Family's fury as murderer wins appeal
The family of a man who was brutally murdered have spoken of their anger that his killer has had his sentence cut.
Grant Price's widow and two children have had to once more confront the horror of 15 years ago when the beloved husband and father was kidnapped and left to die on a deserted beach.
Killer Matthew Pearce, of Portsmouth, had his sentence cut by three years after a High Court appeal last Thursday.
Pearce, then aged 22, was sentenced to serve at least 23 years after being found guilty of murder in 1995. He will now be eligible for parole in 2014.
Widow Isobel Price, 54, said: 'I'm not really happy about it, in fact I'm very angry – it's only three years, but it gives him the impression there's a light at the end of the tunnel and I don't want to give him that.'
Their son David was aged just nine when he was with his father as he was snatched from a Gosport car park by Pearce and his accomplice Darren Jones.
Mrs Price, of Seymour Road in Lee-on-the-Solent, said: 'My son's never really got over it and he's got ongoing health issues as a result.
'I'm sure the prisoners get plenty of support inside, but we don't feel like we've always had that.
'I think my son would still like some questions answered and is quite bitter. At the time, Grant was missing for a week and we had no idea where he was. This was the last thing we thought .
'As far as we know there was no motive for it whatsoever. It was so calculated what they did – it wasn't like a random thing.'
Her daughter Kelly Price, 27, of Lower Quay Road, Fareham, said: 'I was only 12 when it happened but of course I remember it very well.
'My mum got a phone call from the lady at the parole office to say that he was appealing and we knew it was going ahead on Thursday.
'I was annoyed and angry when I heard about the appeal – as far as I'm concerned life should mean life and he should never get out.
'It has really brought it all back – although I think about dad all the time, I try not to think about Pearce.
'I try to remember the good things about dad, but this has brought back the horrible side of it.'
INNER TORMENT
At their trial Matthew Pearce and Darren Jones blamed each other for the murder of Grant Price, but Pearce now accepts his guilt.
Widow Isobel Price was asked to write an impact statement when Pearce first moved to appeal.
That letter detailed the devastating effect of her husband's death on her and their two children.
Mr Justice Beatson said Pearce accepted his guilt after reading the letter, which compounded the 'inner torment' he now says he feels.
Chilling details of Gosport's worst crime
Matthew Pearce was found guilty of murdering accountant Grant Price in what has been called the most horrific crime Gosport has ever seen.
Pearce, from Portsmouth, and Darren Jones, then 21, of Southsea, seized Grant Price in a Gosport car park while he was out shopping with his nine-year-old son David on January 22, 1994.
Pearce, who had been accepted into the army, was in debt after a car accident and needed money to enlist.
After withdrawing money from Mr Price's account the pair drove him to a shingle spit near Keyhaven, Lymington, stabbed him and left him to die.
Although 43-year-old Mr Price appeared dead when they left him, he was still alive and took 24 hours to die from his wounds and exposure.
At Winchester Crown Court in June 1995, Pearce was jailed for life and ordered to serve at least 23 years behind bars before being considered for parole by then-Home Secretary Michael Howard.
At the time, Mr Justice Ian Kennedy told Pearce and Jones: 'The very concept of this murder horrifies all decent people.
'To kidnap a man, to leave a little boy standing there in the street, to cart him about the country and then that long walk up the beach chills the blood.
'How anyone could be so cruel and heartless as you, it is impossible to understand.'
But at London's High Court on Thursday, Mr Justice Beatson cut the minimum sentence to 20 years.
He said Pearce had not been given enough credit for the fact he was just 22 when he carried out the killing with co-accused Jones, who was also jailed for life.
If Pearce gets parole in 2014, he will remain on a life licence and face recall to prison at any time if he puts a foot wrong.
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