Legal News

A court in Paris has jailed a British man who killed his fiancée in a hotel room after starting an affair with another woman.

Sky News reports his 36-year-old fiancée Kinga Legg at the five-star Bristol Hotel in Paris in May 2009.

The court in Paris heard that although the couple were on a trip to the South of France to get married in Monaco, Griffin was seeing 34-year-old Tracy Baker at the time.

In 2013, Griffin was released on bail and he and Ms Baker went on to have a child together. It is reported that Ms Baker was overcome with emotion when the 20-year jail sentence was announced at Paris Assizes on Friday (05/12/14). After the judge announced the sentence, Griffin was led straight to the cells – he had appeared in court on crutches.

Before sentencing, he expressed his regret at having killed Ms Legg and apologised to her family:

“To think I could do that to the girl I love, that’s killing me,” he said.

“I must have been through every regret, every emotion – I would give my life for hers tomorrow.”

The prosecution, however, refused to accept any versions of events regarding the murder offered by Griffin. The court was told that he was a “kind of gigolo”, who lived off his wealthy parents and girlfriends – and was not a “successful businessman” as had been suggested in court.

Griffin had claimed in court that he was using crutches because he was seriously ill – however, the prosecution told the court that he was “a liar”.

“He is trying to fool you. He lies to everyone and – through his lies – he kills for a second time,” prosecutor Philippe Courroye told the court.

Mr Courroye said that the murder of Ms Legg was a classic case of “violence against women”.

After Ms Legg had been found dead in the bath at the couple’s £1,000 a night room at the Paris hotel, Griffin fled France in his Porsche 911 car and later claimed her death was an accident. He also claimed that he went into a “black hole” of memory loss as a result of alcohol misuse and antidepressants.

The prosecution told the court, however, that there were more than one hundred bruises on Ms Legg’s body, with 17 on her skull and 33 on her chest. “They ranged from the face to the feet – if there were so many injuries, it is because he wanted to kill her,” said Mr Courroye.

“The autopsy revealed the power of the blows. It was a martyred body. She was beaten to death. This is a subject that has a name – violence against women,” he added.

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