Steven John Grieveson

Case record: Steven John Grieveson

Background

Steven John Grieveson (born 1970) was an English serial killer.

The offence

Grieveson murdered three teenage boys in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, between 1993 and 1994.

He murdered:

• Thomas Kelly, 18
• David Hanson, 15
• David Grieff, 15

He strangled the victims and set on fire their bodies to hide the evidence.

At his trial it was ascertained that Grieveson murdered the boys in order to conceal his homosexuality.

Timeline

• 26 November 1993 — Thomas Kelly’s body was found burning in an allotment shed behind Monkwearmouth Hospital.
• 4 February 1994 — Grieveson murdered 15-year-old David Hanson.
• 8 February 1994 — David Hanson’s charred remains were found in a derelict house in Roker.
• 25 February 1994 — David Grieff’s body was found in an allotment shed at the rear of Monkwearmouth Hospital.
• 11 March 1994 — Grieveson was arrested for the murders.
• February 28, 1996 — Grieveson was sentenced to three life sentences (minimum 35 years).
• June 25, 2004 — Grieveson admitted his guilt eight years after he was convicted of the murder of three teenage boys.
• In November 2000 — Grieveson was arrested and questioned over the murder of 14-year-old Simon Martin, murdered in Gilside House Roker in 1990.
• June 2004 — Grieveson wrote a letter to the Victim Liaison Services admitting murdering his three victims, while not admitting to the murder of Simon Martin and not being charged with that murder.
• 22 November 2012 — Grieveson was charged with the murder of Simon Martin.
• 11 February 2013 — Grieveson admitted being responsible for Simon Martin’s death but denied murder.
• 24 October 2013 — Grieveson was convicted of Simon Martin’s murder following a trial at Newcastle Crown Court.
• October 2013 — Grieveson’s age was described as 42, and he was convicted at Newcastle Crown Court.

Investigation and arrest

Following an extensive investigation, Grieveson was arrested for the murders on 11 March 1994.

Initial post-mortem examinations did not indicate the causes of death, and it took two of the country’s most eminent pathologists to establish all three youths were strangled.

Detective Superintendent Dave Wilson led the murder inquiry.

Trial

Grieveson faced a six-week trial in 1996.

The jury at Leeds Crown Court delivered verdicts after more than four hours of deliberation, and it found him guilty of murdering the three youths.

In court, Mr John Milford QC raised the fact that Grieveson was also charged with the attempted murder of a 14-year-old boy (who cannot be named for legal reasons) in the Hendon district of Sunderland in August 1991. After the verdicts, it was said there would be “no profit” in trying that case, and it would be left on file.

When the trial opened on 29 January, Mr Milford said Grieveson was a homosexual who was either “unable or unwilling to accept his sexuality”, and that he killed the youths for two reasons:

• One was “to prevent them from revealing that he had demonstrated his sexual preference to them”.
• The other was “simply because he enjoyed killing them and firing their bodies”.

Grieveson was interviewed by police after each of the killings. The investigation that led to his charge was launched seven months later.

Sentencing

The public gallery erupted after the jury forewoman delivered the verdicts.

At sentencing, Mr Justice Holland described Grieveson as “plain evil”.

The judge said he would recommend to the Home Secretary that his successors think “long and hard” as to whether Grieveson was still a risk to the public before releasing him.

Grieveson was sentenced to three life sentences for murder. He was ordered to serve a minimum of 35 years before being eligible for parole.

After the sentence for the third-murder case, he was subsequently ordered to serve at least 35 years for the three murders.

Additional matters: murders beyond the three convictions

Questioning over Simon Martin (1990)

Grieveson, serving his three life sentences at Full Sutton Prison, was arrested and questioned over the murder of 14-year-old Simon Martin in November 2000. Simon Martin was murdered in Gilside House Roker, in 1990.

In June 2004, Grieveson wrote a letter to the Victim Liaison Services admitting murdering his three victims, but did not admit to the murder of Simon Martin and was not charged with the murder.

Charge, admission, and conviction for Simon Martin (2013)

On 22 November 2012, Grieveson was charged with the murder of Simon Martin. On 11 February 2013, he admitted being responsible for Simon Martin’s death but denied murder.

