Builder who bludgeoned buyer to loss of life was a former jail officer

A cowboy builder who bludgeoned a grandmother to loss of life with a hammer was a jail officer for 16 years, MailOnline can reveal as we speak, with those that labored with him claiming he had ‘mood’ points.

Peter Norgrove, 42, was recording whistling as he packed away his instruments as his sufferer Sharon Gordon, 58, lay dying. Hours later the Jehovah’s Witness led a service for worshippers by way of Zoom on the native Kingdom Hall.

Chilling footage confirmed him coated in blood calmly strolling away from the scene. He was jailed for all times this week for the brutal killing that passed off in Dudley, West Midlands, after he rowed with Mrs Gordon over the constructing work.

It can now be revealed earlier than a job in environmental well being, he was a jail officer on the notoriously difficult Category B HMP Birmingham. He labored there between 2002 and 2018, the place he confronted disciplinary points over attendance.

One supply who labored alongside Norgrove instructed MailOnline he had a ‘mood’ and ‘management points’ whereas at work.

During that point, the jail was in chaos with a report discovering that inmates used drink, medication and violence systematically and employees skilled widespread bullying. 

There had been additionally employees shortages and a 14-hour riot involving at the very least 500 prisoners on the privately run jail in December 2016.

Throughout his time working on the jail Norgrove gained a fame for inflicting points.

One supply stated: ‘He had a fame and would trigger issues amongst different employees. He moaned rather a lot and had an actual mood. 

‘He was disagreeable. What has come out since and the homicide is horrific. It’s actually surprising. There had been disciplinary issues however nothing to do with violence.’

The MoJ was requested if he was sacked from his job.

Norgrove acted like a ‘wolf in sheep’s clothes’ after incomes her belief on the church they attended in Dudley.

The constructing work ought to have taken six-to-eight weeks however as an alternative was a 15-month nightmare which ended within the horrific homicide of Mrs Gordon.  

Wolverhampton Crown Court heard he repeatedly lied to her in regards to the work he was doing, which took 15 months as an alternative of six weeks.

A choose who jailed him for all times on Wednesday was instructed Norgrove agreed to construct the ground-floor extension for £29,000 – a £3,000 low cost on his unique quote – in return for utilizing the venture as a automobile to market his skills in his new profession. 

Mrs Gordon’s household stated she had fitted a video doorbell to her house to show Norgrove had been mendacity in regards to the time it was taking to work. 

The court docket heard Norgrove turned livid when quizzed by his shopper and hit her eight occasions within the head with a lump hammer.

She was discovered useless by two mates who visited her property a day after the killing, the court docket heard.

Norgrove, of Sedgley, claimed to police he had left the property the day past, however bloodstained objects had been present in a wheelie bin at a household handle and a lump hammer found in his mother-in-law’s shed.

Norgrove’s actions outdoors the home that day had been caught on doorbell and residential safety cameras at his sufferer’s property. The footage reveals him inserting a bucket – containing the hammer – on the patio earlier than engaged on an inside door. 

That lunchtime, two mates visited Ms Gordon and the three girls mentioned the constructing work in vital phrases, the court docket heard.

Less than half an hour after the opposite two girls left, Norgrove was filmed donning a pair of crimson gloves and going contained in the again door, simply after 2pm. Seconds later, the doorbell digital camera picked up banging sounds, screams for 18 seconds and inaudible shouting, as Ms Gordon was attacked inside.

Around 20 minutes later, Norgrove emerges outdoors the home – a blood stain seen on his proper calf – and is filmed casually packing up his automobile, whistling as he does so.

Following the killing, Norgrove drove house and put his garments within the washer earlier than going to gather his daughter from college, arriving late. 

He then drove to his mother-in-law’s house and dumped the hammer in a shed and bloodied gloves and garments in a bin beside the outbuilding. 

Prosecutor Earl Pinnock stated the objects had been recovered after his mother-in-law later mirrored on his transient go to after discovering Ms Gordon had been killed, and retraced his steps at her house.

Ms Gordon’s physique was found by her finest good friend the next day.

Speaking solely to the MailOnline, Norgrove’s spouse, Rebecca, additionally 43, stated it was she who handed in her husband’s work gloves and bloodied cloths to the police after discovering them hidden within the wheelie bin at her mom’s house.

‘I did not know what they had been at first,’ she stated. ‘But after I noticed what could possibly be potential proof, I had completely no hesitation in contacting the police. 

‘Of course, I knew there can be penalties however morally, it was the one factor to do.’

 In an interview with the BBC, Ms Gordon’s daughter, Rhian Brown, described Norgrove as a ‘wolf in sheep’s clothes’ who had used the ‘safety web’ of being in the identical congregation as his sufferer to ‘disguise behind’ who he actually was.

Sentencing him to serve a minimal of 15 years, Judge Michael Chambers KC instructed Norgrove: ‘You had been indignant as a result of she had continued to criticise you on your continual delays and workmanship.’

The ‘rights and wrongs’ of the extension over-run, which was greater than a yr not on time, weren’t issues for the court docket to find out, the choose stated.

He added: ‘They don’t give you any excuse, justification or mitigation for what you probably did.’