Friendly large ‘murdered soul mate with hammer and stored her in freezer for 3 years’

A man accused of murdering his “soul mate” was known as “Mr Parcel” and paid for a bouncy castle for his neighbours’ children at Easter, a court has heard. George Gordon, 65, is accused of killing his friend Delia McInerney, who was found dismembered in a chest freezer in his flat on Gerards Court, St Helens, alongside her five guinea pigs in January this year.

But the 62-year-old, from Anfield, was said to have been killed as long ago as April 2023, having apparently been hit over the head with a hammer. She had supposedly been planning to move to Portugal to enjoy a “new life” only days later.

The jury was told that Gordon meanwhile bought a sledgehammer and electric handsaw from eBay in the weeks before Ms McInerney’s death before stealing thousands of pounds from her bank account and taking out a £10,000 loan in her name. Gordon is currently on trial at Liverpool Crown Court, having denied murder and causing unnecessary suffering to an animal.

In a statement read to the court by prosecution junior Katy Appleton on Thursday, Taylor Johnson, a neighbour of Gordon, said the accused was known as “Mr Parcel” because of his tendency to take in deliveries for the block of flats.

“Everybody in Gerards Court knows him by this name,” she said. “He is a large build, glasses and he has teeth missing at the top.

“He has grey hair. He always walks with a stick. He appears to get breathless. When I’ve seen him going to the shop on the corner he would stop quite frequently to get his breath.

“I would offer to carry his bags but he would always refuse. He was friendly and chatty. He would stop and talk and tell us his life story. He told us he had a property in Portugal and Delia would stay there. He said he had houses in Liverpool but he didn’t say where the houses were.”

Ms Johnson said “Mr Parcel” was interested in her work and she believed he was a professional because she sometimes saw him with a briefcase. She added: “We would often sit in the garden so we would see him…he would plant pots most days and sit outside on a chair and stare at them all.

“Any time we would wake up during the night Mr Parcel would appear to be awake in his flat. He always had a lamp on and would be sat in his living room scratching his head. The lamp would be on all time, even in the day and when he went out.”

The court heard Gordon was “always really friendly” and paid for a bouncy castle for children on the block. Ms Johnson said he also set up an Easter egg hunt, including “golden ones” which had £20 cash inside.

The jury was also shown analysis of Ms McInerney’s sent messages on April 9 2023, Easter Sunday, which showed her tell two different friends that there were “hyper kids” around a bouncy castle and “drunken adults vaping” in the shared garden area of the flats. The prosecution alleges she was killed on the evening of April 11 or in the early hours of April 12.

Ms Johnson added she saw Gordon on the bus in December 2025, only weeks before his arrest. She said: “Mr Parcel was sat in front of me chatting asking me how my baby was and gave me £20 for his birthday. He told me he and Delia had not long had a baby.

“I thought this was odd as I never knew they were a couple. He said the baby was aged one and she was pregnant with another. She carried his baby and had her eggs frozen.”

The court earlier heard from Gordon’s niece and goddaughter Paula Tillman, who gave evidence to the jury of five men and seven women.

Wearing a grey checked coat in the witness box, she told the court that she “had a good relationship with her uncle throughout her life” and said that she “didn’t really know” Ms McInerney “but knew she was like a partner to her uncle”, adding: “I think they were like friends, partners.”

Having last seen Gordon around Christmas of 2025, Ms Tillman said she had previously attended his flat “about 10 times or more to paint and decorate” at his request.

Asked by lead prosecution counsel Martin Reid KC about the state of the property, she replied: “He looked like a bad hoarder. He had loads of animals. As soon as you walked through the communal doors, you could smell the stench of the flat. Every room was cluttered as soon as you walked in.”

Ms Tillman also said she had helped to tidy the flat, recalling: “We took rubbish out. There was Delia’s stuff in the flat. My uncle and John [Lawler, Gordon’s cousin] had already moved bin bags out of the flat.

“As you walked into the living room, there was a load of gerbils. By the back windows, there was loads of guinea pigs. As you come into the hallway, there was about seven rabbits. He loved them guinea pigs. He named one Flo, after my nan. They looked very well. It was like cluttered with all the animals.”

Gordon was said to have kept the guinea pigs on top of the chest freezer where Ms McInerney’s dismembered body was allegedly kept for nearly three years. Ms Tillman was asked whether he would place anything into the appliance. She said: “No, he wouldn’t. He just said he had goats cheese and meat in there.

“He didn’t disclose what was in the freezer. The only way I knew about the freezer is when my mum phoned me up and told me what happened with my uncle George. I was in disbelief.”

The jury was also shown home videos of Ms McInerney and Gordon, known to friends as “Chris”, together, which were from an SD card found in a camera at his home. One video showed Ms McInerney walking around the address, which appeared to be “in a very untidy state”. She is heard being “abusive towards him regarding the state of the property”, Ms Appleton told the jury.

In the video, Ms McInerney said: “It’s been here since then because we cleaned this up last year. You’re a filthy pig mate. Carrier bags, dusty bins, rubbish, filth. You’ve had a clear up since I came here the other day. You definitely had a clear up. Where’s all your Russian porn then? W***** on and stuck to the ceiling?”

Having continued filming in another untidy room, Ms McInerney added: “Look at this room. It’s really nice in here. Wow.”

The video continued in another room which appeared to be in a state of untidiness, as Ms McInerney said: “I think this room in the back is my favourite though. Oo, look at that. Take it all in. Breaking everything as I tread but where can you put your feet? You’ve had a clear up here, haven’t you? Couldn’t get up the stairs the other day.”

In a second video, Gordon lay on the floor while tidying up. Ms McInerney could be heard to say: “What are you doing Chris? Tidying up frantically before the family get here. You filthy pig in s***. That’s what you are. We did all this last December.

“You filthy f*** mate. Nobody lives like this, except you. I couldn’t even get you on How Clean is Your House? They wouldn’t be able to get in.” The court heard the videos were taken in December 2009.

Mr Reid previously told the jury during the prosecution’s opening on Wednesday: “On the 8th of January this year, the police attended the defendant George Gordon’s flat in St Helens. They went there because concerns had been raised by a number of people and agencies about the whereabouts and wellbeing of Delia McInerney.

“Ms McInerney had been friends with the defendant for many years and spent much of her time living at his flat, although she had her own house in Liverpool and property abroad. Ms McInerney’s friends had not seen her for some time.

“The defendant, for over 18 months, lied to them about her whereabouts and sometimes pretended to be Ms McInerney when communicating with her friends by phone messages or email.

“Unbeknown to them, but known very well to the defendant, Delia McInerney had died in April 2023 at the defendant’s hands. Her dismembered body was found in a chest freezer in the defendant’s flat on the 8th of January this year.

“In the meantime, the defendant fraudulently obtained thousands of pounds from her bank accounts and obtained a loan and credit cards in her name. The defendant admits that he killed Delia McInerney but claims, we understand, that he acted in self-defence.”