A convicted murderer who killed his fiancée in a hotel in France is back behind bars after a brutal attack on his dad in Warrington. Ian Griffin, 57, from Wilmslow, was jailed for five years at Liverpool Crown Court on Tuesday (September 16) after admitting inflicting grievous bodily harm and threatening to destroy property.
Griffin had previously spent just 22 months in prison after fatally battering millionaire Kinga Legg in a suite at the Bristol Hotel in Paris in 2009. He was sentenced to 20 years but was released in 2016 following an appeal on medical grounds.
Attack on father in Warrington
Almost ten years later, Griffin launched a vicious attack on his own father at the family home in Winwick in Warrington following an afternoon of drinking at the pub. During the assault he forced him to sign a note vowing to give 50 per cent of his estate to his mother Janet Griffin, a court heard.
The attack left the victim with a fractured nose and dislodged his gold tooth. Griffin told the judge that his medication had caused him to 'go funny' and insisted: "It was a one in a million. It will never happen again. I've been a great son, I really have."
Neighbours heard screaming
The court heard how he had been living in the summerhouse at his parents' property on Delph Lane when neighbours heard him 'screaming and shouting in the back garden' at around 5pm on April 30 last year. His 80-year-old mum Janet was also heard pleading with him: "Stop, the neighbours will call the police."
Andrew Scott, prosecuting, explained how Griffin then directed his aggression towards the couple living adjacent to the property. One of them was working on scaffolding at the time, while he ranted about setting fire to the house and issued threats of violence towards the neighbour.
Family concerns and arrest
The next day, Griffin's brother Adrian revealed that their mother had telephoned him requesting to borrow £100 to 'fill the car with petrol', though he 'suspected that this was to give to Ian' and declined to provide the funds as a consequence. He subsequently spoke with his father Bernard, who revealed during their conversation that he had sent the accused £30 before being asked for an additional £40. Yet when this second request was turned down, Griffin reportedly 'become nasty' to his mum.
The pair had subsequently driven past their son, who was positioned outside the neighbouring Swan pub, before Bernard mentioned to Adrian during their telephone conversation: "Oh heck, he's here. Doesn't look good." After the father had then ended the call, Adrian Griffin contacted police owing to worries about his parents' safety.
Officers subsequently arrived at the property and discovered Bernard Griffin 'bleeding heavily' on a sofa in the living room while saying: "Help me, help me." Griffin was meanwhile detained after being found standing close by with blood on his hands, with the lounge observed to have been left in considerable disorder.
Details of the assault
This included a coffee table being overturned and a lamp shattered and suspended from the wall. Bernard Griffin went on to tell the court that his son had subjected him to an assault lasting nearly 30 minutes, during which he was punched repeatedly in the face, dragged to the ground and jumped and stamped on, while being forced to write a note 'saying that the estate money goes to Janet'.
Body camera footage from one of the responding officers was shown to the court, capturing the victim being led into the garden where he stated: "He's beat me up. He hit me in the stomach. He's been at the Swan for a few. I have a brain injury already. He started kicking off. When he was little, he was a naughty lad and I used to smack him, and he keeps bringing that up, calling me a c***. Am I glad to see you? He'd have killed me. He's so strong. He's terrible, a different person. He was saying all sorts. Every time he walked past me, he swiped me. I was on the floor. I thought that was it. His knee went into my stomach. I feel like I've been in a fight. I'm glad to see you, I'll tell you."
Officers subsequently discovered that Griffin had used his mother's mobile phone to film part of the 'gratuitous and degrading' attack. The clip, which was also shown in court, captured his father signing a document while Griffin shouted: "You give her 50 per cent of what she owns now."
Previous murder conviction
During police interview, Griffin claimed that an unnamed third party had carried out the attack, alleging he possessed CCTV footage that would 'show exactly what happened' but having been 'unwilling to provide this to the police'. Griffin went on to tell detectives that his 'father was under threat', yet refused to disclose from whom, while insisting that it was 'ridiculous that he'd been accused of assaulting his father as he was their carer and did a lot for them'.
His criminal record features a total of eight previous convictions for 13 offences, including a murder conviction in 2014, having beaten his millionaire fiancée Kinga Legg to death in a suite at the Bristol Hotel in Paris in May 2009. Mr Scott stated: "The defendant inflicted 100 blows to the deceased's head, face and body in what was described as a frenzied attack. The suite in the hotel where they were staying at the time was heavily bloodstained. The deceased was found naked in a bath inside the suite. The bath was three quarters full. The defendant attempted to clean the suite unsuccessfully before fleeing the jurisdiction to Cheshire, being located sleeping rough in woodland in Warrington before he was extradited to Paris."
Griffin initially received a 20-year sentence in December 2014, which was subsequently reduced to 14 years following an appeal in April 2016. He later launched a further appeal citing medical reasons and secured parole in October 2016, having served just 22 months behind bars.
Court proceedings and mitigation
Having dismissed his legal representation, Griffin appeared without counsel during this morning's proceedings. Joining remotely from HMP Liverpool, he was observed speaking to prison officers while his microphone remained muted, and repeatedly left the video link booth.
