Lancashire student ‘confessed to killing 94-year-old woman during game of truth or dare’, court hears

A student admitted to killing his step-grandmother after confessing his ‘darkest secret’ during a game of truth or dare, a court has heard this week.

Twenty-year-old Tiernan Darnton allegedly made the chilling confession weeks after the funeral of ninety-four-year-old Mary Gregory, who died in a house fire at her bungalow in Heysham, Lancashire, back in May 2018.

Gregory was treated for smoke inhalation at Royal Lancaster Infirmary after firefighters found her in her conservatory, but she sadly died three days later.

Lancashire Police

An initial investigation concluded Gregory had died in a tragic accident, having been a heavy smoker who also suffered from dementia.

However, Preston Crown Court has heard this week how doubts were raised a year after her death when Darnton admitted he was involved in his step-grandmother’s death during a 2019 counselling session.

According to The Independent, David McLachlan QC, prosecuting, told the jury that Darnton had spoken about a friend in the counselling session who ‘could send me to prison [because] of what he knows’.

He added that the counsellor then ended the session, responding, ‘I’m not really clear what you’re saying, but I think you’re trying to tell me you’ve killed someone’, to which he nodded his head.

Rathfelder / Wikimedia Commons

The court also heard that in a session a week later, Darnton’s stepfather Chris Gregory – who is Mary Gregory’s son – joined and asked if his son’s mention of crime was ‘all about my mum’. There, Darnton allegedly admitted his crime, saying: “I set fire to the curtains with a lighter.”

Officers then spoke to Darnton’s friends who revealed he had given details of the murder in the weeks after the funeral during a game of truth or dare. When asked to disclose his ‘darkest secret’, he allegedly told the group: “I have a secret I haven’t told anyone. I may have killed someone.”

The court heard how he went on to admit he had killed his grandmother, detailing how he had done it and saying that he had not wanted her to suffer with dementia any longer.

Lancashire Live reported that Darnton gave this account to friends as he ‘thought it would make them like me and increase my standing’ and was seeking attention.

Ian Taylor / Wikimedia Commons

Darnton was arrested in May 2019 at a residence in Combermere Road, where officers seized his phone and computer, both of which had internet searches from June 2018 for ‘murderer filled with despair’, ‘I’m a murderer’, ‘feeling guilty for putting a loved one out of their misery’, and ‘I’m a monster and I’m going to hell’.

A fire examination expert went on to tell the jury that the fire had been started by a naked flame being ignited close to the front bedroom window, not by a discarded cigarette. The prosecution also made the case that Mary’s death was ‘far from being a tragic accident’.

Darnton denies murder.

The trial continues.