Overview

• An Ipswich Crown Court jury convicted Roy Barclay after a three-month trial in which prosecutors relied on DNA from Anita Rose’s belongings, CCTV footage and evidence of his 2015 assault on an 82-year-old.
• On July 24, 2024, Barclay subjected 57-year-old Anita Rose to repeated kicks, stamps and blows during her early-morning dog walk in Brantham, Suffolk; she died in hospital four days later.
• Barclay evaded a recall notice by living off-grid in makeshift camps from 2022 until a detective recognised him at Ipswich County Library in October 2024.
• Suffolk Police and the Probation Service have launched joint reviews to identify how licence-recall orders and information-sharing gaps allowed Barclay’s two-year absence from supervision.
• Anita Rose’s family has renewed calls for systematic reforms to probation monitoring and interagency coordination to prevent similar tragedies.