Man jailed for life for murdering more than 30 years after he was first acquitted of the crime

A man has been jailed for life for murdering a woman and trying to kill her elderly aunt - more than 30 years after he was initially cleared of the crimes.

Rickie Tregaskis, 53, was originally acquitted by a jury in 1991 of killing Barbara Griffin, 59, and attempting to kill Emma Anton, then 85, during a stabbing frenzy.

Seven years later, he went on to murder Michael Josey in Mevagissey, Cornwall, who he kicked to death after he "looked at him in a funny way".

More than three decades after the murder of Barbara Griffin, Tregaskis has finally been jailed for a minimum of 20 years, after a change in the law in Jersey allowed him to be retried.

The Royal Court in Jersey heard he stabbed both Anton and Griffin in the latter's ground floor flat in St Helier, Jersey, in August 1990.

Anton survived after being stabbed repeatedly, but Griffin suffered a fatal wound while trying to help her aunt, who she was staying with at the time.

Tregaskis was arrested and charged within days but a jury found him not guilty in 1991.

He was later jailed for six-and-a-half years for a number of offences, including stabbing a doorman, then kicked Michael Josey to death while he was on licence after being released in February 1997.

He was sentenced to life in 1999 with a minimum tariff of 20 years and remains in prison, but now has also been brought to justice for the murder and attempted murder of Anton and Griffin following a cold-case review and re-investigation into the crime.

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Speaking after his sentencing, a spokesperson for Jersey Police said: "Today’s sentencing marks the end of what has been a long and challenging re-investigation into the horrific attack in the early hours of Thursday 2nd August 1990 when Emma Anton was viciously stabbed as she lay in her bed, and her niece Barbara Griffin murdered as she came to her aunt’s assistance.

"Hopefully today’s sentence will go some significant way to help Barbara and Emma’s families feel that justice has finally been served after 32 years."

Griffin's daughter Cheryl Lowe said her mother could now "rest in peace".

She said: "We've waited 30 years for this, 32 years almost. It means everything, my mother can now rest in peace, we've waited all this time and now everybody knows who murdered my mother."