British woman, 62, is beaten to death with a shovel by her 'toyboy lover'

Tina Eyre was beaten to death with a shovel by her 'lover', according to reports in Bulgaria

Tina Eyre was beaten to death with a shovel by her ‘lover’, according to reports in Bulgaria

A British woman who retired to a farm in Bulgaria has been beaten to death with a shovel by her ‘toyboy gypsy lover’.

Tina Eyre, 62, was found in a pool of blood in a barn on her property in the northern town of Veliko Tarnovo.

The retired legal secretary, originally from Gloucester, had not been seen by neighbours for several days and had not responded to the local post mistress’ telephone calls. 

The post mistress alerted the local mayor who in turn asked two other ex-pat Britons who lived nearby to check on her.

When they arrived at former legal secretary Tina’s house they found her lover, a 26-year-old Bulgarian Roma gypsy digging a hole in her garden.

They asked him what he was doing and he replied that the owner had asked him to look after her three dogs but when they grew suspicious he ran off through neighbour’s gardens.

Tina, 62, was found in a pool of blood in a barn on her property in the northern town of Veliko Tarnovo (pictured). She had moved there around four years ago to live on a farm

Tina, 62, was found in a pool of blood in a barn on her property in the northern town of Veliko Tarnovo (pictured). She had moved there around four years ago to live on a farm 

Tina was killed at her retirement home, a farmhouse in the northern town of Veliko Tarnovo

Tina was killed at her retirement home, a farmhouse in the northern town of Veliko Tarnovo

Tina’s body was found during the subsequent search of her property. She is believed to have been killed with the same spade the man had been digging with.

According to police reports, he is thought to have been preparing her grave.

One of the expats who had arrived at her home managed to take a photograph of the man and gave the image to the local police, who conducted a house to house search.

The retired legal secretary, from Gloucester, had not been seen by neighbours for days

The retired legal secretary, from Gloucester, had not been seen by neighbours for days

Officers later arrested her lover after finding him in the home of a ‘lonely old man’.

He has admitted to the murder, according to local news reports, and said he had acted out of ‘jealousy’.

Mayor Hristo Hristov told reporters how he had participated in the arrest with the local chief of police Petar Petrov.

He told how they both went on a patrol with a civilian car and said: ‘It was clear that he was still in the town, we quickly rejected the main road because there were dozens of road maintenance workers and he wouldn’t have wanted to risk being seen.

‘We tied some things together and went looking for ‘Grandpa Georgia’, who we thought might know this person. Petar, the experienced inspector, immediately realized that Grandpa Georgi had guests.’

Mayor Hristov said he did not know whether the suspect resisted or tried to escape but added: ‘Upon entering, I saw him lying on the ground with the Petar’s knee on his back,’

The man, from a neighbouring village called Gorna Oryahovitsai, had apparently been spotted visiting Tina – who was known a Roxanne – a few times in the past but hadn’t been seen for around a year.

He was handed over to criminal investigators from Veliko Tarnovo.

Tina had lived alone in the town for four years after moving from the UK. She looked after dogs and piglets on the farm. She also taught locals to paint.

She spent 17 years from 1999 to 2016 working for the law firm Clifford Chance, according to her LinkedIn page.

Tina's body was found in a pool of blood in a barn during a search of her property. Her lover was reportedly seen digging a hole in the garden at the property and fled when challenged

Tina’s body was found in a pool of blood in a barn during a search of her property. Her lover was reportedly seen digging a hole in the garden at the property and fled when challenged 

Most recently on her LinkedIn page she wrote: ‘Enjoying life – just doing what I want to do, when I want to do it… or doing absolutely nothing at all if that’s how I’m feeling…. and it feels great!.

Her brother, Dean, yesterday confirmed the news and said that the family were angry they had not been contacted about the death by the Foreign Office.

He said: ‘We haven’t been told a thing by the Government, we were told the news by my sister’s friends in Bulgaria.’

A local living in Veliko Tarnovo added: ‘She was a good woman, she always helped us.’

A Foreign Office spokesman said: ‘We are supporting the family of a British woman following her tragic death in Bulgaria, and are in contact with the Bulgarian authorities.’

source: dailymail.co.uk