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Former Commando jailed for minimum of 28 years for 'savage' murder of elderly dog walker

Andy Wells
·Freelance Writer
<em>Alexander Palmer has been jailed for at least 28 years for murder dog walker Peter Wrighton (PA)</em>
Alexander Palmer has been jailed for at least 28 years for murder dog walker Peter Wrighton (PA)

A former Royal Marine has been jailed for at least 28 years for murdering 83-year-old dog-walker Peter Wrighton on August 5 last year.

Alexander Palmer, 24, stabbed the pensioner to death from behind on August 5 last year after telling mental health professionals that he wanted to kill a stranger.

Mr Wrighton had been walking his two dogs, a mongrel called Gemma and a Scarteen Harrier named Dylan, in woodland known as The Heath near East Harling in Norfolk when he was stabbed 45 times in the frenzied attack.

The pensioner was left with injuries so severe that officers initially believed he had been attacked by a wild animal.

Wearing a red jumper underneath a black suit, Palmer, of Bawdeswell, Norfolk, shook his head as he was handed a minimum of 28 years in prison.

Sentencing Palmer at Nottingham Crown Court, Mr Justice Goose said: ‘Your offence was substantially aggravated in its seriousness, firstly by the fact that there was a significant degree of planning and of pre-meditation for this murder.

<em>Mr Wrighton was left with injuries so severe that officers initially believed he had been attacked by a wild animal (PA)</em>
Mr Wrighton was left with injuries so severe that officers initially believed he had been attacked by a wild animal (PA)

‘Secondly the victim was particularly vulnerable, being aged 83 and alone. Thirdly by the extent of the savage violence you used to kill him.

‘You took a knife and drove to the scene for the sole purpose of murder.’

The judge added: ‘You attacked the deceased for no other reason than he was walking his dogs. At the age of 83 and slightly-built he was no match for the violence of your attack.’

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Palmer, who is understood to have served with 29 Commando, was caught by police after a psychologist who had worked with him at RAF Marham said he was the culprit.

Mr Wrighton’s children, Andrew Wrighton and Carol Todd, watched from the public gallery as Palmer was taken down to the cells.

Palmer’s parents were also in court as he repeatedly mouthed the words ‘I love you’ towards them before he was told his minimum term.

<em>The pensioner was stabbed 45 times in the frenzied attack (PA)</em>
The pensioner was stabbed 45 times in the frenzied attack (PA)

David Spens QC, defending Palmer, said: ‘He was suffering from a mental disorder at the time. There is plenty of evidence that he was psychotic.

‘The assault on him by a fellow trainee commander back in 2014 appears to have precipitated his mental disorder. There was not any evidence of any aggressive conduct previously.’

Mr Spens added that although Palmer is now taking prescribed anti-psychotic medication, he was not taking any at the time of the killing.

In a statement given after the guilty verdict on Wednesday, Ms Todd said her family had been failed by mental health professionals.

She said: ‘The revelations of the evidence relating to the mental health of Alexander Palmer have shocked, astounded and angered us.

‘We feel this should not have happened and mental health professionals failed him, his family and our family.’