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Obsessed stalker murdered former girlfriend when she refused to rekindle affair

Obsessed stalker Michael Lane, has been found guilty of murdering his former girlfriend after she refused to rekindle their romance.

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Grice Murder: Police criticised by family and judge

The judge who presided over the Shana Grice murder trial criticised Sussex police saying when she sought help "she received none."

Michael Lane must now serve a life sentence with a minimum term of 25 years.

Miss Grice, 19, was found with her throat slashed in her smoke-logged bedroom at the bungalow she shared with two housemates in Brighton.

Lane, 27, waited until she was home alone before murdering her last August 25.

It emerged during a two-week trial at Lewes Crown Court that police were told Lane pulled Miss Grice's hair and grabbed her mobile phone last March 24.

But while no further action was taken against him, Miss Grice received a fixed penalty notice for wasting police time after not disclosing she had been in a relationship with him.

"Shana was treated as the wrongdoer and having committed a criminal offence, and Michael Lane was treated as the victim. There was seemingly no appreciation on the part of those investigating that a young woman in a sexual relationship with a man could at one and the same time be vulnerable and at risk of serious harm. The police jumped to conclusions and Shana was stereotyped."

– Mr Justice Green

The judge said the incident meant police treated all further complaints by Miss Grice with "scepticism".

When further stalking incidents took place, she felt her complaints would not be taken seriously by the police, he said.

Police received five reports about Lane's behaviour towards Miss Grice in the months before he killed her and then torched her room in Chrisdory Road, Brighton.

Miss Grice's mother Sharon Grice hit out at Sussex Police, saying she believed her daughter's murder could have been prevented if they had listened to her fears about him.

"We firmly believe Shana would be alive today if Sussex police had acted to protect Shana on the many occasions she complained about Lane rather than issue her with a fine for wasting police time. We await the outcome of the IPCC investigation."

– Statement from Shana’s parents Sharon Grice and Richard Green

Sussex Police apologised to Miss Grice's family and referred themselves to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), which has launched an inquiry.

"When we looked at the circumstances leading to Shana's murder, we felt we may not have done the very best we could."

– Deputy Chief Constable Bernie O'Reilly

A two-week trial heard Lane refused to accept the break-up with Miss Grice and decided no-one else could be with her, telling a friend: "She'll pay for what she's done."

In the months before she died, Lane stalked Miss Grice, the trial heard. He put a tracker device on her car and received notifications via a phone app every time it moved.

Mechanic Lane, of Thornhill Rise, Portslade, claimed he discovered her body then left in shock. But jurors convicted him of murder after just over two hours of deliberation on Wednesday.

Life sentence given for the murder of Shana Grice

Michael Lane, was convicted of Shana Grice's murder and has been sentenced to life imprisonment.

The jury took only two hours to convict the 27-year-old of murder after their deliberation on Wednesday.

Miss Grice, 19, was found with her throat slashed in her smoke-logged bedroom at the bungalow she shared with two housemates in Brighton.

Lane waited until she was home alone before murdering her last August 25 after she decided to rekindle a relationship with her ex-boyfriend, Ashley Cooke.

Sentencing Lane at Lewes Crown Court, Mr Justice Green said he would serve a minimum of 25 years.

“We are very relieved that the man who killed our precious Shana, our only child, will serve a long and deserved prison sentence. Michael Lane is a dangerous and obsessive man. The police and prosecution had statements from other girls to whom Lane had in the past shown similar controlling behaviour. These witnesses came forward after his arrest but were not permitted to be called at trial for evidential reasons. Lane showed his arrogance and cowardice at trial by pleading not guilty in the face of overwhelming evidence. In his contemptible defence he sought to blame innocent men for his actions. He compounded this by relying on the wholly inadequate police assessment of risk to Shana to suggest he was no danger to her."

– Statement from Shana’s parents Sharon Grice and Richard Green

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Michael Lane to be sentenced for murdering Shana Grice

Shana Grice and Michael Lane Credit: Sussex Police

The man found guilty of murdering Shana Grice will be sentenced at Lewes Crown Court this morning.

Michael Lane attacked his former lover in Brighton last August - just five months after police fined her for wasting their time when she complained about his stalking. He was found guilty yesterday.

Sussex police apologise to murdered girl's family

Police have apologised to the family of murdered teenager Shana Grice saying they may not have done "the very best we could" to protect the teenager whose throat was cut by Michael Lane.

Shana Grice and Michael Lane Credit: Sussex police

I would like to extend my sincere sympathies to the family and friends of Shana Grice, who was murdered by Michael Lane.

When we looked at the circumstances leading to Shana’s murder, we felt we may not have done the very best we could.

Within days of her murder I personally visited Shana's family to apologise on behalf of Sussex Police and we made a referral to the IPCC.

The referral was specifically in relation to how we dealt with incidents involving Shana leading up to her murder.

Since then we have thoroughly reviewed all aspects of how we deal with cases of stalking and harassment and, working with partners, we have now taken on the learning and our approach is more robust.

We are fully cooperating with the IPCC and until we receive their report we cannot comment further."

– Deputy Chief Constable Bernie O’Reilly

Obsessed stalker slashed former girlfriend's throat when she left him for her teenage sweetheart

Teenager Shana Grice was murdered at the hands of an obsessed stalker -her jilted ex-boyfriend Michael Lane.

She was found with her throat slashed in her smoke-logged bedroom at the bungalow she shared with two housemates in Brighton, East Sussex

Lane, 27, was found guilty at Lewes Crown Court of murdering Miss Grice in the bedroom of the bungalow she shared with two housemates in Brighton last August 25.

He waited until she was home alone before murdering her last August 25 after she decided to rekindle a relationship with her ex-boyfriend, Ashley Cooke.

Her devastated mother Sharon has spoken out saying her daughter's murdered could have been prevented if police had listened to her fears.

Sharon Grice criticised police for not taking her 19-year-old daughter Shana Grice seriously before she was killed.

Killer Michael Lane

Mrs Grice said the family "instantly" knew Lane was responsible as he had been "harassing and stalking" her for the past year.

Officers received at least four complaints about mechanic Lane's behaviour towards Miss Grice in the months before he fatally slashed her throat.

Shane with teenage sweetheart Ashley Cooke

We brought Shana up to respect authority and to always respect the law.

We firmly believe her murder could have been prevented if her fears had been listened to and taken seriously by the police."

– Sharon Grice

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