This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/england/suffolk/8357977.stm
The article has changed 7 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Stalker jailed in bolt gun murder | |
| (10 minutes later) | |
| A "delusional" killer has been jailed for life for murdering a mother with a bolt gun, hours after she had phoned police expressing fears about him. | |
| Mary Griffiths, 38, of Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, died early on 6 May after the attack, which also left one of her three daughters with minor injuries. | Mary Griffiths, 38, of Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, died early on 6 May after the attack, which also left one of her three daughters with minor injuries. |
| John McFarlane, 40, had earlier admitted murder and was given a 20-year minimum term at the Old Bailey. | |
| He had stalked his victim after she rejected his advances, the court heard. | |
| The Independent Police Complaints Commission is investigating the case. | The Independent Police Complaints Commission is investigating the case. |
| Rejected advances | |
| Sentencing, Mr Justice Bean told McFarlane: "Three generations of Mary Griffiths's family have suffered a tragic and devastating loss. | |
| "Her children have been deprived of a loving and and caring mother. | |
| "Her parents have had to endure the appalling experience of attending the funeral of their own daughter." | |
| Ms Griffiths had called police just hours earlier to voice her fears that McFarlane was stalking her after she rejected his advances. | |
| The fitness instructor's funeral was held in Suffolk | |
| McFarlane, who worked as a slaughterman at the Denham estate nearby, took revenge after she posted a Facebook message saying he was "delusional" if he thought they would ever have a relationship. | |
| In May last year he smashed through the back door of her home in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, with an axe as she and her three daughters slept. | |
| He shut down the house lights before charging up the stairs and, just as she turned on the bedroom lamp, burst in. | |
| McFarlane dragged Ms Griffiths from the room, where she had been sleeping with her 10-year-old daughter, and beat her. | |
| The mother screamed for help as she was attacked and managed to get outside where her 13-year-old girl shouted "don't do it, stop it," as McFarlane shot her. | |
| The girls screamed as they saw their mother covered in blood. | |
| She was shot twice in the chest and once in the left shoulder, with a bolt gun normally used for stunning livestock. | |
| The killer was found later lying in a back garden having cut his arms in an apparent suicide attempt. |