Davinia Loynton: Telford neighbours remember a lovely lady
Neighbours of murdered Shropshire spinster Davinia Loynton today remembered her as a "lovely" and "hardworking" person who had a kind word for everybody.
They spoke of their shock at hearing that Kevin Hyden, of Glebe Street in Wellington, had been found guilty of murdering the 59-year-old.
Office manager Miss Loynton was settling down for a quiet Saturday on September 20 to read her newspaper when she inadvertently opened the door to her killer.
Her battered and bloodied body was found rolled up in her living room rug by distraught friends and colleagues after she failed to show up on the Monday morning at the office she had run for 30 years.
Leonard Corbett, friend and neighbour, said everyone who knew her called her Dink.
He said: "She was just a really nice woman. I've lived here for 33 years so I know a lot of people around this area. Everyone called her Dink and she bought her home with her mother some years ago. They were both very nice people and had a kind word for everybody."
Mr Corbett, of St John Street, said: "I can honestly say what happened to her was an absolute shock to this community. It all comes down to drugs, what a waste of her life. She would never have hurt anybody and did not deserve to be murdered.
"I remember the day the police arrived, they were all over this area. They came up and down and asked us all questions. What has the world come to? Most people around here are lovely but drugs is a real problem in our society."
One resident, who lived over the road from Davinia and did not wish to be named, added: "Police came here and taped off the area and we were asked if we'd seen anything, it wasn't until we saw the newspaper that we knew what had happened to her. It was completely shocking."
Catherine Woolley shared her sympathies with the family of Davinia. She said: "It is bad enough to lose somebody in an accident or due to ill health – but to find out they were beaten and tortured before being murdered is something else. It is absolutely awful."
Another resident, who did not wish to be named, said: "She was a lovely lady and I can't believe that she was killed by one of her neighbours."
