Exclusive:Allan Grimson: Royal Navy murderer found guilt of rape and indecent assault
Allan Grimson is already serving a life sentence for two murders in the late 1990s.
A double-murderer has been found guilty of rape and indecent assault.
Former petty officer Allan Grimson was jailed for life in 2001 for the murders of Nicholas Wright and Sion Jenkins in the late 1990s. He is serving a life sentence for these crimes.
The 66-year-old Royal Navy veteran was put trial at Winchester Crown Court, accused of the rape of a teenager and indecent assault charges against three other male complainants, including a 14-year-old boy, dating between February 1994 and November 1999. Grimson denied the charges.
His trial, which ran for just shy of four weeks, heard evidence from Grimson’s complainants, those who knew him - including the owners of the flat he stayed at in London Road, North End - and officers who investigated the case when he was arrested on suspicion of murder.
In 2004, officers told him that no further action would be taken, regarding the reports of rape and indecent assault. But after further reports were made 20 years later, Grimson was charged with a total of 13 offences.
The prosecution, led by John Price KC, argued that when Grimson was first arrested in 1999, he admitted to officers that he had taken indecent photographs of males, including one who was underage - describing the photos as “art”. Grimson later retracted his statements, telling officers he was “confused” after just confessing to two murders.
“[He was] a superior officer, and somebody twice the age of one complainant,” Mr Price said. “These indictments are, in fact, broadly similar. You may agree that they reveal deception by the older man, manipulating, exploiting and abusing his power.”
John Femi-Ola, representing Grimson, suggested that consent may have been given in some instances, and that the defendant’s honesty could be taken at face value, given the murders he did admit to.
He said: “You may think this is the most extraordinary case. A man who has convictions for two murders, who volunteered where he had buried the deceased, and pleaded guilty at the very first opportunity, has yet maintained that he didn’t commit the offences charged in this indictment.
“We say maybe it’s because he isn’t guilty of these crimes. The matter was investigated, statements taken, and he was informed in 2004 by the investigating officer tha no further action was going to be taken.”
Grimson was found guilty on all charges, with only one conviction being reached by majority verdict.
The jury was retired shortly after 1pm on Friday, July 24, to consider its verdict, returning at 3.05pm on Monday, July 27.
Grimson has been remanded in custody, and will be sentenced on Friday, November 6.