A younger lover who stabbed his love rival to death on the eve of Valentine's Day kept his head bowed in the dock as a jury found him guilty of murder.
Mark Meadows, 25, was said to have been encouraged by his lover – victim Keith Green’s partner – Louise Grieve, 38, who this afternoon was cleared of Mr Green’s murder but found guilty of an alternative charge of manslaughter.
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Murderer Meadows’ brother, Travis Gorton, 20, who helped stab Mr Green to death in the garden of his home in Howard Road, Banbury, was also found guilty of murder. The foreman initially pronounced him ‘not guilty’ of murder before surprised murmurs from his fellow jurors led to the mistake being swiftly corrected.
A youth, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, was convicted of manslaughter. A fifth defendant, Louise Grieve’s son Callum Johnson, 21, was cleared of murder.
During the lengthy trial at Oxford Crown Court, jurors heard that Mr Green, 40, was stabbed or slashed 11 times in his back garden. Prosecutors claimed that Meadows and Gorton had lain in wait for him to finish a shower, having turned off CCTV in the shed where he was sleeping. The brothers, Grieve and the youth had been at the Pepper Pot pub, round the corner from the house, on the night of the killing.
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After the killing, the brothers got back in Meadows’ white Amazon delivery van and drove back to his flat in Rees Court on the other side of town.
One of the murder weapons – a blue knife that belonged to Louise Grieve and which Meadows had bought her in a Leeds shop six months earlier – was found in a drain next to the passenger door of the parked van.
The other knife, which Meadows was said to have been seen wearing on his belt in the immediate aftermath of the stabbing, was later discovered stashed in a speaker next to the killer’s bed.
Detectives uncovered a web of messages between Meadows, Grieve and the youth linking them to what prosecutors said was a plan to ‘get rid’ of Mr Green. Meadows, who was attacked by Mr Green the previous September, had also searched the internet for how to buy handguns on the dark web.
A friend of Mr Green’s, Paul Knowles, described his late pal as one of the kindest people you could imagine.
“He would do anything for anybody. I’ve known Keith for about 20 years,” he said.
“Ever since then we’ve been like brothers. We were always together and saw each other almost every day.”
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Remanding the adult defendants into custody to return to Oxford Crown Court for sentence on January 6, Judge Ian Pringle KC said: “You have all been convicted of very serious offences.
“Mark Meadows and Travis Gorton, your sentences are fixed by law [murder carries a life sentence]. I need to determine in due course the tariff – the length of the period you will serve in prison.”
Jury’s verdicts
Mark Meadows, 25, of Rees Court, Banbury, was convicted of murder and possession of a bladed article.
His half-brother, Travis Gorton, 20, of Well Bank, Hook Norton, was found guilty of murder and possession of a bladed article.
Mr Green’s partner, Louise Grieve, 38, of Howard Road, Banbury, was convicted of manslaughter. A youth, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, was also found guilty of manslaughter. The jury delivered not guilty verdicts to the more serious charge of murder.
Callum Johnson, 21, of Howard Road, Banbury, was found not guilty on the single count of murder he faced. The foreman of the jury also said he had been found not guilty of the alternative count of manslaughter.
Judge thanks jury
Following the convictions, Judge Pringle thanked the jury for the ‘huge amount of time’ they had put into the trial. As a ‘reward’ he said they would be given a letter excusing them from jury service for the next 15 years.
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This story was written by Tom Seaward. He joined the team in 2021 as Oxfordshire's court and crime reporter.
To get in touch with him email: Tom.Seaward@newsquest.co.uk
Follow him on Twitter: @t_seaward
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