Architectural designer, 34, admits killing 88-year-old woman in Yorkshire village of Thornton-le-Dale

Grace Newton
By Grace Newton
Published 12th Dec 2022, 11:22 BST
Updated 12th Dec 2022, 11:23 BST
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An architectural designer has admitted the manslaughter of an 88-year-old woman in one of Yorkshire’s most desirable villages.

Shahin Darvish-Narenjbon, 34, pleaded guilty at Leeds Crown Court on Friday to the manslaughter of Brenda Blainey.

Ms Blainey died at her home, The Grove on High Street in Thornton-le-Dale, near Pickering, on January 5.

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Darvish-Narenjbon was charged with murder but his plea to the lesser charge of manslaughter has been accepted and he will be sentenced in January.

Police at Brenda Blainey's home in Thornton-le-DalePolice at Brenda Blainey's home in Thornton-le-Dale
Police at Brenda Blainey's home in Thornton-le-Dale

He has been detained in a secure hospital under the Mental Health Act since his arrest.

Although he gave the court an address in the Cookridge area of Leeds, in 2020 Darvish-Narenjbon registered an architecture and construction company called Blanca Ltd based at The Grove, High Street, Thornton-le-Dale, with Companies House, with himself as sole director. The business has since been dissolved.

Neighbours in the village were shocked by Ms Blainey’s death and described her as ‘kind’.