A VULNERABLE pensioner was murdered for £½ million by her financial adviser who seduced her and then smothered her with a pillow as she lay in her bed, Chester Crown Court has heard.

Smitten Joan Beddeson, of Rayleigh Close, Macclesfield, was allegedly killed by Peter J Crittenden, 64, whom the prosecution likened to Coronation Street villain Richard "Tricky Dicky" Hillman.

The 71-year-old retired tax clerk, who had recently recovered from a successful cancer operation, was suffocated by the man she fell for in the bedroom of her bungalow on November 15, 2002, a jury was told.

And then Crittenden allegedly calmly drove home to Worcester and worked out in a gym before joining friends for a steak lunch.

The court heard that two years before her murder Miss Beddeson had answered an advert in The Times newspaper, seeking advice on how to invest money she had inherited from her uncle in the 1980s.

Married father-of-three Crittenden, then began an affair with her before persuading her to give him an open-ended loan of £230,250, which he used to pay off debts, buy property and maintain his family's affluent lifestyle.

Lord Alex Carlile QC, counsel for the prosecution, said Crittenden had also persuaded his "lonely and vulnerable" victim to change her will to make him the sole beneficiary; part with a further £40,000; give him £9,000 to buy a car; and value her "immaculate" £170,000 bungalow with a view to selling it.

It was alleged he even took out a £100,000 life insurance policy on her.

But, according to the prosecution, when she decided to end the affair and asked for her money back, he hatched "in his mind his dreadful plan to murder her", to avoid total ruin.

At around midnight on the night the clocks went back, he had driven from his home in Worcester to Macclesfield, slipped in through her patio door which he had earlier unlocked, and smothered her.

He maintained he had been home in bed, but Lord Carlile said his Toyota Avensis - bought with Miss Beddeson's money - had been spotted on the M5 by an automatic number plate recognition system and there were also credit card records of a fuel purchase.

Lord Carlile QC said: "Mr Crittenden was rotten to the core."

"For those of you who follow Coronation Street, you may call to mind the character of Richard Hillman as a bit of an example."

"Behind the veil of trust and middle-class respectability and apparent affluence lurked a calculating and even diabolical mind, motivated only by the prospect of personal financial gain."

"To achieve this he was prepared to groom Miss Beddeson so that she became all too easy a victim of his abuse of her trust and her character."

"The defendant has been a financial advisor for decades. He has, say the prosecution, become adept at recognising the traits and needs of his clients and potential clients. He is an expert at recognising vulnerability and naivety, not least in some elderly women. He knows too how to appeal to the romantic, or sexual, or longing side of their nature."

"This was not a new venture for the defendant. As you will hear, he had a history of behaving in a similar way to another lady."

The court heard that Crittenden had forged Miss Beddeson's signature on a loan agreement so that he would never have to pay the money back and that he had falsely claimed to have cancer to gain sympathy.

It was alleged he used the money to give personal loans to friends; to invest in a gambling syndicate; to buy property in Manchester and Hull and to invest in timeshares, all in his own name.

He was said to have driven back to Worcester after the murder and then to have acted as if nothing had happened, going to the gym and then to a business lunch. Miss Beddeson's body - her face covered in bruises and blood - was discovered by neighbours.

Crittenden denies murder and three counts of theft totalling £279,250. The trial continues at Chester and is expected to last between six and eight weeks.