Pair jailed for pensioner murder

Benjamin Jones' killers will serve at least 30 years

Two drug addicts who clubbed and stabbed a disabled Black Country pensioner to death before setting his body on fire have been jailed for life.

Graham Ellis, 25, and John McAfee, 23, should serve at least 20 years before they can be considered for parole, Mrs Justice Dobbs has ruled.

The pair had denied burgling the home of Ben Jones, 76, and attacking him.

At Wolverhampton Crown Court, Mrs Dobbs accepted it was a burglary that went wrong, and not a pre-meditated murder.

She said: "Having said that, the victim - an elderly man - was subjected to a horrific and frenzied attack..."

Hidden cash

Father-of-two Ellis, of Hickman Road, Tipton, and McAfee, of Fereday Street, had denied murder.

The court heard they had broken into his Fereday Street flat in April 2004 in an attempt to feed their crack cocaine and heroin addiction.

They got away with two television sets, but missed £20,000 cash Mr Jones had concealed inside an organ.

McAfee was also sentenced to 12 months in jail, to run concurrently, for the burglary of a second house, days after the murder.

Mrs Dobbs told him: "The fact you went out and committed this crime afterwards shows a high degree of callousness."