'Cowardly' burglar who headbutted and killed frail pensioner, 86, as he tried to protect his wife during nighttime raid on his London home is jailed for 18 years

A 'cowardly' burglar who headbutted and killed a frail pensioner as he tried to protect his wife during a nighttime raid on his home has been jailed. Ashley Malcom, 40, was handed an 18-year prison sentence with a further five on extended licence at the Old Bailey after he pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of 86-year-old John Burke. Malcom attacked Mr Burke after burgling the home the pensioner shared with his 91-year-old wife Peggy on Fountayne Road in Hackney, east London, early on September 29, 2025.Within hours of burgling the elderly couple, Malcolm, of Hackney, then broke into a care home and attempted to burgle another flat while the occupants were at home. Sentencing, Judge Simon Mayo KC said Malcom had 'embarked on a sustained course of criminal conduct' during the night of the 28th and 29th of September 2025 which involved breaking into 'several' residential properties, including the home of 'vulnerable' Mr Burke. He said: 'You entered the home of two elderly and vulnerable occupants. The burglary took place over a prolonged period.'During the course of that burglary you headbutted Mr Burke. That headbutt fractured his nose and caused intercranial bleeding, and he died as a consequence.'Judge Mayo acknowledged the 'immeasurable' loss felt by Mr Burke's family, including his widow with whom he had been married for many decades. Ashley Malcolm has been sentenced to 18 years in prison for the manslaughter of 86-year-old John Burke Mr Burke was attacked as he tried to protect his wife, Peggy, during a nighttime raid on his home A court previously heard how Mr Burke had been in poor health and suffered from a number of conditions including dementia at the time of the attack. Malcolm broke into his home shortly before midnight and spent an hour and a half inside before leaving with a wheeled shopping trolley.After returning at 2.45am - having left the contents of the trolley at another address - he spent another 20 minutes inside the flat before leaving with a box under his arm.Later that morning, a carer visited Mr Burke's flat and noticed a window was broken and the kitchen in a messy state. It was then she found an injured Mr Burke who told her: 'Oh thanks you're here. He attacked me. He beat me up last night around 11pm, a 6ft-tall man. He used to be one of the caretakers.'Mr Burke told paramedics he had been headbutted by two men but was too afraid to leave his bedroom to call 999 and had waited seven hours for the carer to arrive. Mrs Burke, who also has dementia, said she had slept through everything.Reece Lambert, Mr Burke's grandson, told the court he believed his grandfather was attacked as he 'protected the woman he loved with everything he had left'.The pensioner was brought to Homerton Hospital following the attack where he underwent tests but returned home at 2.35pm, having been discharged after a locum radiologist failed to spot he had bleeding on the brain and a broken nose.The following morning, his son, Sean Burke, found him unconscious on the floor of his bedroom and Mr Burke was taken by ambulance back to hospital.Tests confirmed he had sustained a 'devastating and irreversible' brain injury from which he died, as well as multiple areas of bruising and a broken nose.After burgling Mr Burke, Malcolm then targeted a residential care home in Hackney at 6.25am. When confronted by a support worker, Malcom ran towards him while making 'loud groaning noises'.Just after 6.55am, Malcolm tried to break into a third couple's home in nearby Stamford Hill with a screwdriver.The female householder had been in the shower and challenged him wearing just a towel. Her husband ran downstairs armed with a bicycle pump which Malcolm took from him and used to attack him.Malcolm admitted burgling Mr Burke's home of various items including food and medication, another burglary and attempted burglary, but denied murder and pleaded guilty to the lesser offence of manslaughter part-way through his trial.He also admitted assaulting the male occupant of the flat he tried to break into, causing him actual bodily harm.Separately, Malcolm had admitted another burglary in May 2025 and an attempted burglary in July 2025 and possession of cocaine.Judge Mayo noted the defendant's addiction and mental health difficulties but said his 'extensive' history of domestic burglary was a 'substantial aggravating factor' in his offending. Mitigating, defence barrister Emin Kandola referred to a statement in which Malcolm wrote: 'I'm very sorry about what happened. It was an accident. I'm very sorry to the family.'Sean told the court it 'angered' him to think about what Malcom put his dad through on the night of the attack. He said: 'My dad did not deserve to die in such a way, he had earned the right to pass away from natural causes in his own silent way.'To think that this man felt that he had to attack my dad who was a vulnerable and frail elderly person who would never have been able to fight back. There was nothing of any value in the house as my parents did not have much but they had each other.'He described his father was a 'quiet, hard-working, easy-going man,' adding: 'He was the man that showed me that hard work, respect, good manners and a good heart would always pay off.'