Teenager, 20, killed man he met on gay dating app Grindr, court hears

A married man was killed in a premeditated attack by a teenager 'with murder on his mind' who he met on a gay dating app, a court heard yesterday.

Jack Crawley, now 20, listened to a song called Romantic ­Homicide before subjecting Paul Taylor to a violent attack in which his head was 'completely smashed in', jurors were told.

He later dismissed his 56-year-old Scots victim as 'worse than Jeffrey Dahmer', the American serial killer and sex offender, and claimed that 'it was a better world without him'.

Mr Taylor's remains were found in a shallow grave in Cumbria seven months after he was last seen alive by his wife Maria at their home in Annan, Dumfriesshire.

She had not known her ­husband had a sexual interest in men and used apps like Grindr and Fabguys to meet other males. 

On the night he 'literally vanished into thin air', she had gone to bed at 9.30pm and only discovered he had gone out when she found his night-clothes in the kitchen the next morning.

Crawley, a hospital security guard, went on trial yesterday at Carlisle Crown Court charged with murdering Mr Taylor in October last year. 

David McLachlan, KC, prosecuting, told jurors that ­Crawley had already admitted manslaughter and claimed he had been trying to steal Mr Taylor's car after meeting him in Carlisle.

But he said the plea had not been accepted, adding: 'The prosecution case is this was not a bungled robbery. It was far from the Romantic Homicide but in fact was a ­premeditated killing during which severe violence was meted out on Paul Taylor. His head was ­completely smashed in.'

Crawley is also charged with the attempted murder of a second man who he hit with a hammer in a ­'carbon copy' attack in York while on conditional bail last January.

The victim had met Crawley on Grindr – where he was using the name Kyle – and managed to wrestle the hammer from his grasp.

Crawley fled on foot and was later arrested in Bath, Somerset, before being charged. Jurors will also ­consider an alternative charge of wounding with intent for the attack in York, which Crawley told police was self-defence.

His friend Marcus Goodfellow, 20, is accused of assisting an offender after he allegedly helped Crawley when he was trying to dispose of Mr Taylor's blue Vauxhall Corsa.

The court heard that before meeting Mr Taylor, Crawley had ­listened to the American singer d4vd's hit Romantic Homicide, which includes the lyrics: 'In the back of my mind I killed you and I don't even regret it.'

Crawley, denies one charge of murder. He previously pleaded guilty to manslaughter, citing self-defence.

He also denies a charge of attempted murder, relating to the separate attack in York.

The trial continues.