SHEFFIELD, England, June 8 (UPI) -- A young man admitted Friday he killed an English church organist who was beaten as he walked to midnight mass on Christmas Eve at a church in Sheffield.
Jonathan Bowling, 22, said little during a brief appearance in Sheffield Crown Court, The (London) Star reported. He faces life in prison for the murder of Alan Greaves when he is sentenced.
A co-defendant, Ashley Foster, 21, entered a not guilty plea. Foster was not in court, appearing via video-link from the prison where he is being held to await trial.
Greaves, 68, died three days after the attack. Bowling and Foster, both Sheffield residents, were arrested about two weeks later.
Judge Roger Keen warned Bowling of the consequences of his plea: "You know what the inevitable sentence is going to be but that will be passed at the end of the trial of your co-accused."
Greaves' funeral was held in February at St. Saviour's, his destination on Christmas Eve. His widow, Maureen, said in her eulogy she wanted "to turn aside from hatred, vengeance, unforgiveness and retaliation."
