A British businessman who battered his wealthy girlfriend to death in a luxury French hotel before going on the run was today jailed again for a vicious and 'degrading' attack on his elderly father.
asserted
who → batter → father
Ian Griffin, 57, moved back to the UK after serving only 22 months of a 14-year sentence for the murder of Kinga Legg, 36, in the £1,000 a night Hotel Le Bristol in Paris.
asserted
Griffin → move → Paris
Griffin, who owned tanning and gadget shops, rained over 100 blows on the Polish supermarket heiress and left her naked body in a bath tub in May 2009.
uncertain
who → own → May
He fled the scene in his Porsche and went on the run in the UK where he was found living in a tent in woodland near Macclesfield not far from his parents’ home in Cheshire after a huge manhunt.
asserted
he → flee → manhunt
Griffin was later extradited to France and sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment which was reduced on appeal to 14 years.
asserted
which → extradite → years
But he only served 22 months in custody before being released after a three-day hearing behind closed doors before five French judges.
asserted
he → serve → judges
The businessman returned to live in a summer house at his parents' home near Warrington, where he attacked his father Bernard, then 83, after drinking in a local pub in May 2025, a court heard today.
uncertain
court → return → May
Bernard Griffin was on a phone call to his other son Adrian and was heard to say: 'Oh heck, he’s here and it’s not looking good.'
Ian Griffin outside court in Paris before he was convicted and sentenced to 20 years in jail
Convicted killer Ian Griffin, 57, was today jailed for four years over a 'degrading' attack on his elderly father
Kinga Legg, 36, who was found dead in the bath in a Paris hotel suite in 2009
Adrian feared for his parents' safety and called police, who rushed to the address to find Bernard with a bloodied face from a severe facial injury.
asserted
Bernard → hear → injury
Liverpool Crown Court was played body-worn camera footage in which Bernard, sitting on a sofa with a bloodied face, tells officers: 'He’s beaten me up with his fists.
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He → play → fists
He came in and started beating me up.
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He → come → me
'Am I glad to see you, he would have killed me.
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he → see → me
'He is terrible, he is a different person when he has had beer.
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he → have → beer
I feel like I have been in a fight.'
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I → feel → fight
Mr Griffin Snr told police that the attack had lasted between 30 minutes and an hour and that he had been punched and dragged to the floor and that his son had also stamped on his legs.
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son → tell → legs
He said it only stopped when his son forced him to sign a piece of paper giving 50 per cent of his earnings to his wife Janet, Ian's mother.
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son → say → wife
Mr Scott said further footage from Mrs Griffin's mobile phone 'highlighted the degrading treatment of his elderly father'.
asserted
footage → say → father
Griffin was heard on the footage screaming abuse at his father and accusing him of 'buying MGs while she scrambles around for £100 a week'.
He was also heard to tell his father: 'I will break your motherf*****g face'.
asserted
I → hear → face
Griffin also warned him: 'I am going to lose it, I swear I am going to lose it.
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I → warn → it
I can feel it coming.'
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it → feel → ?
Heiress Kinga Legg suffered 100 injuries in a 'frenzied' attack by Griffin in May 2009
Prosecutor Andrew Scott told how police had been called the day before after Griffin had hurled abuse at his parents' neighbours.
uncertain
Griffin → suffer → neighbours
James Hart told how Griffin had screamed abuse at him and his partner, Catherine Brown, and had threatened to 'burn and bomb the house down with your wife in it'.
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Griffin → tell → it
Mr Hart told police he had not done anything to provoke Griffin and believed his threats to be genuine.
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threats → tell → Griffin
Following the attack on his father, Griffin told police he was not responsible and was elsewhere in the house at the time.
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he → follow → time
He maintained there had been a third party in the house, whom he refused to identify.
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he → maintain → whom
'It is ridiculous to accuse me of assaulting my father as I am the carer for both of them,' he told police.
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he → accuse → police
Griffin also accused his father of seeing other women and said that he had wanted to ensure that his mother was left something.
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mother → accuse → something
Mr Scott told the court that the attack was 'degrading and gratuitous'.
asserted
attack → tell → court
Griffin, who appeared in a wheelchair via a video link from HMP Liverpool, pleaded guilty at a previous hearing to grievous bodily harm against his father and threats to destroy or damage property belonging to the neighbours.
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who → appear → neighbours
He represented himself at the hearing and told the court that he previously had a successful career in the film industry and had worked with Quentin Tarantino on the film Kill Bill.
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he → represent → film
Judge David Swinnerton responded: 'I hate to put the other side of the coin, but you did murder your fiancée.'
Griffin told the court he was 'dreadfully sorry' for attacking his father.
'It was one in a million and it will not happen again.
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it → respond → million
I have been a great son, I really have.
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I → have → ?
'
Griffin said he blamed drugs he had been taken for a medical condition 'which make me feel funny'.
asserted
me → say → condition
His mother Janet told the court: 'He has been a very good son.
'
asserted
He → tell → court
Whatever we needed , he would do.
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he → need → Whatever
I think it was the medication which was the problem.
asserted
which → think → ?
It came out of the blue.'
asserted
It → come → blue
Speaking over the link, Griffin told his mother: 'Love you, Mum.
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Griffin → speak → you
Mrs Griffin replied: 'It’s all right love.
asserted
It → reply → ?
In a victim personal statement, Bernard Griffin said he did not want any more contact with his son and was fearful of what would happen on his release from prison.
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what → say → prison
Judge Swinnerton jailed Griffin for a total of four years with a one-year extended licence period.
asserted
Swinnerton → jail → period
…and 11 more, not listed.
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