Stroud man jailed for life for murdering convicted paedophile
Anthony Gardiner admitted killing John Coxon at his home in January 2022.
Last updated 17th Jan 2025
Anthony Gardiner, formerly of of Daniels Road, Stroud, has been jailed for life with a minimum of 20 years for murdering a convicted paedophile John Coxon in Stonehouse.
A hearing at Bristol Crown Court heard that Gardiner attacked Mr Coxon in his home on Park Road in January 2022 which resulted in him being hospitalised with a head injury.
The 66 year old was arrested at the time of the assault and rearrested on suspicion of murder after Mr Coxon died in hospital in March of the same year.
The court heard about the relationship between Gardiner and Mr Coxon and how it was well known in the community that Mr Coxon was a registered sex offender.
Mr Coxon breached his sexual harm prevention order in 2017 when he spoke to a young girl, who was a relative of Gardiner, when he passed her home.
His order was breached due to having unsupervised contact with a child but there was no evidence of the conversation being of a sexual nature.
The court was told that Gardiner, who has a long history of violence and criminality, exploited Mr Coxon for financial gain.
Mr Coxon required care workers who visited his home twice a day as he lived with Alzheimer's and had severely advanced type 2 diabetes.
On the 12th of January 2022 Mr Coxon was found on the floor of his kitchen with facial injuries by one of his carers.
When taken to hospital it was discovered that he had a bleed on the brain from a traumatic head injury which led to infections and kidney failure which was the cause of death.
It was found that the head injury contributed significantly to his death.
Gardiner was arrested before Mr Coxon died after he had told others he had gone to his home and stamped on his head.
Gardiner initially denied being responsible for the assault but later wrote a letter to police saying he wanted to “come clean”.
He told police a relative had taken their own life as a result of Mr Coxon abusing them, this was found to be untrue and there was no evidence to suggest contact between Mr Coxon and Gardiner’s relatives other than when he spoke to one in 2017.
Gardiner pleaded guilty in court.
The court head that while Gardiner wanted to cause serious harm to Mr Coxon he did not set out to kill him.
A statement from Mr Coxon's brother was read to the court in which he said no-one should be subjected to what was inflicted on Mr Coxon.
Gardiner has previous convictions which include robbery, wounding with intent and assault and has been in prison serving a 5 year sentence for his part in the robbery of a disabled man in 2022.
Addressing Gardiner, His Honour Judge Picton said: "You are a highly dangerous man and there is no sign whatsoever that the passing of the years is reducing your risk to the public."
In court Gardiner represented himself after he chose to have no legal team.
In an expletive laden speech to the court, Gardiner blamed Covid for Mr Coxon's death and he showed no remorse for his actions.
He was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 24 years, due to the guilty plea this was reduced to 20 years.