Man who killed grandmother to gain money from will jailed for at least 26 years

A man who sneaked into his grandmother’s house while she slept and strangled her to gain money from her will has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 26 years, as his mother declared she will struggle to forgive him.

Joshua Powell, 27, killed 96-year-old Emma Finch and then set fire to her home in Mill Road, Liss, Hampshire, in the early hours of May 17 last year “to cover his tracks”.

Powell would visit his grandmother, whom he called oma, once a week, to help with food shopping and play Scrabble, and called her the “one constant in my life that I could count on”, in an apology letter he wrote to Portsmouth Crown Court.

The court heard he was in debt, owed money to his landlord and “snapped”.

Judge Michael Bowes KC said: “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.

“It is clear you intended to kill Emma Finch, your grandmother. You then tried to cover your tracks by setting a fire, intending to destroy Emma Finch’s body, and telling lies.”

Ms Finch had two children, six grandchildren and three great-grandchildren, and some of them said, in victim impact statements read out by the prosecutor, that they will never forgive Powell.

The defendant’s mother, Catherine Powell, who is Ms Finch’s daughter, said she “will struggle ever to forgive him for what he has done”.

Peter Finch, Ms Finch’s son and Powell’s uncle, said: “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.

“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.”

After the sentencing, the family said in a statement: “There are no words that can soften the pain we as a family have endured over the last 18 months since those tragic events on the 17th of May 2024, but today’s conviction will finally help to ease that pain as we finally come to terms with mum’s untimely death.

“Mum throughout her amazing long life showed great courage and perseverance, we as a family must now do the same as we begin the process to rebuild our shattered lives with her ever in our thoughts and prayers.

“Mum can now finally rest in peace knowing that justice has been served and her grandson will now spend a significant period of his life incarcerated for her murder.”

In his letter to the court, Powell said he does not forgive himself.

“The word sorry does not even begin to cover how I feel for the unforgivable, truly horrible crime I committed,” the defendant wrote.

“Oma was the one constant in my life that I could count on. She was there for me no matter how good or bad I behaved as a child. She was a wonderful, caring, loving, happy woman who when entering a room suddenly brightened it up tenfold.

“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. It eats away at me, gnawing my bran and thoughts every single second each day.

“From the bottom of my now destroyed heart and soul I truly am sorry.”

Before the attack, CCTV showed Powell, who worked as a cashier at Tesco, leaving his flat with a belt which he later discarded in bushes.

The fire service was alerted at about 4am by an automatic alarm triggered by the activation of a carbon monoxide monitor at Ms Finch’s home.

Firefighters had to force entry to the house, where Ms Finch was found dead, but discovered that a key safe outside the back door was open and the key was missing.

The combination to the safe was later found in a note on Powell’s phone.

He had, at the time of the incident, switched off the location finder on his phone, but police were able to track his movements in his car.

The court heard Powell owed his landlord £2,500 and was also in about £8,000 of debt to various other companies.

Weeks before Ms Finch’s death, he is said to have told friends he “hoped that his nan died soon because he was skint and that he thought he was the only one getting money in the will when she died”.

On the day of her death, he spoke to a work colleague about the prospect of inheritance and how much he understood his grandmother’s estate to be worth.

The court heard that Powell was diagnosed with Tourette syndrome and found to have reduced cognitive function, but the judge said he “knew perfectly well the difference between right and wrong”.

Powell, of Elmfield Court, Lindford, pleaded guilty in May to murdering his grandmother.