A robber who fatally kicked, punched and stamped on a pensioner before taking his cottage pie and a box of cereal has been found guilty of murder.
Unemployed Peter Augustine, 59, targeted 87-year-old John Mackey after he visited a Co-op store in Manor House, north London, on May 6.
Passers-by saw Augustine attacking Mr Mackey and searching his jacket as he lay on the ground, the Old Bailey was previously told.
Another member of the public alerted police after she heard a shout of âgive me the bagâ and saw Mr Mackey lying inert on the pavement, the trial heard.
Mr Mackey, who was bleeding from his head, regained consciousness but was unable to tell officers what had happened.
He was treated in hospital for bleeding on the brain and broken ribs, but died from his injuries two days later.
Police pieced together events from CCTV footage, although the attack itself was not caught on camera, prosecutor Jane Bickerstaff KC previously told the trial.
A jury sitting at the Old Bailey returned their verdict on Thursday, convicting Augustine of robbery and murder.
The victimâs family and loved ones, sitting in the public gallery, erupted in cheers and cried after hearing the verdict.
One of them was heard saying: âJustice, right â thatâs what we wanted.â
Mr Mackey had set off from his address shortly after 5pm wearing a distinctive trilby hat, grey mackintosh coat and carrying a walking stick and black bag.
At 5.12pm, he went into the Co-op where he bought cornflakes, an own-brand cottage pie and Mirror newspaper which he put in his bag.
He paid for his goods using a ÂŁ20 note and put the change of ÂŁ11.50 in his trouser pocket.
Eighteen minutes later, Augustine began to follow the pensioner.
Mr Mackey then went into Manor Kebab at 5.36pm and bought sausage and chips as the defendant loitered outside, the trial was told.
The victim was last seen on camera at 5.50pm and Augustine reappeared on CCTV three minutes later carrying what looked like the victimâs bag, jurors heard.
A later search of the defendantâs room uncovered what was left of Mr Mackeyâs groceries and wrapping from the cottage pie, and sausage and chips.
Ms Bickerstaff previously told jurors that Mr Mackey was 5ft 5ins tall and weighed less than nine stone.
She said: âHe would have been largely unable to put up any resistance to the attack due to his age and infirmity.â
The prosecutor told jurors that at the time that Augustine was living in âreduced circumstancesâ and was effectively homeless.
She said he had used âextreme forceâ after he targeted Mr Mackey.
âWhen the defendant kicked and punched an elderly, vulnerable and largely defenceless man, who was prone on the floor, the Crown says that he intended to cause him really serious harm,â Ms Bickerstaff said.
Augustine will be sentenced on November 28.
