Jack Crawley sentenced to life imprisonment

A man who beat an army veteran to death with a hammer has been sentenced to life in prison.

Jack Crawley, 20, from Carlisle, was sentenced to a minimum sentence of 37 years in prison at the city’s Crown Court.

Paul Taylor (56), from Annan, Dumfriesshire, went missing in October last year and his remains were found in woodland near Carlisle, Cumbria, in May.

Crawley was found guilty of Taylor’s murder, as well as the attempted murder of another man, while free on bail.

Crawley beat Taylor to death with a hammer and tried to burn his body.

He then buried his body in a shallow grave in Finglandrigg Forest.

The trial revealed that they had been in contact for some time before the murder and had previously met to have sex.

Crawley was also convicted of the attempted murder of a second man he met on gay dating app Grindr, whom he also attacked with a hammer in York while on bail for Taylor’s murder.

On Monday, a jury found him guiltyafter more than eight hours of deliberation.