Jailed double killer says new sexual offences trial a tactic to stop his release

Allan Grimson, convicted in 2001 of murdering two men, was in line for a parole hearing before new investigation

A double killer who has been in jail for a quarter of a century claimed that he is standing trial over new charges of sexual offences as a tactic to stop him from being freed on parole.

The former Royal Navy petty officer, Allan Grimson, was jailed in 2001 for sexually assaulting and battering to death two young men in the late 1990s.

At the time, he also spoke to police about sexual contact with four other young males but was told that no further action would be taken over them.

Six years ago, the Parole Board recommended Grimson be moved to an open prison as a first step to being freed on licence.

But his barrister, John Femi-Ola KC, said his chance of parole had been deliberately “stymied” when police set about reinvestigating his contacts with the four men and the Crown Prosecution Service gave the go-ahead for him to be charged.

Femi-Ola told a jury at Winchester crown court hearing the allegations, that in 2020 the Parole Board recommended that Grimson be transferred to an open prison for an “extensive period” of testing to see if he was suitable for release.

The barrister described this as a “huge step” for Grimson but said the authorities stepped in, approaching the four young males.

Femi-Ola highlighted that when police contacted one of the alleged victims, he was hesitant about making a fresh complaint and asked what it would achieve. The officer replied: “If successful it would mean his parole is denied.”

Femi-Ola also said a journalist writing a book had “marched” another of the men to a police station for him to talk to officers about Grimson.

The barrister said the book would be for sale and told the jury: “In this country, justice is not for sale at any cost.”

Femi-Ola argued there were inconsistencies in the accounts given by the men now and what they said to police more than 20 years ago.

Grimson, now 66, was jailed in 2001 for battering Nicholas Wright, 18, and Sion Jenkins, 20, to death at his flat above a parade of shops in Portsmouth, Hampshire, in 1997 and 1998. Both victims had served in the navy.

The prosecution says that Grimson was an instructor at a navy firefighting school, a posting that brought him into contact with many young men over whom he exercised great authority.

Grimson denies charges of rape, indecent assault and taking indecent pictures of a child.

The trial continues.