A murderer who lured an army veteran to his death using a gay dating app has been sentenced to 37 years in prison.
Jack Crawley was handed a mandatory life sentence yesterday after killing Paul Taylor and the attempted murder of a second man, also in his 50s.
The 56-year-old was reported missing from his home in Annan, Dumfriesshire, by his wife, Maria, on October 18 last year.
It later emerged he had left his address after chats on the Grindr app for what became a tragically fatal encounter with Crawley, 20, in a secluded location on the outskirts of Carlisle.
During the trial, Carlisle Crown Court heard how the father-of-two met men for sex and hid his double life from loved ones.
Scottish Army veteran Paul Taylor, 56, disappeared in October 2023. His killer is finally behind bars.
His heartbroken wife told how her family’s life and world had been “completely destroyed”.
He added: “To his friends and family, Paul was there when they needed a true and loyal friend.
‘Paul would do anything for the children, from lifts to Edinburgh or lifts for a night out. We had plans to grow old together, travel around Scotland and hopefully become grandparents one day.
‘Jack has taken all of this: not only Paul’s life, but our hopes and dreams. ‘For many years, Paul worked to protect his country, giving up being a husband and father.
‘Now was the time to be that family unit and we mourn the loss of that, of our future.
‘I will never get the chance to hear from Paul about his lifestyle choices and I don’t judge him; It’s just that they have stolen our time to discuss and get answers for both me and the children. Many questions will always remain unanswered.’
His son Dom added: “Dad won’t be here for the rest of our lives, to be part of big events like weddings or to meet our children.” We’ll never hear Dad’s side of the story and why he felt the need to live his life that way.’
His daughter Beth stated: “Having my father taken away from me means I will never have the opportunity to walk down the aisle with my father at my wedding.
“He will never get to know our children and I will never get to experience him being the grandfather I knew he would have been.”
‘The impact Jack has had on our family will affect us for the rest of our lives. Dad served to defend our country and for some boy to take away that thing that distances us is unforgivable.
“We all love him and miss him dearly. This is a life sentence for us.”
Taylor’s younger sister, Angela Malloy, said Crawley murdered him in a “supernatural and inhumane manner.”
Judge Goose, who jailed the former hospital security guard for life at Carlisle Crown Court yesterday, told Crawley he had used “brutal and exceptionally severe violence” in a “murder for profit” while He was trying to steal Taylor’s car.
Jack Crawley, who killed Paul Taylor, of Annan, Dumfriesshire, also attempted to murder another man.
And he added: ‘You are a very dangerous young man.
“His offending has caused unimaginable pain to Paul Taylor’s family and friends, who have listened throughout this trial in dignified silence to the callous way in which he first murdered Mr Taylor and then destroyed and concealed his body.”
The court had previously heard how Crawley “smashed” her head with a hammer after they met for a late-night sexual encounter in Carlisle last October. They had previously chatted on Grindr.
Jurors heard how the army veteran and the hospital catering manager desperately tried to defend themselves from the fatal attack.
Crawley dragged Mr Taylor’s body into the boot of his own car and drove to a wooded wildlife watchers’ refuge near the town, where he set fire to and hid the body. He later cleaned the car and tried to sell it for £2,000.
For almost seven months, Mr Taylor’s traumatized family agonized over his whereabouts until Crawley led detectives to the skeletal remains in May.
Crawley, from Carlisle, had attempted to murder the second man with a hammer near York on January 5 after jumping bail and traveling first to Glasgow, Aberdeen and Edinburgh.
The man suffered a head injury and was “persecuted” by the attack. Toby Hedworth KC, mitigating, suggested Crawley lived in a fantasy world, adding: “Although it is a very unpleasant fantasy world.”