A man has been cleared of murdering his disabled neighbour and leaving the body for his mother to find.

Christopher McMahon, 38, was accused of battering 62-year-old Jill Grinstead and suffocating her with a pillow during a “frenzied search” for drug money sometime between February 19 and 22 of this year.

But Mr McMahon told Southwark Crown Court he had been at home all evening and insisted his sister had lied about him confessing the murder to her.

Mother-of-two Mrs Grinstead - who was just 5ft 2ins and weighed 54kg - suffered from emphysema and was confined to her bed.

Her body was discovered by Mr McMahon's mother, Peggy, who became worried about her neighbour after spotting a window had been smashed and the front door was ajar.

The petite pensioner's jaw was dislocated, her teeth were “virtually knocked out” and her face and neck were severely bruised.

The court was told Mrs McMahon ran to another neighbour's home in Laburnum Road, Colliers Wood, and called for help.

Days later the Mr McMahon’s sister reported him to police after he allegedly told her “he had done something wrong” and put a pillow over Mrs Grinstead's head when she called out “Chris, Chris”.

Mr McMahon's sister Josephine immediately contacted the police and he was arrested.

But the defendant told the jury: “I didn't go into her home”.

He denied murder and manslaughter and was last week found not guilty of both charges.