Brutal Burglar Killed Ex-Model And Actress Who Once Starred Opposite Roger Moore

A burglar, who stamped a blind pensioner to death during a night time break-in at her west London home, has been sentenced to life imprisonment.

Daniel Barnett, 20, of Holly House, Brentford was convicted of murdering 77 year-old Jean Farrar – a former model and actress - and will be locked-up for a minimum of thirty-two years.

The Old Bailey heard police were called to grandmother Jean's home in nearby Brook Road South at 2.00am on October 25, last year after reports of a disturbance at the address.

Inside, Jean, who lived alone, was found with severe head injuries and was pronounced dead later the same day.

She had been slammed against her hallway wall and Barnett repeatedly stamped on her head and neck until she stopped screaming.

A post-mortem examination gave the cause of death as blunt trauma to the head and throat. 


Barnett was arrested within minutes of the incident close to the murder scene. 



Detective Chief Inspector Russell Taylor of the Homicide and Serious Crime Command (HSCC) said: "This was a horrendous attack on a vulnerable woman who lived alone.

“It was clear that Barnett targeted the address with a view to steal property. 



"Having disturbed Ms Farrar, he attacked her, inflicting dreadful injuries.

“This was a mindless, cowardly and unnecessarily cruel attack on an elderly lady in her own home." 


Her son, Jamie Farrar, said: “Our family's sense of pain and horror over losing my mother, Jean, in such a violent and brutal way is indescribable.

“Over the course of this trial we've heard the excruciating details of my mum's death, but we have heard almost nothing about her extraordinary life.

“Through this statement I hope to provide some small sense of who my mother was and how very much she was loved and what this vicious murder has done to our family.



“My mother led a fascinating life.

“After growing up during World War II in London, where she was unable to leave due to her father's job as a funeral director, Jean became a seamstress for the royal family (under Hardy Amies).

“She went on to be a model and actress, sharing the screen with Roger Moore in an episode of the TV show 'The Saint' and working as Hayley Mills' stand-in on numerous film projects.

“She ultimately became the devoted mother to my sister and me and the affectionate grandmother of three.

“She was passionate, funny, eccentric but above all loving. Jean loved life and would share this love with all those she talked to.


“Although my mum was well into her late seventies and clinically blind with only partial sight at the time of her murder, she was unquestionably still enjoying life.

“She loved going to films as well as the theatre and she continued to be a member of film and art discussion groups.

“She took great joy in attending all of her eldest granddaughter's dancing and singing performances.

“My mother continued to meet her friends on a daily basis at a local café in Brentford, sharing meals with them as well as laughter and stories.

“She did all this despite the need to walk slowly and steady herself as she moved.

“She was truly a great exponent of living life to your fullest despite your own limitations.



“The impact of my mother's murder on our family has been immeasurable.

“No one can be prepared to lose their mother or grandmother in such a violent way.

“The memories that we shared with her will never be built upon.

“The plans that we had made together with her will never come true.

“The small events that are just part of everyday life: the phone calls, the chats over tea, all lost because of another person's selfish actions.

“All of this has been taken away from us by a person who doesn't even know us.

“A person who has shown himself to not care about anyone but himself.



“My mother never met her two youngest grandchildren; my two year old twins who I live with in the United States. who she was due to meet just a few weeks after she was murdered.

“They knew their Granny Jeannie from chats on Skype and cards and presents that she would send, but they will never meet her in person and know of the love and joy that she would have brought into their lives. 



“My sister loved caring for our mum and being able to give back to her just some of the care and support that she had herself received as a child.

“My Mum was my sister's birthing partner, and had helped with the child care of her beloved eldest granddaughter.

“The three of them shared a bond that was so close that they seemed more like sisters than like women separated by three generations.



“Daniel Barnett did not need to enter my mother's house that night. He chose to.

“Upon finding my mum at home, he easily could have left.

“Instead he chose to beat her and throw her against the wall and when she screamed in pain, he chose to kick her, stamp on her, and jump on her head until she was unable to scream anymore.



“As my mother lay dying alone in her hallway, he left her and attempted to make his own escape to freedom and presumably a return to normal life with his family. 



“The attack that Daniel Barnett carried out on my mum was barbaric, and he has not displayed any signs of remorse or taken any responsibility since.

“Instead he has made the situation even more agonizing by dragging us through eight months of waiting for this trial to start and the trial itself, where we have heard the horrific details of my mother's last moments of life.

“Daniel Barnett has proven himself to be a coward of the worst kind. He attacked a frail, clinically blind, vulnerable seventy-seven year old woman in her own home.

“A woman who had no chance of defending herself. He showed her no mercy. He showed her no compassion. 



“Instead of accepting responsibility, he has repeatedly lied and changed his story.

“But in destroying our family, he has also destroyed his own and forced them to one day come to terms with his actions, his lies and his absence from their lives.

“He has shown himself to be a father role-model of the worst kind, abandoning his own daughter's life in order to take the life of another person. 



“And now we have to carry on. but nothing is as it was.

“When we are home at night and hear a sudden, even innocent noise, we feel a fleeting fear and our hearts break again because we know that my mum's fleeting fear became real - a fear in which she lived her last conscious moments.

“A fear that through Daniel Barnett's actions would ultimately take her life.

“It is this that we find most difficult to bear - that my mum, the kindest and most gentle person we ever knew, felt fear and pain in her last moments of life all because of the actions of Daniel Barnett.



“We can only hope that in her dying moments she was comforted by the immense love we had for her and all of the moments that she gave us.

“We were not even offered the dignity of a peaceful good-bye as her body was so brutally mutilated we were unable to see her be laid out to rest. 



“Words do not do justice to the impact that Daniel Barnett's actions have had on our family. The pain, the emptiness and the guilt that we live with every day is something that can only be felt, not described.

“No time feels like it would be long enough for us to accept his actions. Most of all we are heartbroken that we have lost such a special person in our lives. A person that was always such a major source of strength and love for us all.”