‘Life should mean life’: Family of murdered Chesterfield pensioner speak out after killer jailed for minimum of 27 years

Graham Snell, 71, was murdered by Daniel Walsh at his home on Marsden Street on June 20, 2019.

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The 30-year-old then chopped up Mr Snell and deposited his body parts across Chesterfield – including in a badger sett.

On Monday, Walsh – who was found guilty of murder at Derby Crown Court following a three-week trial – was sentenced to a minimum of 27 years in prison before he can be considered for parole.

Annamarie Ashton, Mr Snell’s niece, and her husband Steven, said of the sentence: “We’re pleased he won’t be walking the streets for at least 27 years – but we would have liked him to receive more time behind bars.

“Life should mean life.

“Daniel Walsh is, quite simply, an animal.”

They added: “Graham should not be forgotten in all this.

“He was a nice, quiet man who kept himself to himself – and he definitely did not deserve what happened to him.”

Walsh spent the days after Mr Snell’s death travelling to Sheffield to gamble at a casino – as well as visiting local massage parlours and buying drink and drugs – all of which was paid for out of Mr Snell’s savings.

Sentencing him, Judge Nirmal Shant QC said Walsh had moved in with Mr Snell in 2019 with the express intention of getting his hands on the pensioner’s money.

The judge said: “There is a real possibility on the evidence that you killed him because he wanted you out of the house and despite what you said in the trial it is plain that you had nowhere else to go to live.

“Not only was it gruesome but also systematic and done over a number of days rather than in panic immediately after you had killed him.

“Having dismembered him, you literally fed him to the badgers.”

After Walsh was convicted in December, Derbyshire Constabulary Detective Chief Inspector Sally Blaiklock, who led the investigation into Mr Snell’s murder, said: “After several years in policing, and seeing some of the worst crimes imaginable, I have often thought there is little that could surprise me – but then we came across Daniel Walsh.”

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