Discovering Ms Gregory was still breathing, Bierton picked up a cushion and placed it over her face until she was dead.
He then continued to ransack the house before loading his van with stolen goods and heading to a miner’s welfare club for a drink.
He later returned to the scene of the crime and after dragging the bodies into a downstairs living room, piled furniture on top of them and set them alight.
When he was arrested and his home was searched, a pair of Ms Gregory’s false teeth were discovered in the remnants of a bonfire.
It is not clear whether Bierton stole the teeth as a trophy or were just included in the haul of things he stole.
Bierton moves into bungalow
The brutal and savage murder of two vulnerable sisters shocked the local community at the time and there was relief when Bierton and Pluck were jailed for life following a trial in 1996.
But in 2017, after serving 21 years in prison, Bierton was approved for release on licence by the Parole board.
He was freed under strict conditions but after less than a year was recalled to prison for repeatedly breaching his licence by drinking and taking drugs.
Two years later in May 2020, he was again approved for release by the Parole Board.
In the grip of lockdown rather than being placed in a bail hostel where he could have been closely monitored, Bierton was allowed to move into a bungalow in Worksop, just half a mile from where he had been living when he had murdered Ms Gregory and Ms Dudhill.
Extraordinarily given his offending history, in November 2020, Bierton was placed next door to 73-year-old grandmother, Pauline Quinn.
Mrs Fretwell said she could not understand why he had been released and placed next to a vulnerable pensioner.
The 82-year-old said: “I can’t understand why he was put there. How did that happen? It is completely wrong that he was released in the first place, and to put him where they did is unexplainable.”
Mrs Fretwell said the similarities between the killings were “horrendous”.
“I honestly don’t think people like him are the kind of people who change, even after going to prison..
“The details of what he did to my aunties, and the similarities to what he did to Pauline, are horrendous.”
Speaking about the impact the double-murder had on her family, Mrs Fretwell said: “The funeral itself was awful. It was a relief when he went to prison for me, but especially so for my sister.
“She has passed away now but after the murders she began putting lock after lock on her door because she lived in Worksop. It really affected her.”
Bierton will be sentenced at Nottingham Crown Court on Wednesday.
William Turner is a seasoned U.K. correspondent with a deep understanding of domestic affairs. With a passion for British politics and culture, he provides insightful analysis and comprehensive coverage of events within the United Kingdom.
