Overview
- Portsmouth Crown Court sentenced Powell, 27, to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 26 years on November 14, following his guilty plea in May.
- Prosecution evidence described a financial motive, citing about £2,550 in rent arrears and roughly £8,000 owed to companies, plus his remarks about expecting money from her will.
- CCTV showed him leaving home with a belt later found discarded, ANPR traced his car, phone analysis revealed the back-door key safe code noted weeks earlier, and a Snapchat message referenced a nightmare about killing his nan.
- Fire crews were alerted around 4am by a carbon monoxide alarm, forced entry, found a blaze in the back bedroom, and a post-mortem confirmed death by strangulation, with the fire set to conceal the crime.
- Victim impact statements from relatives said they cannot forgive him, and Judge Michael Bowes KC condemned the killing as a betrayal of the kindness Emma Finch had shown.