Man Who Murdered Convicted Sex Offender Jailed for Minimum of 20 Years
A man has been sentenced to at least 20 years for murdering a registered sex offender in a brutal attack at his home
Stroud, Gloucestershire, John Coxon, Anthony Gardiner, Murder, Sex Offender
Stroud: So, there’s this guy, Anthony Gardiner, who just got a hefty sentence for killing a convicted sex offender named John Coxon. It all went down back in January 2022 when Gardiner showed up at Coxon’s place and really went to town on him.
Coxon, who was already in pretty bad shape with health issues, ended up in the hospital and sadly passed away a couple of months later. The court found out that Gardiner didn’t just attack him; he actually admitted to giving him “a beating” and seemed pretty pleased about it.
When the judge, Martin Picton, laid down the law, he made it clear that Gardiner was a dangerous guy. He’s got a history of violence and was already serving time for robbing a disabled man. The judge said Gardiner went to Coxon’s house with the intention to hurt him, and that’s exactly what he did.
It turns out Coxon had a troubled past himself, being a registered sex offender, which everyone in the neighborhood knew about. Gardiner seemed to think he was doing the world a favor by attacking him, but the judge wasn’t having any of that. He called Gardiner’s actions brutal and pointed out how he left Coxon in a terrible state.
After the attack, police found Gardiner’s shoes had Coxon’s blood on them, and he even carved “I am a nonce killer” into his dinner plate while in prison. It’s pretty chilling stuff. The judge made it clear that Gardiner’s behavior showed he was a real threat to society.
In the end, Gardiner was sentenced to life in prison, with a minimum of 20 years before he can even think about getting out. It’s a sad story all around, but at least justice is being served.