"Evil pervert" Darren Jackson jailed for rape and murder of grandmother

AN EVIL, perverted and depraved man who raped and murdered a grandmother in her own home has been warned he may never be released from jail.

Darren Jackson left the lifeless, battered and naked  body of 67-year-old Irene Lawless on the bedroom floor of her Llanllwni bungalow.

Jackson, 26, was warned he may never be released.

"With your warped and perverted mind, it may well be that you are never released and will spend the remaining days of your life in prison," Judge John Royce told him.

Jackson broke into Ms Lawless's home in Bryndulais, where she lived alone, through a window in the early morning of January 22.

He raped her twice, leaving her with bruises and scratches to 28 different parts of her body and 20 fractured ribs before he then strangled her to death.

Sentencing him at Swansea Crown Court, Judge John Royce said: "The humiliation and the mental and physical anguish to which she was subjected to before she died at your hands are horrific, This was nothing short of evil depravity."

The court was told Jackson, originally from Kent, had been staying with his mother who lived next door.

Police  found he had been researching "rape-themed" websites, all with explicit titles.

The judge said he had a "perverted interest" in rape. 

Friends and family sat in court to hear the disturbing details of the heartless attack.

Ms Lawless was last seen alive at 4pm on January 20, two days before neighbours found her body.

Elwen Evans QC, prosecuting, said it was not clear exactly what had happened.

She said Ms Lawless must have been asleep when Jackson went into her bedroom and the injuries to her ribs were evidence of the force he used in the "sustained" sex attack.

She said  Ms Lawless had obviously tried to fight back, leaving Jackson with an inch long scratch to his face.

Jackson had stolen her handbag and car keys. The bag was  later  found by police in the bottom of a plantpot at Jackson's mother's home.

CCTV images revealed Jackson had driven to Deal in Kent.

He stopped at Tesco in Carmarthen to buy petrol at 7.56am - just hours after strangling the pensioner.

Police found Jackson, and the stolen car, in Deal, in Kent.

The judge said: "The 20 rib fractures and other significant injuries to her face and body reveal the heartless violence that you metered out to a defenceless grandmother for your own perverted pleasure and gratification.

"It's clear that she must have put up a significant struggle," Judge Royce added.

Ms Evans said Ms Lawless had been a carer for her mother and babysat for her grandchildren, one of whom has learning difficulties. She had tragically lost her own daughter  in 1993.

Mr Justice John Royce also praised Ms Lawless. He said: "She was one of life's givers rather than takers and she had everything to live for."

Jackson had previous convictions involving motor vehicles, but none of violence.

Christopher Clee QC, representing Jackson, said: "The only realistic mitigation here are the pleas of guilty. They are at least some acknowledgement of the enormity of what he has done."

Jackson, who admitted murder and two charges of rape, was given a life term for murder. 

Sentences of 12 years for each of the counts of rape were also imposed, to run concurrently with each other and the life sentence.