 44, and Daniel Quinn, 24, all from Falmouth, were found guilty of the murder of Terry Oldham in Camborne in 2014. Richard Rosevear, 33, from St Austell, charged with allowing the death of a vulnerable adult, was found not guilty by the court.

Following the verdicts, Detective Inspector Costa Nassaris, senior investigating officer, said: “Terry Oldham was a small, frail 63-year-old man. Aaron Mallen, Daniel Quinn and Michelle Casterton moved in to the home of Terry Oldham and began to take over his life. Terry was physically abused and suffered numerous assaults.

“He was financially exploited - his possessions were sold and his bank card and PIN were taken off him so that his money could be used to pay drug debts. Terry was forced out of his bedroom and he had to sleep on the sofa whilst Mallen and Casterton used his room. Terry was tormented by the others and lived in fear. He became a vulnerable man who was incapable of seeking help.

“When going through Terry’s possessions, the group discovered that he was a registered sex offender. Following the discovery they carried out a horrific attack on Terry using a weapon, which left him with horrific internal injuries.

"For the next 24 hours Terry lay in the communal area of the house in excruciating pain before he died as a result of the injuries inflicted on him. Throughout this period it would have been obvious that Terry was in terrible pain and was seriously unwell.

“It was clear that he needed urgent medical help but despite the other occupants of the house walking past him to go to the bathroom or kitchen no-one called an ambulance.

“Terry’s body was discovered on 1 April 2014. Those living with him had tried to clean up the scene of the attack, wash Terry’s body and cut his hair to destroy evidence. They denied all knowledge of any ill-treatment of Terry.

“They claimed that Terry had been like a father to them, in truth they had abused him for their own entertainment, exploited him for his money and attacked him for being a sex offender. The evidence suggested that they had laughed about urinating on him, laughed about forcing him to eat dog faeces and laughed about finding him dead.

“After the group moved in to Terry’s address it became associated with drugs and anti-social behaviour. The various comings and goings at the address complicated the investigation and it was eight months of difficult detective work before anyone was charged with Terry’s murder and 19 months before justice was finally done at court.

“I would like to thank the investigation team for their commitment and professionalism. I also want to pay tribute to the witnesses who came forward. Many of them were not natural allies of the police, having previously been arrested themselves for unrelated matters, but they bravely came forward because they were so horrified by what happened to Terry.”