Allan Grimson, a former Royal Navy petty officer, has been found guilty of sexually assaulting four more young men and boys, including some he had considered killing. Grimson, 66, is already serving a life sentence for the 2001 conviction of murdering two sailors, Nicholas Wright, 18, and Sion Jenkins, 20, in the 1990s. He will remain incarcerated.
The recent conviction, which occurred following a trial at Winchester Crown Court, includes charges of rape and indecent assault against a teenage naval rating and multiple counts of indecent assault against three other males, one of whom was 14 years old. These offenses took place between February 1994 and November 1999.
Grimson targeted sailors he encountered as an instructor at the Royal Navy Firefighting School in Portsmouth. He lured his victims to his flat, the same location where he committed the murders. The court heard that Grimson viewed his position of authority over young recruits as a means to exert control and achieve a sense of power.
During police interviews in 1999, Grimson reportedly stated that killing someone was a way to escape consequences for rape. He also told officers that he selected young men he could "befriend" and "dominate." One of the assault victims was told he was "lucky" to be alive because a friend was present, which Grimson indicated prevented him from carrying out a murder.
Psychiatrists noted that Grimson, nicknamed "Frankenstein" by colleagues, was motivated by anger related to his appearance. He admitted to killing Wright and Jenkins after they rejected his sexual advances, describing the act of murder as exhilarating and a feeling of power that he found superior to sex. He confessed to bludgeoning his victims with a baseball bat and then slitting their throats.
In 2001, the judge who sentenced Grimson described him as "highly dangerous, a serial killer in nature if not by number," and characterized the murders as "horrifying and cruel."
The investigation into the murders of Wright and Jenkins in December 1999 led to a wider search for potential victims. Police explored Grimson's past postings, including his time on the aircraft carrier Illustrious and the destroyer Edinburgh.
Grimson has also been named as the prime suspect in the 1986 disappearance of Simon Parkes, an 18-year-old Royal Navy sailor last seen in Gibraltar, where Grimson was stationed at the time. While Grimson denies involvement, Parkes's family remains convinced of his responsibility. That case was closed last year.
Grimson had previously been cleared for transfer to an open prison as a step toward potential release. His defense argued that the reinvestigation and subsequent charges "stymied" his parole prospects. He is scheduled to be sentenced on November 6.