Joshua Powell has been sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 26 years for strangling his 96-year-old grandmother to gain money from her will. The 27-year-old pleaded guilty to murdering Emma Finch in May.
Powell strangled Finch in the early hours of May 17 last year at her home in Mill Road, Liss, Hampshire. He then set fire to the house to cover his tracks. Firefighters were alerted around 4am by an automatic carbon monoxide monitor and had to force entry when they found a key safe open with the key missing.
The court heard Powell owed his landlord £2,500 and approximately £8,000 to other companies. Weeks before the murder, he told friends he hoped his grandmother "died soon because he was skint" and believed he would be the sole beneficiary of her will.
Judge's remarks
Judge Michael Bowes KC told Portsmouth Crown Court: «Emma Finch, your grandmother, showed you great kindness and gave you a great deal of money during her life. You repaid her kindness by savagely killing her in the expectation of gaining money from her death under her will.»
The judge noted that despite Powell's diagnosis of Tourette syndrome and reduced cognitive function, he «knew perfectly well the difference between right and wrong».
Family's grief
Powell's mother Catherine told the court she «will struggle ever to forgive him for what he has done». Her brother Peter Finch expressed fears about his mother's final moments.
«One of my biggest fears is that mum in those final seconds before she lost consciousness as you were strangling her, that she knew it was you Joshua and that being her final, haunting memory that she took to her grave,» he said in his victim impact statement. «You, Joshua, betrayed your mum's, your oma's, love that night and that is something for which I can never forgive you. I hope you are deeply tormented by those acts for the rest of your life. Did my mum, your oma, really deserve to be murdered for the balance of your inheritance? The question that only you can answer.»
Powell's apology
In a letter to the court, Powell wrote: «The word sorry does not even begin to cover how I feel for the unforgivable, truly horrible crime I committed,»
He described his grandmother as «the one constant in my life that I could count on» and added: «Forgiveness is not something I expect from any member of the family. Not even I forgive the actions I took on that fateful day. The guilt is something I will have to learn to live with.»
The family said in a statement after sentencing that while no words could soften their pain, the conviction would help them «begin the process to rebuild our shattered lives». They added that Emma Finch could «now finally rest in peace knowing that justice has been served».
Note: This article was created with Artificial Intelligence (AI).
