Bricklayer jailed for murdering customer at Dudley home
Peter Norgrove killed Sharon Gordon in July 2023.
Last updated 31st Jan 2024
A builder has been jailed for life for murdering a customer at her home in Dudley.
Peter Norgrove, from Sedgley, admitted killing Sharon Gordon in July 2023.
At Wolverhampton Crown Court today (31 January), the 43-year-old has been sentenced to a minimum term of 15 years.
The court was told that Norgrove was caught on doorbell and security camera footage before he killed Ms Gordon at her house in Bromford Road, Holly Hall, Dudley.
Norgrove was a recently qualified bricklayer, who had met Ms Gordon through mutual friends at the same church they both attended.
He'd undertaken extension work to Ms Gordon’s property, which had taken many months and encountered several problems along the way.
On the afternoon of 21 July 2023, friends called at Ms Gordon’s home in Bromford Road and found her at the foot of the stairs with severe head injuries.
The 58-year-old had sadly died the day before.
During the course of the police investigation, Norgrove was interviewed and said he had left the property the previous day.
Blood-stained items were found in a wheelie bin at a family address related to Norgrove and further searches revealed a hammer concealed in a shed.
Passing sentence on Wednesday, Judge Chambers said the "brutal and savage" offence, involving eight blows to the head, was aggravated by a false statement Norgrove gave police saying his victim was alive and well when he left the property.
The judge told Norgrove, a former public sector worker: "You used a hammer to repeatedly strike her to the head.
"You were angry because she had continued to criticise you for your chronic delays and workmanship."
The "rights and wrongs" of the extension over-run, which was more than a year behind schedule, were not matters for the court to determine, the judge said.
He added: "They do not provide you with any excuse, justification or mitigation for what you did."
Detective Inspector Damian Forrest, who led the investigation, said: "Mrs Gordon tragically lost her life following a violent attack by Peter Norgrove, which appears to have stemmed from him losing his temper after a disagreement over the work he was carrying out.
"Mrs Gordon's friends and family have been deeply affected by her death, and while Norgrove has now faced the consequences of his appalling actions, our thoughts remain with them as they continue to grieve."