A “callous” father who murdered his wife and hid her body under a patio for 23 years asked their son to dig her up and send a hair to police in an audacious plot to clear his own name.
Andrew Griggs, who is already serving a life sentence with a minimum of 20 years for killing devoted mother-of-three Debbie Griggs, has been jailed for three more years after he tried to manipulate one of their sons into exhuming her body from prison.
The former fisherman, 62, was convicted of Ms Griggs’ murder in 2019 following a cold case investigation into her disappearance in 1999, after she vanished while she was three months pregnant with their fourth child. Her body had never been found.
Despite maintaining his innocence, he later revealed to his son in a prison visit that her remains were sealed in a water butt buried under the concrete base of a shed at his home in Dorset.
He instructed him to dig it up, remove a strand of her hair, take it abroad and post it back to the UK with a letter pretending to be from Ms Griggs to prove she was still alive.
Debbie Griggs, whose body was found more than 20 years after she was murdered by her husband Andrew (Kent Police)
Specialist officers and staff excavated the back garden of his home in St Leonards, Dorset, in October 2022.
Her body was found in a barrel-shaped container wrapped in blue tarpaulin under the base of what had previously been a lean-to shed. Also inside were clothes along with a pillowcase, duvet and a boot liner matching one missing from the mother’s Peugeot 306.
It is believed Griggs wrapped the clothing he was wearing when he killed the former nurse in the boot liner before placing them on top of her inside the container.
When Griggs was interviewed about the discovery, he declined to answer any questions but delivered a pre-prepared statement in which he still maintained he was not responsible for Ms Grigg’s death.
He claimed he found a body inside a container in someone else’s garden around two years after he had reported her missing.
He said he panicked and encased the container in fibreglass before someone else buried it, and although he suspected it was beneath his garden shed he did not know for sure.
Debbie Griggs body was found buried in a container at Andrew Griggs property in St Leonards, Dorset (Kent Police)
Griggs was charged with perverting the course of justice, which he later admitted, and obstructing a coroner in the execution of their duty.
In a hearing at Canterbury Crown Court on Monday he was ordered to serve an additional three years in prison.
Detective Chief Inspector Neil Kimber said Griggs’ lies and attempt to recruit a family member to clear his own name are an “insult” to the mother’s memory.
“Debbie Griggs was a devoted mother whose love for her three children was never in doubt, and it is inconceivable that she would have ever walked out on them,” he said.
“Her husband Andrew has known this ever since he first reported her missing, by which point he had already brutally murdered Debbie and hidden her body. He then continued to lie and manipulate others even after her remains were eventually discovered, making up further ridiculous stories that are an insult to Debbie’s memory and to everyone who continues to mourn her loss.
“The fact he asked a family member to dig up her remains shows what a callous and selfish person he is, sparing little to no thought as to the deeply devastating effect such an act would likely have on that person.
“Andrew Griggs is already serving a life sentence for Debbie’s murder but our investigation into these further offences was about more than achieving another positive court outcome.
“It was about securing justice for Debbie and her family and friends, and ensuring the general public know exactly the lengths Griggs was willing to go to in order to escape the consequences of his disgusting actions.”
Andrew Griggs was jailed for a further three years for perverting the course of justice (Kent Police)
Katie Samways from the Crown Prosecution Service said the case was “one of the worst examples imaginable” of perverting the course of justice.
“Andrew Griggs spent decades lying to everyone around him, claiming that Debbie’s disappearance was nothing to do with him,” she added.
“Once convicted of her murder, in a desperate attempt to prove his innocence, he tried to manipulate his son into helping him in the most appalling way possible.
“Griggs deliberately failed to reveal the location of Debbie’s body, adding immeasurably to the distress of her family and friends.”
She added: “None of us can imagine the impact that Griggs’ actions have had on everyone around him.
“Now, more than 25 years after Debbie first disappeared, we hope that her family and friends can now finally put this chapter of their lives behind them, knowing Andrew Griggs has been fully held to account not just for Debbie’s murder, but also for the lies he continually told in the intervening period.”
