By Richard Suchet, Sky Reporter at Guildford Crown Court
An elderly puppy farm owner who murdered his partner and her daughter has been sentenced to life in prison - with a minimum term of 25 years.
John Lowe, 82, from Farnham, used a shotgun to kill 66-year-old Christine Lee and her daughter Lucy, 40, on 23 February this year.
Lowe denied murder and claimed the deaths were a "terrible mistake".
But the jury of six men and six women convicted him of their deaths after hearing that, following his arrest, he told the police he had "put down" the women because they had been "giving me s*** for weeks".
Prior to sentencing, Ian Lawrie QC, mitigating, conceded that "the reality is, whatever term is given, he is going to die in prison".
Meanwhile, the prosecution argued that Lowe, who turns 83 next week, should not receive a lenient sentence – as the minimal jail term for a double murder with a firearm is 30 years in prison.
"A defendant can't expect a dramatically reduced sentence simply because of the limited years they have to live," Mark Dennis QC said.
As Lowe entered the dock for the sentencing hearing, he was seen winking and grinning at the public gallery, where grieving relatives of the two women were sitting.
Guildford Crown Court was also played a recording of the "desperate" 999 call made by Lucy Lee to report that Lowe had killed her mother on his Surrey farm.
She told the operator: "I don't know whether I'm going to be alive if I go back in there."
The younger woman was then shot twice, with Lowe reloading the .410 calibre double-barrelled weapon between shots.
Sentencing Lowe, Justice Singh said: "In an act of extraordinary courage, she went back to see if there was anything she could do to help her mother."
The prosecution said police were met with a "scene of carnage" at the farm.
Christine Lee had been shot in the chest from close range, and her daughter received a fatal shot to the back of the head.
Lowe was licensed to own the weapon, which he normally used to kill rats.
But Surrey Police took the gun - and other shotguns - away from him in March 2013 after Christine Lee's other daughter, Stacy Banner, was threatened by Lowe.
The weapons were returned to him - a decision condemned by Ms Banner after the verdict.
In a victim impact statement read to the court, she wrote: "Every time I close my eyes, I see [my mother and sister]. I have nightmares. I'm haunted by what John did to them."
Surrey Police has since apologised, and three employees are now being investigated for gross misconduct.
It is also reviewing all cases where guns have been removed and later returned to people within the last three years.
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