Mother of Stanley, six, ‘really angry’ at killer’s failure to apologise

Stanley Metcalf’s great-grandfather will be feeling “unfairly treated” despite killing his six-year-old great-grandson through “recklessness” and “stupidity”, the boy’s mother told a judge.

Jenny Dees read an emotional statement to Sheffield Crown Court before her grandfather, Albert Grannon was sentenced.

Ms Dees said that Grannon had been the head of the family, “an intelligent man that I trusted” and said that she “was brought up to respect him, no one would ever challenge him”.

But she told the packed courtroom: “I am angry, really angry as now I know he will be thinking this was an accident and what is all the fuss about and why on earth has he been brought to court.

“He will be feeling unfairly treated.”

She said: “Grandad surely has some inkling of some of the pain we are going through as he has lost a son himself but never once has he said sorry to us.”

Ms Dees said: “I do not think him saying sorry would have made any difference, when it was through his recklessness, stupidity and lack of forethought that caused Stanley to be taken away.

“But never to show any remorse or say sorry to us is quite unbelievable.”

She said: “Never once did he say sorry and now if he did it would be meaningless and too little too late.

“I hope he can live with himself and the pain he has caused us because living without Stanley and the massive hole it has left with all the unbearable pain, our life will never ever be the same again and has changed forever.”

Ms Dees and Stanley’s father, Andrew Metcalf, both cried as they read out their statements.

Placing a picture of her six-year-old son in front her in the witness box, Ms Dees described how Stanley and his twin sister Elsie were “inseparable”.

She said: “He always seemed to be so happy and, if you ever felt a bit down, Stan would come in the room and lift your spirits.

“He was so beautiful and lovely. You couldn’t help but love him.”

Ms Dees said: “I cannot describe the pain of living every day without Stanley.

“The disbelief that he is not with us any more is unbearable.

“We struggle to live, talk, eat and even breathe.

“It is so very hard to understand we are never going to see him again.

“Nothing will ever make this better and my heart is totally broken.”

Mr Metcalf described how his son lived for football – playing the game every minute he could and supporting Hull City.

He said The Tigers were following his son’s progress, even at that early age.

Mr Metcalf said: “To the world Stanley played football but to me, that footballer was my world.”

Speaking later outside court, Ms Dees said that she now accepted her grandfather was remorseful but said he still had not expressed his sorrow to her.

Ms Dees also said she wanted to see changes to firearms licensing, saying there needed to be more education about the fact that some air weapons need a certificate.