22 March 2024 , 05:04
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A man who cruelly tortured and murdered a woman before hiding her body under her bed, has been told he must spend at least 34 years in prison.
Shannon Grant was found guilty by a jury of murdering Natasha Morais at Leicester Crown Court on Thursday. Grant was seen on CCTV buying cable ties in a shop just hours before he tied up, beat, tortured and strangled Miss Morais at her flat in Loughland Close, Whetstone, on the night of Thursday, June 22 last year.
Jacqueline, Miss Morais's mum, became worried when she received strange texts from her 40 year old daughter's phone asking for money and quickly went to the flat. Leicestershire Police officers later broke into the flat and discovered Miss Morais' naked body hidden under a bed.
Grant, 27, from Rotherham Road, Coventry, had jumped out of a back window to get away from the Whetstone flat after Miss Morais's mum arrived. He was later arrested in Coventry, where police also found a sawn-off shotgun, a crowbar with Miss Morais' blood on it, her watch and her bank card.
Natasha Morais had been beaten, burned, tied up and gagged before being choked to death from behind using a ligature (Leicestershire Police)The police also found a tool that had been heated up and used to burn Miss Morais's arms, reports Leicestershire Live. During the trial, Grant, who had already admitted to owning the shotgun, claimed a group of five armed men stormed into the flat and killed Miss Morais while he was held at gunpoint. The jury didn't believe this story.
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They heard that Grant thought Miss Morais had come into about £100,000 and that she had given him money before, as well as clothes, a watch and other presents. The court also heard from Grant during the trial that he had been in a relationship with Miss Morais since her ex-boyfriend, Reuben Craven, passed away a few weeks before Miss Morais's death.
Grant confessed he was a drug dealer and said he, Mr Craven and Miss Morais were planning to use the Loughland Close flat as a base for selling cocaine around the Blaby area.
At the sentencing hearing on Thursday, prosecutor Paul Cavin KC pointed out that the case had several aggravating factors. These included the violence being for gain, it being pre-planned and the "horrific" burns caused during the torture meant there was significant mental and physical suffering, as well as "sadistic intent".
Shannon Grant strangled Natasha Morais in her own home (No credit)Mrs Justice Tipples told Grant that the last moments of Miss Morais' life were "terrible and distressing". She said: "You restrained her by tying her up, hit her, burned her and killed her by strangulation using a ligature.
"Having put her naked dead body in the storage area under her bed, you escaped through the kitchen window. You took the weapons you had, including a sawn-off shotgun and all you could carry to remove any traces of you from Natasha's flat. It is you who were responsible for the sheer amount of mental and physical suffering you inflicted on Natasha Morais before she died."
Grant, who has past convictions for violent acts and robbery, was given a life sentence as required by law. He will spend at least 34 years in jail, but they will count the 270 days he has already been there.