Allan Grimson, a former Royal Navy petty officer jailed for life 25 years ago for murdering two young men, allegedly sexually assaulted four other boys and men in the same era, a jury has been told.
Background of the case
Grimson was jailed in 2001 for battering Nicholas Wright, 18, and Sion Jenkins, 20, to death at his flat above a parade of shops in Portsmouth, Hampshire, in 1997 and 1998. Now 66, he faces allegations of sexual offences against four complainants, the youngest only 14, from the mid to late 1990s.
John Price KC, prosecuting at Winchester Crown Court, said Grimson was an instructor at the navy’s firefighting school at Horsea Island in Hampshire. “This posting brought Allan Grimson into contact with many young males aged in their late teens; novices in the naval service, subject to a regime of strict discipline and over all of whom Allan Grimson exercised great authority,” Price said.
Details of the alleged assaults
Price said Grimson had served with the navy since 1978. “He was a big powerful man and within the service admired as a capable instructor.” The jury heard that one of the murder victims, Wright, was a Royal Navy member and Jenkins had also briefly served. Both were attacked with a baseball bat.
One complainant joined the navy at 16 and came into contact with Grimson in 1999 during a firefighting course. They met again at a seafront club called Joanna’s, frequented by Royal Navy members, and went back to Grimson’s flat. The complainant alleged he was raped once and indecently assaulted five times. He told officers Grimson once showed him his baseball bat: “He said it was his pride and joy,” the alleged victim said.
Another complainant, a 14-year-old boy, was taken by Grimson to the firefighting school in 1999. Grimson indecently assaulted him and became angry when the youngster asked him to stop, Price said. The boy contacted police when he was 16 after Grimson was jailed for life. When asked why he had not reported earlier, the boy said Grimson warned him: “If you tell anyone about this, I’ll blame it on you and you’ll get all the blame, you’ll get into trouble, not me.” He told officers: “When he went to jail I thought, he cannot get me any more.”
Grimson’s admissions and denials
Price told the jury Grimson was jailed for life after admitting killing Wright and Jenkins. He confessed to police the killings occurred “amidst sexual assaults” by him. Wright was killed on 12 December 1997, Jenkins on the same date a year later. Grimson invited both back to his flat after meeting them at Joanna’s nightclub and disposed of their bodies.
When interviewed, Grimson said there were two occasions after murdering Jenkins that he wanted to kill and that every time he went out, he was “looking”. He also expressed frustration that another complainant he allegedly indecently assaulted had “left the flat alive”.
Price said Grimson did not face allegations concerning the four complainants in the late 1990s and early 2000s. “Why that should have been so does not matter,” he said. Grimson denies one rape, 11 counts of indecent assault and one allegation of taking indecent photographs of a child. The trial continues.
