Judge warns release may never be safe
The new sentence covers crimes committed between February 1994 and November 1999. Following a trial, Grimson was convicted on July 27, 2026, at Winchester Crown Court of raping and indecently assaulting a teenager, indecently assaulting three other male complainants, and taking indecent photographs of a 14-year-old boy.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) identified 13 counts: seven of indecent assault on a male, four of indecent assault on a boy under 16, one of rape and one of taking indecent photographs of a child.
Grimson smirked while waiting to hear his sentence. Dugdale told him: "It won't surprise anyone to know I have made a finding of dangerousness." Explaining that finding, he said: "I find there was a link in your psychology between sexual assaults and an urge to inflict serious violence."
The 13-year wait for parole eligibility will take Grimson to three months short of his 80th birthday. Eligibility does not guarantee release. The judge told him: "You won't be released on life licence until the parole board consider it safe for you to do so and if they do not do so, you will remain in custody for life."
Defense lawyer John Femi-Ola KC asked the court to consider Grimson as a man of 67, rather than the person who committed the offenses more than 30 years earlier.
Grimson had previously become eligible for parole in 2023. BBC News reported that he had moved to a category C prison but returned to a category B prison after the new charges. According to Wikipedia, parole was refused on public safety grounds on July 8, 2025.
His original murder sentence had a recommended minimum term of 22 years, according to Wikipedia. The then Home Secretary raised it to 25 years; a three-year reduction in 2008 accounted for time he had spent on remand.
Victims describe repeated, targeted abuse
The CPS said Grimson exploited his work as an instructor at the Royal Navy Firefighting School on Horsea Island, Portsmouth, to target boys and young men over several years. Those he abused included a 14-year-old and servicemen whose naval careers were just beginning.
A victim assaulted in 1998 urged the court to impose a "robust prison sentence to be passed – my safety and for others depends on it". He feared he would face "increased danger if he should be released from prison".
In his victim impact statement, the man said: "His crimes were not impulsive or isolated. They were deliberate, repeated, and targeted."
A second victim, abused as a child, did not want his statement read aloud in court. Dugdale commended the "phenomenal courage" he had shown in confronting Grimson.
Detective Inspector Martin Longyear of Hampshire Constabulary described Grimson as "a depraved and dangerous individual" and expressed hope that the sentence "ensures that he will remain behind bars for a long time to come". He also said: "I would like to acknowledge the victims for their bravery in coming forward, and I hope that today will help them find some form of closure to be able to move forward, knowing Allan Grimson will be punished for the suffering he has caused them."
Earlier allegations reviewed
Evidence of sexual abuse emerged during the investigation into Wright's disappearance. The CPS said that after Grimson's arrest in December 1999, searches of his Portsmouth apartment and family addresses produced photographs and other material linking him to several young males, including indecent photographs of a child.
According to Wikipedia, Grimson admitted the sexual crimes after that arrest but was not charged because he was already facing a life sentence for murder. It attributes the February 2025 charges concerning four men and boys to an investigation by journalist Ros Astengo.
The CPS said the convictions came after authorities revisited allegations more than 20 years old. One case was reconsidered following a referral to the Child Sexual Abuse Review Panel. Prosecutors reviewed two original decisions afresh and determined that charges should be brought.
Wright's disappearance and the two murders
Nicholas Wright, 18, from Aylestone, had entered the Royal Navy only months before he vanished in December 1997, following the example of his grandfather. After training, he joined the destroyer HMS Edinburgh.
Back ashore after his first week at sea, Wright spoke with his family about returning to Leicestershire for Christmas. He then went out for the evening, finishing at Joanna's nightclub in Southsea. CCTV recorded him outside the club on December 13, 1997. He was never seen alive again.
Wright was due to stay that weekend with his grandfather, Tony Watts, in Horsham, West Sussex, but failed to arrive. Three days after his disappearance, the Navy notified his parents, Michael and Liz Wright, in Aylestone. As the search stretched into years, his mother told the Leicester Mercury in October 1999: "The longer it goes on the more you feel he can't be alive."
Police arrested Grimson on December 13, 1999, two years to the day after Wright disappeared. On December 16, they found Wright's body in undergrowth alongside the A272 near Cheriton, close to Winchester. He had died from head injuries. Within 24 hours, officers discovered Jenkins' body in undergrowth about five miles away. Jenkins was 20 and came from Newbury, Berkshire.
Grimson admitted both murders and received a life sentence in 2001. At sentencing, he was described as a "serial killer in nature if not by number".
The court hearing the sexual offense case was told that Grimson had described one sailor to police as "lucky to be alive". He has now been convicted of sexually assaulting that sailor. Grimson also told police: "If you're going to rape somebody, to get away with it, kill it."
Other suspicions and a closed investigation
Wikipedia identifies Grimson as the prime suspect in the disappearance of Simon Parkes, an 18-year-old Royal Navy sailor from Bristol. Parkes was last seen in December 1986 during a Gibraltar stop by HMS Illustrious, where both men served. BBC News reported that Grimson has always denied involvement and that Hampshire Police closed the investigation in December 2025.
Wikipedia also reports that detectives have speculated about additional, unidentified victims. Their theory that Grimson killed on December 12 in successive years has been accompanied by estimates of between 11 and 20 unidentified victims. Those estimates remain speculation.
