On Monday, a jury at Winchester crown court found Grimson guilty of 13 sexual offences relating to the men, which may mean he remains in prison for years to come.<\/p>\n
Judge Dugdale told Grimson he was an extremely dangerous man in the 1990s and asked for reports to be prepared to help him understand if he still posed a serious risk.<\/p>\n
The judge also asked for victim personal statements to be taken from the men. He thanked the jury for hearing a \u201cvery unusual case\u201d and invited them to return to court when he sentenced Grimson in November.<\/p>\n
Ros Astengo: \u2018For me, it was about justice and to prevent a serial offender from being released.\u2019 Photograph: Martin Godwin\/The Guardian<\/p>\n
\u201cThe men were incredibly brave to come to court, bring all this back into their lives,\u201d Astengo said.<\/p>\n
Grimson was jailed for life in 2001 and told he would serve at least 22 years in prison for sexually abusing and murdering Nicholas Wright, 18, and Sion Jenkins, 20, in Portsmouth, both of whom had served in the navy. The sentencing judge described him as a \u201cserial killer in nature if not by number\u201d<\/a>.<\/p>\n At the time, Grimson also admitted in police interviews sexual offences or contact with another four men \u2013 three young sailors and a teenage boy. He said he had thought of killing two of them but the Crown Prosecution Service did not pursue the allegations because he was going to serve a long jail term for the murders anyway.<\/p>\n While in prison Grimson was on best behaviour in the hope that he would be released after serving his 22 years and in November 2020 the Parole Board<\/a> recommended he be moved to an open prison to prepare him for freedom.<\/p>\n At this time, Astengo was covering the search for the body of another sailor, Simon Parkes, who vanished in Gibraltar in 1986. Grimson was in the British overseas territory at the time. He has long been a suspect but denies involvement.<\/p>\n Simon Parkes vanished in Gibraltar in 1986. Photograph: PA<\/p>\n No remains were found and Astengo said she was deeply moved when Parkes\u2019s elderly parents, Margaret and David, from south-west England, described it <\/a>as their last chance to get justice. \u201cIt was a very lonely journey for them.\u201d She promised them she would write a book<\/a> about their son\u2019s case to keep his memory alive.<\/p>\n She began her research and was disturbed to find he had made admissions over the four boys and young men but no action had been taken.<\/p>\n \u201cI was astonished that he was never charged over them,\u201d Astengo said. She was alarmed that Grimson seemed close to being released. \u201cI knew what he had done to those boys. That really worried me. How could he be fully rehabilitated? I was worried he would go back into the community thinking he\u2019s gotten away with it. I realised I was putting myself in the crosshairs of a killer but I thought something needed to be done.\u201d<\/p>\n Astengo tracked down one of the four and travelled to the UK to speak to him. \u201cI found a very angry man who was still hurt, angry and upset that he had never seen justice. He started talking about the fact that he was older now and a parent. He understands today what he didn\u2019t back then \u2013 that was that he was groomed.\u201d<\/p>\n Astengo told the man he could file a fresh complaint about Grimson. \u201cI said to him, think very carefully about what you\u2019re doing because you are going to open a can of worms for yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Nicholas](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/278.jpg\")
Nicholas Wright. Photograph: PA<\/p>\n