Man who 'celebrated' murdering convicted child sex offender jailed for life

A man who 'celebrated' murdering a convicted child sex offender has been sentenced to life in prison. Anthony Gardiner, 66, went to the home of John Coxon, 76, and violently attacked him on January 12, 2022.

Coxon - who was a registered child sex offender - sustained a head injury and died in hospital on March 25. Judge Martin Picton jailed Gardiner for life and ordered him to spend a minimum term of 20 years in prison.

He told the killer: "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."

Judge Picton described it as a "brutal attack" and said Gardiner knew how frail Coxon was, and that he must have appreciated the risk an attack such as this carried.

He added: "You have not shown a shred of remorse for what you have done, rather the exact opposite. You appear to celebrate the fact that you have killed another human being."

Bristol Crown Court heard on Friday (December 17 that) Gardiner from Stroud, Gloucestershire, pleaded guilty to the murder in December 2024.

He had attacked Coxon in his home on Park Road in January 2022 which resulted in him being hospitalised with a head injury.

Gardiner was arrested, and after Coxon died in hospital on March 25, 2022, he was rearrested on suspicion of his murder and charged after medical reports confirmed the cause of death.

The court heard Coxon, who had Alzheimer’s disease and diabetes, was a registered sex offender - and this was known in the local community and by his killer.

In 2017 he breached his parole by speaking to a girl when he passed her home - and Gardiner knew this as she was a relative of his.

The court was told there was no evidence of the conversation being of a sexual nature, and