Extended prison sentence for murderer

A murderer has had his prison sentence extended, after the body of his wife, who went missing in 1999, was found at his former home.

Andrew Griggs was convicted in October 2019 of murdering his wife Debbie, who was three months pregnant with their fourth child when she disappeared from their home in Deal. Her car was found a week later with blood matching her DNA. Andrew Griggs told police she had left the house after they had an argument.

In October 2022, Debbie’s body was found in an airtight barrel buried at Andrew Griggs' home in Ringwood, Dorset. A wooden shed with a concrete foundation has been built over where the barrel was buried.

Her body was found after Andrew Griggs told one of his sons where the body was during a prison visit, asking him to dig it up, remove some hair and send it with a letter claiming to be from Debbie to show she was still alive.

When interviewed by police, Andrew Griggs continued to claim he was not involved in Debbie’s death but has since pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice.

Katie Samways from the Crown Prosecution Service said: “Andrew Griggs spent decades lying to everyone around him, claiming that Debbie’s disappearance was nothing to do with him.

“Once convicted of her murder, in a desperate attempt to prove his innocence, he tried to manipulate his son into helping him in the most appalling way possible.

“Griggs deliberately failed to reveal the location of Debbie’s body, adding immeasurably to the distress of her family and friends.

“This is one of the worst examples imaginable of perverting the course of justice and, when Griggs was sentenced for Debbie’s murder, the Judge highlighted the concealment of her body as a significant aggravating factor.

“None of us can imagine the impact that Griggs’ actions have had on everyone around him. Now, more than 25 years after Debbie first disappeared, we hope that her family and friends can now finally put this chapter of their lives behind them, knowing Andrew Griggs has been fully held to account not just for Debbie’s murder, but also for the lies he continually told in the intervening period.”