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The grandson and former
son-in-law of Charlie Kray were jailed for life yesterday for hacking
off a man's head.
Millionaire Norman
Jones, 50, and son Joseph, 24, also tortured John Finney and chopped off
his hands after wrongly accusing him of stealing their drugs.
They hatched a revenge plot when a consignment
vanished from a vehicle at a farm where Mr Finney, a scrap metal dealer,
lived in Northaw, Herts.
He started to get death threats with
a mystery caller demanding the "gear" and warning "a lump of lead would
be put in him" and he could end up "in a box".
On February 1 2008, shots were fired
near his home in a bid to intimidate him, St Albans Crown Court heard.
After staging a dry run of their plot,
they kidnapped the dad of four and drove him 30 miles at gunpoint in a
van to a business unit in Hitchin where he was interrogated, tortured
and killed.
Two weeks later his naked remains
were found behind a garage block.
His buttocks had been slashed.
The Joneses had the industrial unit
cleaned twice but spots of Mr Finney's blood were found on a wall.
His head and hands were never found.
Cops think he may have been shot in
the head.
They found keys fitting a truck
driven by Mr Finney in the Joneses' torched van.
Joseph Jones, of New Barnet, North
London, claimed he was playing poker on the night of the murder.
His dad, of Highgate, said he had
never met Mr Finney. Norman claimed he made his £7million fortune from
horse racing and property.
Two other men were cleared of
involvement in the murder.
Joseph Jones cried as he was
sentenced to a minimum of 30 years and his dad to a minimum of 33.
Judge Mr Justice MacDuff told them: "You
are both evil men. You lack any semblance of humanity."
Kray, brother of mob twins Ronnie and
Reggie, died aged 73 in 2000 while serving 12 years for a drugs plot.
'Evil' father and son will spend
life behind bars for John Finney murder
By Rebecca Lowe - Times-Series.co.uk
Tuesday 12th May 2009
THE "evil" grandson and former son-in-law of gangster
Charlie Kray were jailed for a minimum of 63 years today for the
abduction, torture and murder of a man whose head and hands were cut off.
Joseph Jones, 24, from Crescent Road, New Barnet, and
Norman Jones, 50, from Dukes Head Yard, Highgate, abducted landscaper
and scrap metal dealer John Finney last year because they believed he
had stolen their drugs.
They drove the 42-year-old father-of-four 30 miles to
a business unit in Hertfordshire and tortured him before killing him and
mutilating his body.
Two weeks later a member of the public discovered Mr
Finney's naked remains behind a garage block in Ickleford.
His hands and head have never been found.
The father and son were sentenced today at St Albans
Crown Court, in Bricket Road, after a jury on Monday found them guilty
of murder.
Joseph Jones's friend Mark Curran, 28, of Dollis
Valley Way, Barnet, and Gary Lattimore, 40, formerly of Littleheath Road,
Bexleyheath, were both cleared of murder.
Jailing Norman Jones for a minimum of 33 years and
his son for a minimum of 30 years, Judge Mr Justice MacDuff said: "You
are both evil men with nothing to commend you.
“You committed a meticulously planned murder. You
decided summarily to execute a man who you thought, rightly or wrong,
probably wrongly, had crossed you.
"It is difficult to comprehend how evil you are. You
lack any semblance of humanity."
Justice MacDuff said he was "close to tears" after
reading a family impact statement from the murdered man's father.
He added: “You have subjected the Finney family to
unimaginable grief, the loss of a proper man and man of real worth."
Speaking after the verdict, Mr Finney’s family said:
“The past year has been so very hard for us as a family. We have had to
try to understand why a loving son and father was taken from us in such
a brutal way and come to terms with this immense loss in our lives.
“We have been helped by the support shown by many
kind-hearted people around us and we would like to thank them.
“But nothing can replace John and he will continue to
remain so very much in our thoughts and prayers.”
The sentence means Norman Jones, who was worth £7
million will not be eligible to apply for parole until he is 83.
He claimed he had made his fortune from horse racing
and property development in Spain, but police suspect he made his
fortune through crime.
Mr Finney was living with his girlfriend in a caravan
at Park Farm, Northaw Road West, Northaw, Hertfordshire, when he was
abducted in February last year.
