‘Evil’ drug user who slashed his grandmother’s throat and stabbed her more than 40 times is jailed for life

Killer Gregory Irvin was £35,000 in debt when he went to his victim's home to ask for money

Anne James, who was brutally murdered by her drug-addicted and indebted grandson Gregory Irvin (West Midlands Police)

A 26-year-old cocaine-user has been jailed for life after cutting his grandmother’s throat and stabbing her more than 40 times in an attack of “extraordinary ferocity and cruelty”.

Gregory Irvin has been branded “evil” by his family after he stabbed his victim in the back and then the chest in the kitchen of her home in Walsall.

Irvin wept quietly in the dock as he was sentenced to life with a minimum of 24 years for killing Anne James, 74.

The savage crime has devastated the family, Mrs James’s son, Andrew James, told the court. “She died terrified and alone, with an evil grandson.

“He has ripped out my heart and stamped on it. She would have been frozen with fear – like a lamb to the slaughter.”

The judge, Mrs Justice Jefford, told Irvin that only he would ever know why he had attacked Mrs James, in an assault she said showed “extraordinary ferocity and cruelty”.

Irvin arrived at his grandmother’s house in Walsall one morning in February, hoping to borrow more money from Mrs James.

The addict was struggling to finance his £100-a-week habit and also had a £35,000 gambling debt. His grandmother had already given him £6,000.

When he arrived at the house Mrs James was out shopping, but Irvin returned later to discover her cooking soup and cutting up bread for her lunch.

“We’ll never know what happened [next],” Mrs Justice Jefford told Irvin during sentencing.

“She may have refused to give you more money and you lost your temper or you may have attempted to steal the money.

“But what you did next was motivated by money. You took a breadknife she had used and you slit her throat from behind.

“It severed the carotid artery and jugular vein. She would have collapsed almost immediately.

“You stabbed her repeatedly in the back and then you turned her over and stabbed her in the chest.

“You stabbed her over 40 times. It was an attack of the most extraordinary ferocity and cruelty.”

Gregory Irvin was jailed for life after he was convicted of slitting the throat of his grandmother (West Midlands Police)

Irvin – who police discovered later had searched online for the phrase “old lady killed, but killer never found” – then went to great lengths cover his tracks.

His reaction to the brutal killing was “cold and calculated”, the judge said. After removing a CCTV camera from the kitchen and Mrs James’s mobile phone, Irvin then went home and “carried on as if nothing happened”, visiting his parents, doing the washing up and watching TV.

Police traced Irvin to the slaying after forensic specialists discovered traces of his grandmother’s blood on his jacket and on the accelerator of his car.

The killer told police a​fter he was arrested that Mrs James had agreed to leave him money but the judge dismissed this as a “lie”.

“You have put your family through the trauma of this trial,” she also said. “Your own mother was too unwell to give evidence.

“Family members have had to sit in court and hear, over and over, the horror of Anne James’ injuries, knowing they were inflicted by one of their own.”

Detective Inspector Harry Harrison, who led the police investigation, said: “This was a despicable crime by a compulsive liar who shunned and manipulated the love and support offered by his family.”

Irvin’s barrister, Timothy Raggatt, told the court that the addict had been bullied at school, was sexually assaulted as a child, and had “high-functioning” autistic spectrum disorder.

“It is a terrible situation for all concerned. It’s a true family disaster.”

Irvin, who was convicted earlier this month, did not look at the rest of the family sat just metres away in the public gallery while he was sentenced to life in prison, with a minimum term of 24 years.