A killer who lured an army veteran to his death using a gay dating app has been jailed for 37 years.
Jack Crawley was yesterday given a mandatory life sentence after the murder of 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 their address after chatting on the Grindr app before what would become a tragic fatal encounter with 20-year-old Crawley in a remote spot 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 torn apart’.
She added: “For his friends and family, Paul was there for them when they needed a true and loyal friend.
‘Paul would do anything for the kids – from hitchhiking to Edinburgh or hitchhiking on a night out. We had plans to grow old together, travel around Scotland and hopefully one day become grandparents.
‘This was all taken away by Jack – not just Paul’s life, but our hopes and dreams. “Paul worked for years to protect his country, giving up time as a husband and father.
“This was our 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; just that we have been robbed of the time to discuss and get answers for both me and the kids. So many questions will remain unanswered forever.”
His son Dom added: ‘Dad won’t be here for the rest of our lives to take part in big events like weddings or meet our children. We will never hear Dad’s side of the story and why he felt the need to live his life in such a way.”
Daughter Beth stated, “My father being taken from me means I will never have the chance to walk my father down the aisle at my wedding.
“He will never be able to meet our children, and I will never be able to experience him being the grandfather I knew he would be.
“The impact Jack has had on our family will impact us for the rest of our lives. My father defended our country and it is unforgivable for a boy to take it away from us.
‘We all love him and miss him very much. This is a life sentence for us.”
Taylor’s younger sister, Angela Malloy, said Crawley killed him in an “unearthly and inhumane manner.”
After jailing the former hospital security guard for life at Carlisle Crown Court yesterday, Mr Goose told Crawley he used ‘brutal and exceptionally serious force’ in a ‘murder for profit’ while trying to steal Taylor’s car .
Jack Crawley who killed Paul Taylor from Annan, Dumfriesshire, also tried to kill another man
He added: “You are a very dangerous young man.
“Your offending has caused unimaginable grief to the family and friends of Paul Taylor, who throughout this trial have listened in dignified silence as you first murdered Mr Taylor and then destroyed and concealed his body.”
The court had previously heard how Mr Taylor got his head ‘smashed’ by swinging the hammer at Crawley after they met for a late sex date in Carlisle last October. They had chatted on Grindr before.
Jurors heard how the army veteran and the hospital’s 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 ranger resort near the town, where he set fire to the body and hid it. He later cleaned the car and tried to sell it for £2,000.
For nearly seven months, Taylor’s traumatized family worried about his whereabouts until Crawley led detectives to the skeletal remains in May.
Crawley, from Carlisle, had tried to kill the second man with a hammer near York on January 5 after skipping bail and traveling to Glasgow, Aberdeen and Edinburgh.
The man suffered a head wound and was ‘haunted’ by the attack. Toby Hedworth KC, mitigating, suggested that Crawley lived in a fantasy world, adding: ‘Although a very unpleasant fantasy world.’