He was convicted of Simon Martin’s murder on 24 October 2013 following a trial at Newcastle Crown Court.

Grieveson told officers he lured Simon Martin to an abandoned building after playing football with him.

A jury heard he confessed to sexually abusing Simon, before strangling him and bludgeoning his face with a rock.

Grieveson denied murder at Newcastle Crown Court, claiming diminished responsibility for his actions due to mental problems. After a nine-day trial, the jury found him guilty and he was sentenced to at least 35 years in jail.

Quotations

Detective Superintendent Dave Wilson said: “Grieveson is a very dangerous man who should not be released. He would have gone on to kill again.”

Mr Justice Holland said: “You are a sexual predator. You will murder young boys or men who do not comply with your wishes for sexual gratification. Precisely what happened is known only to you. There is powerful evidence you strangled him as part of a sexual act then gratuitously smashed his skull. I hope the family of Simon Martin can now feel there has been some closure of this case, justice has been done and they can now move on with their life.”

Simon Martin’s father Robert Martin said: “It has been traumatic and life changing for all the families. Now, Grieveson will spend the rest of his days behind bars. No other family should suffer the heartache we have had to go through and I am sure the families behind me agree.”

Robert Martin added: “Our sons were taken away from us by a cruel man whose despicable actions cost four boys their lives. These were innocent boys whose actions led in no way to their devastating and tragic deaths.”

David Hanson’s mother Sheila said: “I was absolutely gutted. It came out of the blue. We weren't expecting anything. I just felt physically sick at the time. We will never ever forgive him. If that's what he is after, forgiveness off anybody by doing this he is totally wrong.”

David Hanson’s father John said: “We are just wondering why has he done it. We could understand if it was at the end of his sentence so he could get released, but why so early in the sentence? He has only served nearly a quarter of his sentence. He is not doing it for us or to clear his conscience or anything like that, no way, he is not that sort of person.”

Grieveson said in a police interview: “After I was finished I got scared and I started shouting at him not to tell anyone. ‘I just flipped, I flipped, just flipped for a minute then I started strangling him then, I don’t know, I didn’t let go. ‘The next thing he was on the bed and I got scared and I think there was a rock or something and I smashed his head in. 'It was haunting me for 20 years. I have self-harmed because of it. It drove me crazy and I needed to give the family peace of mind and peace of mind for myself as well. I can't move forward unless this has been said.”

Grieveson told a woman who visited him in jail: “the need to kill took him over” when he murdered the boys.

Other details

Grieveson had previously been found guilty of killing three other teenagers between 1993 and 1994.

The victims’ families staged a daily vigil in the public gallery to hear what had happened during the victims’ final moments.

The verdicts were described as being delivered at Newcastle Crown Court in relation to Simon Martin’s trial.

Simon Martin lived in Sunderland with his parents Robert and Jean.

Simon Martin was last seen alive on May 18 1990 when he went to play out with friends at 5pm and was told to be home for his tea by 6pm.

His body was found on May 26 by two boys playing in a disused house.

His death involved brain injury, with compression of the neck a contributing factor.

Semen linked to Grieveson by DNA testing in 2000 was found on Simon Martin’s body.

Brusing to Simon Martin’s neck indicated he had been strangled.

Grieveson worked at a local fairground and had been seen walking from the park with his victim.

Three days after the body was discovered, the killer told police they had walked to a newsagents, and when he went inside the shop, Simon waited outside; by the time Grieveson left, his friend had disappeared, which he claimed.

In his confession 22 years later, Grieveson told police he was a glue-sniffer and afraid of people finding out he was bisexual.

William Lowe QC, prosecuting, told the jury Grieveson took the boy’s trousers and bottoms, throwing his footwear into the sea and binning the clothes.

Professor Derek Perkins told the court during the trial that Grieveson had “psychopathic traits” and that these, mixed with vulnerabilities, made “a ‘dangerous combination’”.

Professor Derek Perkins said: “His lack of emotion, callousness, lack of remorse are elements that would have contributed to his ability to kill, more than once.”

Grieving members of Grieveson’s victims’ families attended court during the trial described as having emotional reactions as the case unfolded.