Evil killer, 20, who lured army veteran into horrific sex trap murder using gay dating app is jailed for 37 years
A killer who lured an Army veteran to his death using a gay dating app has been jailed for 37 years.
Jack Crawley was handed a mandatory life term yesterday after killing Paul Taylor, and the attempted murder of a second man, also aged 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 chats on the Grindr app for what became a tragic fatal meeting with Crawley, 20, at a secluded 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.
Scots Army veteran Paul Taylor, 56, vanished in October 2023. His killer is now finally behind bars
His heartbroken wife told how her family’s lives and world had been ‘completely torn apart’.
She added: ‘To his friends and family, Paul was there for them whenever they needed a true and loyal friend.
‘Paul would do anything for the kids – from lifts to Edinburgh or lifts on nights out. We had plans for growing old together, travelling Scotland and hopefully becoming grandparents one day.
‘This has all been taken away by Jack – not only Paul’s life but our hopes and dreams. ‘For many years Paul worked to protect his country, giving up time being a husband and father.
‘Now was the time for us to be that family unit and we grieve the loss of that, of our future.
‘I will never have the opportunity to hear from Paul regarding his lifestyle choices and I do not judge him; only that we have been robbed of the time to discuss and get answers for both me and the kids. So many questions will forever be unanswered.’
His son Dom added: ‘Dad won’t be here for the rest of our lives, to be a part of big events like weddings or to 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 dad being taken away from me means that I will never have the opportunity to walk down the aisle with my dad at my wedding.
‘He will never be able to meet our children, and I will never be able to experience him being the granddad that I knew he would’ve been.
‘The impact Jack has had on our family will impact us for the rest of our lives. Dad served to defend our country and to have some boy rip that away from us is unforgivable.
‘We all love and miss him dearly. This is a life sentence for us.’
Mr Taylor’s younger sister, Angela Malloy, said Crawley murdered him in an ‘unearthly and inhumane way’.
Jailing the former hospital security guard for life at Carlisle Crown Court yesterday, Mr Justice Goose told Crawley he had used ‘brutal and exceptionally severe violence’ in a ‘murder for gain’ while trying to steal Taylor’s car.
Jack Crawley who killed Paul Taylor, from Annan, Dumfriesshire, also attempted to murder another man
He added: ‘You are a highly dangerous young man.
‘Your offending has caused unimaginable grief to the family and friends of Paul Taylor, who have listened during this trial in dignified silence to the cruel manner in which you first murdered Mr Taylor, and then destroyed and concealed his body.’
The court had earlier heard how Mr Taylor had his head ‘smashed in’ by hammer-wielding Crawley after they met for a late night sex hook-up in Carlisle last October. They had earlier chatted on Grindr.
Jurors heard the Army veteran and hospital catering manager desperately tried to defend himself from the fatal attack.
Crawley hauled Mr Taylor’s body into the boot of his own car and drove to a wildlife watcher’s woodland haven near the city where he torched and hid the corpse. He later cleaned the car and tried to sell it for £2,000.
For nearly seven months, Mr Taylor’s traumatised family agonised over his whereabouts until Crawley led detectives to the skeletal remains in May.
Crawley, of Carlisle, had tried to murder the second man with a hammer near York on January 5 after skipping bail and travelling first to Glasgow, Aberdeen and Edinburgh.
The man suffered a head wound, was ‘haunted’ by the attack. Toby Hedworth KC, mitigating, suggested Crawley was living in a fantasy world, adding: ‘Albeit a very unpleasant fantasy world.’
