Grindr killing: Teen found guilty of murdering George Osborne’s adviser
An 18-year-old has been found guilty of brutally murdering a senior tax official he met on Grindr.
Paul Jefferies, 52, was found stabbed to death in his rural East Sussex cottage earlier this year.
He had been attacked more than 40 times and was discovered with his throat slit and a tea towel covering his head.
Ben Bamford, who was 17 at the time of the murder, had arranged to meet up with Mr Jefferies using Grindr.
Bamford intended to have sex with Mr Jefferies and steal money to cover drugs debts of more then £400.
The teen had denied murdering Mr Jefferies, claiming he was protecting himself from Mr Jefferies after he had “come on to him”.
During his defence, he said he “got on top of me” and carried on having sex with him after telling him to stop.
The pair had previously met via Grindr when Bamford was 15, and he claimed Mr Jefferies had given him money in previous occasions.
Colleagues alerted police after Mr Jefferies, who is reported to have been an adviser to George Osborne’s Treasury team, failed to turn up for work two days in a row.
His body was discovered at the Grade-II listed cottage, where Bamford had locked the door of the cottage then fled in Mr Jefferies’ car.
Bamford is due to be sentenced on Wednesday.
