A heroin addict murdered a 92-year-old Enfield woman to pay for his next £30 drug fix, a court has heard.

Tamer Hussein, 29, punched Florence Ansell in the face then dragged the pensioner to the ground as she returned to her home in Blakesware Gardens on March 14, 2001.

The Cypriot, of Ridge Avenue, Enfield, ran off as his victim lay bleeding and unconscious in the street with fractures to her shoulder and pelvis.

Snaresbrook Crown Court heard Mrs Ansell, known as Joyce, was rushed to Chase Farm Hospital, but died 20 days later from deep vein thrombosis, which flared up as a result of her injuries.

Mrs Ansell had lived alone for 35 years. She had no living family and her next of kin were her neighbours.

Residents found Mrs Ansell slumped on the pavement just yards from her home.

An inquest into Mrs Ansell's death returned a verdict of unlawful killing on October 1, 2004.

A post mortem found she had a cut above her left eye consistent with a blow from a clenched fist, a badly dislocated shoulder and a fractured pelvis.

There were no witnesses to the mugging, but Hussein bragged to a friend, Genk Devrim, how he had robbed an old granny' just minutes after the attack.

Fellow drug user Devrim relayed Hussein's confession to police and the defendant was originally arrested for robbery on March 15, 2001.

But Hussein denied the offence and was released on bail as there was no forensic evidence linking him to the crime.

He promptly fled to northern Cyprus where he remained for almost four years before returning to the UK to hand himself into Edmonton police station on February 11 this year, where he was arrested and charged with murder and robbery.

Hussein denies any wrongdoing. He claimed he had returned to Cyprus to work, but came back to the UK after his mother told him he was wanted by police.

The trial continues.