British 'gigolo' Ian Griffin jailed for 20 years for girlfriend's murder in Paris
PUBLISHED : Sunday, 07 December, 2014, 6:14am
UPDATED : Sunday, 07 December, 2014, 6:14am
Agence France-Presse in Paris
Ian Griffin outside court before he was sentenced. Photo: AP
A British businessman described as a "gigolo" was jailed for 20 years for murdering his girlfriend in a five-star Paris hotel.
The jury in the French capital found 45-year-old Ian Griffin guilty despite his claim that he had no recollection of the incident because he had blacked out in their room at the exclusive Le Bristol hotel near the Champs Elysees in May 2009.
His wealthy Polish-born girlfriend, Kinga Wolf, 36, died of massive internal bleeding. Her skull, jaw and larynx were smashed and more than 100 marks were found on her body, from her face to her feet.
The court rejected the defence's arguments, saying Griffin was responsible for his actions and pointed to his "attempts to delay the discovery of the body", and to his contradictory account of the events as proof of his guilt.
Griffin made no reaction as the verdict was read out, but his new girlfriend Tracy Baker - with whom he had a baby while he was on bail - collapsed in tears.
The prosecution described Griffin as a "gigolo", who had no visible source of income but lived off his wealthy girlfriends, such as Wolf, who owned an international company that supplied tomatoes to supermarkets.
It said he had a history of violence towards women and called for a 25-year prison sentence.
The Briton had claimed he and Wolf had had a row over dinner at a chic Paris restaurant after she refused to give him the anti-depression pills to which he had become addicted.
He said she then pressured him for sex, but he was in no state and refused. He said he had left the restaurant before her intending to "get my car keys and leave", but she made it back to their hotel room before him.
"When I walked into the room and heard her voice, I went into a total blank, nothing," Griffin told the court. Griffin said he had woken the next morning to find the room in an "awful" state and tried to clear up the mess.
He claimed he had not found his girlfriend's body, which was between two mattresses, until the afternoon.
Presiding judge Didier Safar had expressed surprise at his evidence, asking why it took so long for him to think of his girlfriend.
Griffin was arrested in England in June 2009 and extradited to France in May 2011. He was later released due to a neurological condition that means he uses crutches, and had to wear a security tag.
