Norwich man jailed for minimum of 18 years for murder

Stephen Grimwood, 64, killed Mark Franklin, 58, in a violent attack which resulted in "devastating blunt force trauma" to the top of Mr Franklin's head at his home in Appleyard Crescent, Mile Cross.

Police at the scene in Mile Cross after the discovery of Mark Franklin's body at his Appleyard Crescent home (Image: Peter Walsh, Newsquest)

Police who found Mr Franklin, on April 29 last year, had initially thought Mr Franklin had been shot owing to the severity of the injuries discovered and the presence of human brain material on the floor nearby.

A jury took just over three hours to unanimously find Grimwood guilty of Mr Franklin's murder following a two-week trial which finished just before Christmas.

On Tuesday (January 3) at Norwich Crown Court, Grimwood was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 18 years before he is eligible for parole.

Police on the scene after the murder of Mark Franklin in April last year (Image: Peter Walsh, Newsquest)

Judge Alice Robinson said Mr Franklin suffered "catastrophic" injuries after he had been "bludgeoned" to death in a "ferocious attack" by Grimwood who had been the victim's friend and "someone his family had welcomed into their home".

Judge Alice Robinson (Image: HM Court and Tribunals Service)

Judge Robinson said ironically it was "the ferocity of the attack which proved your undoing" after human brain material and DNA belonging to Mr Frankln was found by police on another pair of shoes Grimwood had worn on a subsequent trip to the victim's home.

The judge added Grimwood would be "very elderly" by the time he was eligible for release.

Stephen Spence, prosecuting, said it had been a "murder committed for gain" by Grimwood who later withdrew £500 from Mr Franklin's bank account.

Stephen Grimwood withdrawing cash from Mark Franklin's bank account (Image: Norfolk Constabulary)

He said: "It's not insignificant that one of the first things he (Grimwood) does is to withdraw money."

Andrew Oliver, representing Grimwood, said the defendant had no previous convictions and was essentially a "man of good character" prior to the killing.

He said it was not clear whether Grimwood took money from the victim as a "forethought or an afterthought".

He said Mr Franklin would have been unconscious "within seconds of having been hit".

Mr Oliver also said while it was accepted there was a disposal of clothing and footwear it had been somewhat "amateur" given that other footwear, with human brain material on it, was later recovered.

The two-week trial heard police were contacted after Mr Franklin could not be contacted by his doctors, having failed to attend a number of appointments.

Police at the scene following the murder of Mark Franklin in Mile Cross, Norwich (Image: Peter Walsh, Newsquest)

Mr Franklin, who had last attended his doctors' surgery on Monday, April 25, was found by police when they went to his home at 9.30pm on April 29.

Mr Spence, prosecuting, said Mr Franklin was dead and it was immediately clear he had suffered a "significant head injury to the top and back area of his head".

The court had heard how bloody footprints were discovered on the kitchen floor of Mr Franklin's home.

Forensic analysis of Grimwood’s shoes showed traces of Mr Franklin’s brain and blood.

Grimwood, who had known Mr Franklin for about 15 years and went round to see him two or three times a week, was picked up on CCTV in the area having visited the victim a number of times in the early hours of April 26.

Stephen Grimwood leaving Mark Franklin's house following the murder (Image: Norfolk Constabulary)

CCTV captured Grimwood at Mr Franklin’s house four times between 3.58am and 5.30am on Wednesday, April 26.

Stephen Grimwood picked up on CCTV after Mark Franklin's murder (Image: Norfolk Constabulary)

Grimwood, of Shipfield, Norwich, was also picked up on CCTV withdrawing £500 from Mr Franklin's account at Lloyds Bank in Aylsham Road.

Grimwood’s clothing captured on CCTV footage at the time of the killing has never been recovered.

White trainers Grimwood had been wearing at the time of Mr Franklin's death were not recovered, black shoes worn by the defendant on a later visit to the victim's home were.

Mr Spence said the shoes contained blood matching the DNA of Mr Franklin as well as "human brain material".

The prosecutor told the jury there had been some sort of falling out between Grimwood and Mr Franklin "maybe about money or about something else".

The court had been told Grimwood, who liked to bet on horse racing and football, had owed the victim about £3,500.