Man guilty of murdering pregnant wife who disappeared 20 years ago

She was expecting their fourth child when she vanished.

A man has been convicted of murdering his pregnant wife who vanished 20 years ago.

Mum-of-three Debbie Griggs has not been seen since May 5, 1999, when she went missing from the family home in Deal, Kent.

Keen sailor Andrew Griggs, 57, was found guilty following a trial at Canterbury Crown Court and the judge told him he could expect to be jailed for life when he was sentenced on Wednesday.

Prosecutor Duncan Atkinson QC said Mrs Griggs’ body was disposed of and her car was found dumped streets away from her home.

He told the trial: ‘The prosecution case is that Debbie Griggs did not just up and leave her husband and children in the middle of the night, never to be seen or heard of again.

‘She was a devoted mother who would not have just abandoned her children.’

The court heard Mrs Griggs, who was expecting her fourth child, had disappeared following suspicions her husband was having a relationship with a 15-year-old girl.

Griggs, from Dorset, denied the affair and also denied murder and claimed to be asleep when his wife left home for the last time.

Mrs Griggs had also complained her husband had threatened to ‘get me sorted’, the trial heard.

She wrote in an affidavit in 1999: ‘Everything we have together is in fact his, and I am only allowed to enjoy anything that is a joint matrimonial asset by reason of being with him.

‘He does not let me go out by myself. His needs come first.

‘He tells me I am sick and mad in the head.’

Mrs Griggs claimed her husband had been ‘bombastic and bullying’ during their marriage

She added: ‘During the course of our marriage my husband was bombastic and bullying.’

Following the verdict Ms Griggs’ family said they felt a sense of justice after ‘20 years of anguish, torment and heartache’.

Her brother Derek Cameron read a statement outside court on behalf of her family following the verdict and said Griggs had spun lies.

He said: ‘20 years. This is how long it has taken for this to come to justice.

‘20 years of anguish, torment and heartache. 20 years of hurt, pain, despair and emotional turmoil.

‘20 years without a daughter, sister and grandchildren and nephews. 20 years of lost communication and three young boys without their mother.

‘Finally, 20 years have come to a conclusion, we can put this to bed.’