A cowboy builder found guilty of murdering a customer with a hammer was captured on CCTV with blood on his trousers.
Peter Norgrove, 43, killed customer Sharon Gordon, 58, at her home in Bromford Road, Holly Hall, Dudley, following a row in July 2023, in a brutal hammer attack that saw the bricklayer hit his victim over the head eight times.
Norgrove, who was building an extension for Ms Gordon at the time, was captured on CCTV both as he entered and exited the property to carry out work that day.
He was seen arriving at the property carrying what appears to be a lunchbox before staying for some time and leaving at 2pm.
As he left Ms Gordon’s home in the afternoon, the camera caught a clear view of blood spatters on his work trousers.
Doorbell and home security footage released by West Midlands Police showed the builder arriving and placing a bucket containing a hammer on Ms Gordon’s patio before working on the property’s internal door.
Wolverhampton Crown Court heard two of the grandmother’s friends later arrived for lunch, and they talked critically about the building works – as Norgrove had allegedly taken 15 months to finish a £29,000 project he agreed would take two months.
CCTV picked the builder up again 30 minutes after the two left, showing the moment just after 2pm when he donned a pair of red gloves and entered the back door, seconds after which the cameras picked up banging and screaming.
Roughly 20 minutes later, the cameras capture Norgrove emerging with a large blood stain visible on his right calf.
The builder can be seen casually packing up his car to leave for the day and eerily whistling.
The court heard that Norgrove drove home after the killing and travelled to collect his daughter from school before driving to his mother-in-law’s home, where he dumped the hammer in her shed.
The bloodied gloves and clothes were deposited in a bin beside the outbuilding, according to Prosecutor Earl Pinnock, who said the items were recovered after his mother-in-law reconsidered his brief visit after learning of Ms Gordon’s death.
Ms Gordon’s best friend discovered her dead body the next day, and Norgrove has since admitted to the killing.
Judge Michael Chambers KC ordered the killer to serve a minimum term of 15 years behind bars.
The judge said the “brutal and savage” killing was aggravated by a false statement Norgrove provided police saying Ms Gordon was alive and well when he left the property.
Judge Chambers told Norgrove: “You used a hammer to repeatedly strike her to the head.
“You were angry because she had continued to criticise you for your chronic delays and workmanship.”