He had used his truck a few weeks earlier to help tow
another vehicle out of a mud-filled ditch at the farm, which had links
to the killers.
When a consignment of drugs went missing from it, Mr
Finney was suspected of being responsible, but police say he was
innocent.
The killers then set about a plan to exact revenge,
using "dirty" mobile phones to make death threats and purchase the van
used to abduct Mr Finney, which were later discarded.
Mr Finney was dragged from his car at gunpoint at
around 7pm on February 29, 2008. He was taken to a specially rented
shack in Knowl Piece, Wilbury Way, Hitchin, and murdered.
Mr William Harbage QC, prosecuting, asked the jury to
conclude that Mr Finney had been shot in the head and wounds on his body
indicated he had been tortured.
Mr Harbage said: “Mr Finney seriously upset some
thoroughly unscrupulous and ruthless people. This was a callous, cold-blooded,
pre-meditated execution of a man against whom they bore a grudge."
The Joneses fled to Spain after the killing and were
arrested in Marbella on May 1, 2008.
Detective Chief Inspector Bill Jephson, who led the
investigation, said: "John was the victim of a calculated and pre-planned,
savage attack. We will never fully understand the motive for such
brutality and only those individuals responsible for John's death will
know exactly what happened to him.
“John was a well-known and respected member of the
travelling community, and his death has had a profound impact. I am
extremely grateful for their support and cooperation over the last year
and for respecting the investigation.”
Patrick Fields of the Crown Prosecution Service said:
"This was a painstaking enquiry into a particularly brutal and grisly
execution of a man who had done nothing wrong."
Police believe a fifth person also took part in the
murder, who they are still trying to identify.
Charlie Kray was the elder brother of gangster twins
Ronnie and Reggie. He was seen as the quieter one of the trio who
brought terror to London in the Sixties.
He died aged 73 while serving a 12-year sentence for
his part in a drugs plot.
Villagers' shock at headless body find
Herts24.co.uk
March 16, 2008
THE discovery of the headless body of a 42-year-old traveller has
shocked villagers.
The body, which also had its hands removed, was found
by a member of the public near garages in Icknield Close, Ickleford,
just after 4pm on Friday.
Herts Police have since said it is that of John
Finney, from Northaw, near Potters Bar, who had been forcibly abducted
from his Mitsubishi Pajero on February 29 in Northaw.
Although a formal identification has yet to take
place, tattoos on the body identify it as being that of Mr Finney. A
post-mortem took place on Sunday but it has not yet been possible to
determine a cause of death.
Further examinations are due to take place.
Investigations by detectives from the Bedfordshire
and Hertfordshire Major Crime Unit continue and extensive searches of
the area where Mr Finney was found have taken place along with house-to-house
inquiries.
Police were unable to confirm or deny rumours that
the body had been at the site for a fortnight.
The discovery has shocked nearby residents, but the
police have been quick to reassure locals that this was a planned,
rather than a random, attack.
The Rev Margaret Holford, of St Katherine’s Church in
Ickleford, told The Comet: “A lot of people are affected because a lot
of people live close to where it was found. I’ve had phone calls from
people who are a little upset, but nothing too distressing.
“Whenever everyone gets helicopters circling over the
house for a good half hour and the noise is enormous, people don’t like
to think what it might be and as soon as the news came out the police
were very reassuring and have behaved admirably.”
Det Ch Insp Bill Jephson is leading the murder
investigation and said: “This was a targeted attack and while
investigations to trace those responsible are well under way, I would
urge any witnesses to come forward.
“If you have any information about John’s
disappearance I would ask that you contact police. I am also appealing
to people living in Ickleford or anyone who has passed through the area
in the last two weeks and believes they have seen anything suspicious,
or if they have any information to assist with our investigation, to
contact the incident room.
“This is a very traumatic time for John’s family, our
thoughts are with them and we would ask that their privacy be respected
at this time.
“I would also like to once again reassure the
Ickleford community that this was not a random attack and that they
should feel safe to continue their daily routine.”
This belief is shared by one local woman, who told
The Comet: “It’s awful and gruesome. I can’t believe this has happened
here because it’s a really quiet area.”
Anyone with information should call the police
incident room on 01707 355666. Any information received regarding the
investigation will be treated in the strictest of confidence.
Alternatively call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800
555 111.
