A BURGLAR was convicted of murdering a woman with learning difficulties in a botched attempt to ransack her home.

It took a jury eight hours to convict heroin addict Michael McKevitt of murdering Pauline Beattie in her living room.

The 37-year-old had boasted to his friends how he “chickened” or choked the eccentric 54-year-old in a vicious bid to keep her quiet.

McKevitt and his fellow burglar, Stephen Wales, claimed they thought Miss Beattie’s Anfield home was empty when they decided to force their way inside and ransack it.

But when she surprised them by appearing at the door, McKevitt grabbed her and put her in a strong forearm lock while Wales rifled through her possessions upstairs.

The bones in Miss Beattie’s neck were broken and she died from asphyxiation.

McKevitt told his friends he had only wanted to make her unconscious.

But Miss Beattie’s devastated carer found her lying dead on the floor when her returned to her home for lunch at 1.30pm on June 6.