'Evil' drug user who slit his grandmother's throat jailed for life

A gambling addict has been jailed for life after murdering his grandmother by slitting her throat and stabbing her 30 times after she gave him money.

Gregory Irvin, 26, attacked charity worker Anne James, 74, after driving to her house to collect £250 she had to promised to give him for an engagement ring.

Mrs James had previously helped Irvin clear £35,000 of debt he had accrued through gambling and taking cocaine.

Irvin drove to his grandmother’s home in Walsall on 28 February and killed her in a frenzied attack, stabbing her in the chest and back.

CCTV captured him entering the house and then leaving 15 minutes later.

Her body was discovered at 6pm that day by a neighbour who alerted the police.

Irvin was arrested after his bloody footprints were found in her hallway and kitchen.

He later attended the house with other grieving relatives saying he had spoken to her on the phone before she died.

Irvin was jailed for life at Birmingham Crown Court and ordered to serve at least 24 years behind bars.

Mrs Justice Nerys Jefford said: “This was a particularly callous and cruel attack which took the heart from your family.

“Your reaction was cold and calculating as you went about covering your tracks and carried on as if nothing had happened.

“This has had an unimaginable effect on your family who have had to listen to the horror of the injuries knowing it was done by one of their own.

“The murder was done for gain, motivated by design and intention to get money from Anne James.

“She was a wonderful person, an amazing lady, a woman of humanity, compassion and generosity.

“She had been nothing but generous with you and not just in spirit. She has been described as the ‘family bank’.”

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Earlier this month a jury found him unanimously guilty of murder following a trial.

Detective Inspector Harry Harrison, from West Midlands’ Police’s homicide team, said: “This was a despicable crime by a compulsive liar, who shunned and manipulated the love and support offered by his family.

“By killing his grandmother he has destroyed their lives and has rightly been convicted of murder.

“This was someone Mrs James would have trusted as her grandson and who had always been welcomed into her home.

“My thoughts remain with the family and I truly hope they can move on and rebuild their lives.”