Overview
- Portsmouth Crown Court sentenced the 27-year-old to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 26 years after he pleaded guilty to murdering Emma Finch.
- The Crown Prosecution Service said he strangled his grandmother to obtain money from her will to pay off debts, including £2,550 in rent arrears and roughly £8,000 owed to companies.
- Investigators traced his movements using ANPR and phone records, and CCTV showed him leaving his flat with a belt that he later discarded.
- Phone analysis revealed he had saved the key safe code a month earlier, and he sent a Snapchat message about a nightmare of killing his nan about an hour after the crime.
- Fire crews forced entry after a carbon monoxide alarm and found a bedroom fire, which prosecutors said he started to hide the killing; relatives delivered statements describing profound anguish, and he has already served 540 days on remand.