14 years for killing our mother is a joke – she should have got 30 years

Published on Tuesday 23 February 2010 20:14

A TEENAGE girl who stamped and kicked a grandmother to death during a row over £5 and a cigarette has been jailed for at least 14 years.

• Earley's sentence was dismissed by victim's relatives as 'a joke'

Nicolle Earley murdered 63-year-old Ann Gray at her home in Crosshill, near Lochgelly in Fife, after flying into a rage.

The victim's family yesterday branded the sentence "a joke" and said Earley should have been given a minimum term of up to 30 years behind bars.

She was just 16 when she killed the pensioner, a family friend, on 14 November, 2008. Earley, who also lived in the village, is one of the youngest women to be convicted of murder in Scotland.

The teenager, now 18, wept in the dock at the High Court in Edinburgh yesterday as she was told she would be detained for life.

The judge ordered Earley, who was said to have had a "troubled" background, to spend a minimum of 14 years behind bars.

Lady Dorrian told her: "The injuries you inflicted were the result of repeated kicking and stamping on the face and body, with a series of blows targeted to the face and neck. Mrs Gray had defensive injuries to her hands, indicating she tried to protect herself from your attack."

The judge added that according to a teacher, violence was "a part of your make-up".

Outside court, Mrs Gray's daughters said they hoped Earley would never be freed. Anne-Marie McLeod, 44, said she was "very angry" following yesterday's hearing. "Fourteen years, it's nothing. It's shocking, it really is," she said.

She said she would have liked to have seen a minimum sentence of 20 to 30 years, but added: "Obviously that wasn't going to happen. I hope she never gets out. She doesn't deserve it. There's no justice today, that's all I can say."

Andrena Gray, 37, added: "It's a joke. My mum's life was worth more than that. The justice system's a joke."

The court previously heard that Earley stayed with her grandmother, who lived on the same street as Mrs Gray.

The two women had known each other for 38 years and Earley was a regular visitor to Mrs Gray's house, where she lived alone.

The victim, a grandmother of 12, was known in Crosshill as a sociable person and, following the death of her husband, regularly allowed young people to come into her house on Inchgall Avenue for a drink.

The day before the murder, Mrs Gray had apparently borrowed a cigarette from Earley on the understanding that Earley would give her two in return.

The teenager went to collect them the following evening, along with 5 she said she was owed for doing Mrs Gray's shopping.

An argument followed in which Earley knocked the pensioner to the ground.

She then launched a frenzied attack, repeatedly kicking her victim on the head and body and stamping on her. Mrs Gray died of head injuries.

The teenager fled the scene and told her grandmother that she had found Mrs Gray lying in the living room covered in blood.

Detective Superintendent Garry McEwan, head of crime management with Fife Constabulary, said: "There are no circumstances where this level of violence can ever be justified."