Dressed in a checked shirt and spectacles while seated in a wheelchair, Griffin then addressed the court: "There's a very, very different story to what actually happened. My mum knows me better than anybody. She's aware of the six to eight weeks before the day and the day in question. My dad was being blackmailed by at least five men. I did everything to protect him. Obviously, I'm devastated. It's the first time in 55 years I've ever touched dad, no matter what he's done to me or my mum. I've protected my mum for decades. No matter what was done, I still hate myself for having contact with dad. It knocks me sick. I couldn't even watch what was played."
Griffin proceeded to describe how he had previously built a 'really great career', which included collaborating with American police forces on facial recognition technology and producing the film Kill Bill alongside Quentin Tarantino and Lawrence Bender. However, Judge David Swinnerton interjected: "I hate to put the other side of the coin, but you did murder your fiancée."
While Griffin seemed to dispute having carried out the murder, he continued regarding his recent offences: "I've never gone near my dad. I'm dreadfully sorry. No matter what he's done, he's my dad. I only had four pints. I had a meeting with a scriptwriter. He's a big deal. He'd flown over. I had four pints of beer. I have a drug for my legs. I stopped taking it many years ago, because it makes you go funny. I had two capsules. I was struggling to get to the meeting. That's what happens, you go funny. It's not me. Looking back at that, I can't watch it. I just can't. It's dreadful. I protected mum and dad through the six to eight weeks before it. My mum is so important to me. They wanted to take my dad away. They were blackmailing him for £50,000. My dad tried to sell the house. I got beaten up for not telling them where he was. They were hiding behind the hedges watching us come and go. It was a one in a million. It will never happen again. It's really heart breaking. I've been a great son, I really have. If you ask my mum, she'll tell you."
When Griffin requested his mother speak to the court, she described him as a 'very good son' and added from the witness box: "He was just a good son. Whatever we needed, he'd do it for us. He'd help my husband with the gardening. He used to clear the road. I never really saw him drinking. I think it was his medication that was the fault. I don't think he knew what he was doing when he had the medication. I don't think he should have had the medication. I didn't see him do anything violent or nasty. We had a normal life. It was something that just came out of the blue. It was awful. It just happened."
Janet Griffin then expressed her affection, saying 'Ian, love you, love you, love you' and blew him a kiss before returning to her seat in the public gallery. Griffin then wrapped up his mitigation by stating: "Most importantly is, for 55 years, I haven't raised my voice and looked after my mum. This is the most extraordinary situation, which basically caused me to have a meltdown. I was in pieces. What you saw then was awful, I know, but it's never happened before ever and it will never happen again. That is a once in a blue moon. When my children were threatened and these men were going down, I just took it out on him. These men got my children's address in London from dad. That was too much for me. I can't explain how horrendous it was. For eight weeks, it just didn't stop."
Sentencing
Griffin, of Adlington Road in Wilmslow, admitted inflicting grievous bodily harm and threatening to destroy property. He was jailed for five years and handed an extended licence period of a further year, as well as being given restraining orders which will ban him from contacting his father and his parents' neighbours indefinitely.
During sentencing, Judge Swinnerton stated: "He describes you banging at the door, shouting and screaming and making a roaring noise then charging at him. You repeatedly punched and kicked him for around half an hour before police arrived. You left him very bruised, very bloodied, very battered. There is a long list of bruising to his body, to his limbs and a fracture of his nose. He also lost a tooth. He had dentures, and they had to be replaced. His jaw alignment changed as a result of the assault. I have no doubt whatsoever that your father was a particularly vulnerable victim. He was 83 years of age. He had been in a car accident which left him with a brain injury. He also had a colostomy bag. You hit him in various places, including the stomach and bladder. You inflicted on that very vulnerable man grave injuries. There are some permanent effects. His nose is deviated. His victim personal statement sets out the psychological damage that is ongoing and has gone on way beyond the physical damage that you caused. This was a prolonged and persistent assault. There are aggravating features in your case, notably your previous convictions. This was a domestic abuse situation, when you domestically abused your father. It was an offence committed under the influence of alcohol, which is a further aggravating feature. I have considered carefully the pre-sentence report, in which the author of that report talks about the escalating pattern of violent offending in a domestic setting, the ongoing persistent denial, minimisation and lack of victim empathy and comes to the conclusion that you are a very high risk of serious harm to your father. That is a conclusion with which I agree entirely. I have also considered your previous record of convictions, including that murder, where there were around 100 separate injuries or blows to your then fiancée. I have considered that in the context of 30 to 60 minutes of punching, kicking and stamping on your elderly father."
Following the sentencing, DC Alex Clephan said: "Following a drinking session at a local pub, Griffin flew into a rage and carried out a brutal and prolonged attack on his elderly father. His actions caused significant physical and emotional harm to those closest to him. As a result of his conduct, he is now facing the consequences of his actions, and measures, including a restraining order, have been put in place to safeguard his parents from any further harm."
