Overview
- Portsmouth Crown Court sentenced Powell, 27, on November 14 to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 26 years after he admitted murder in May.
- Finch died from neck compression before a fire was set on her bed, which prosecutors said he lit to conceal the killing.
- Detectives built the case using CCTV, ANPR and phone data, plus forensic links including a belt recovered near the scene, the key-safe code saved on his phone, and a knife matching one missing from the house.
- Prosecutors cited a financial motive, highlighting £2,550 in rent arrears, about £8,000 owed to other companies, and his remarks about hoping to inherit.
- Judge Michael Bowes KC condemned the betrayal of Finch’s kindness, and family members delivered statements describing enduring distress.