A SECURITY guard who tried to bludgeon a man to death at a disused RAF base near York has been given a life sentence today.

As The Press reported earlier this week, a Carlisle Crown Court jury was shown damning evidence of 20-year-old Jack Crawley's hidden life and determination to violently target gay men. 

On Monday (October 21) a jury found him guilty of attempted murder in relation to the York attack and murder in relation to an attack in Cumbria. 

Today Crawley has been given a life sentence and a judge has told him he'll serve a minimum of 37 years in prison before he can even be considered for parole. Crawley was also sentenced for attempted murder for trying to murder a man he attacked with a hammer near Acaster Malbis in January. For this he received a 15-year sentence, to be served concurrently.

Crawley was first arrested in Cumbria after he killed Cumberland Infirmary catering manager Paul Taylor, with a hammer.

Mr Taylor, a 56-year-old married former soldier had a secret life of sexual liaisons at gay "hook up" sites. He had met Crawley through the gay dating app Grindr.

But police at that stage initially had no body and insufficient evidence to charge him. 

After he was released, Crawley skipped his bail.

Using a bizarre disguise - featuring a wig and a fake European accent - the then 19-year-old took trains to Aberdeen, Glasgow, and York, where he targeted a second gay man in an "almost carbon copy" attack, meeting his intended victim on a remote country lane at RAF Acaster Malbis in January this year and again using a hammer as a weapon.

During the trial, the man described fighting for his life.

Though injured, he disarmed his attacker, fighting back before Crawley fled into the night.

It was when Crawley and Mr Taylor met late on October 18 last year that Crawley became a killer, unleashing a frenzied hammer attack.

Mr Taylor suffered fatal head wounds, his skull and face shattered by at least ten forceful blows.

Crawley then bundled the corpse into the boot his Mr Taylor's Vauxhall Corsa before moving it to Finglandrigg Nature Reserve, west of Carlisle, where he first tried to burn the remains before dumping them. 

Speaking after the sentencing Senior Investigation Officer Detective Superintendent Ian Hussey said: “Paul was the victim of a premediated and calculated attack by Crawley who arrived to meet Paul prepared to commit a serious act of violence.

“Paul’s body was then taken to a remote woodland near Carlisle and hidden in undergrowth with Crawley only finally admitting where he’d concealed Paul’s body several months after he’d been charged with murder.

“From the very start of this, Crawley has lied about his actions – from initially denying even knowing Paul, to later denying he murdered him, instead concocting a story around self-defence.

“Crawley is behind bars where he rightly belongs, and he will now spend a considerable amount of his adult life in prison.

“I would like to offer my deepest condolences to Paul’s family and friends for their loss.

“I can only imagine what they have had to go through over the past year and an I would like to commend them for remaining dignified and composed throughout the whole investigation and trial, despite being forced to hear some shocking and hurtful evidence."