DENNIS MCGRORY SENTENCED TO LIFE FOR MURDER IN LONDON AND MILTON KEYNES DOUBLE JEOPARDY CASE

In a landmark case that has spanned nearly five decades, Dennis McGrory has been sentenced to life imprisonment for the brutal rape and murder of a 15-year-old girl, Jacqui Montgomery, in Islington, North London. This case is notable for being the oldest double jeopardy conviction in the legal history of England and Wales.

Back in 1975, McGrory, then 28 years old, committed a heinous crime that shocked the community. Jacqui Montgomery was found dead in her family’s home on Offord Road, with her father, Robert Montgomery, discovering her lifeless body on June 2nd of that year. The young girl had suffered multiple stab wounds, blunt-force trauma to her face, and had been strangled using the flex of an iron. The scene of the crime was one of violence and brutality, leaving the family and community devastated.

Initially, McGrory was tried in 1976 based on circumstantial evidence but was acquitted of the murder charges. The case remained unresolved for many years until advances in forensic science provided new hope. Decades later, DNA evidence from swabs taken from Jacqui’s body revealed a one-in-a-billion match to McGrory, prompting a retrial under the revised double jeopardy laws that now allow for retrial if new and compelling evidence emerges.

Following this breakthrough, McGrory was brought back before the courts. His second trial took place at the Old Bailey, where he was found guilty last month of both the rape and murder of Jacqui Montgomery. The sentencing hearing was held earlier this week at Huntingdon Crown Court, where McGrory, who had been residing in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, was given a minimum term of 25 years and 126 days behind bars.

During the proceedings, it was revealed that McGrory’s actions were driven by rage and a desire to locate his ex-partner, Josie Montgomery, who was also Jacqui’s aunt. The court was told that McGrory had previously threatened to rape Jacqui and, on the night of the attack, he carried out those threats, making good on his violent intentions. Evidence presented during the trial also indicated that McGrory had ripped out a page from Jacqui’s diary containing her aunt’s address, further illustrating his malicious intent.

McGrory’s trial was temporarily halted in March due to his illness, but the court proceedings resumed once he recovered. The judge, Mr. Justice Bryan, delivered a stern verdict, emphasizing the brutality of the crime and the victim’s innocence. He stated, “I have no doubt whatsoever that you intended to kill her in your brutal attack on her. You put Jacqui through a horrific, violent and sustained ordeal in her own home — a place where she was entitled to feel safe. In the decades that followed, you must have thought you had gotten away with your hideous crimes. How any man could inflict such sexual violence on a 15-year-old child that had done them no harm beggars belief.”