The widow of Sheffield church organist Alan Greaves, who was battered to death with a pick-axe handle on his way to a midnight worship service on Christmas Eve, says she has forgiven those involved in the murder.
Speaking on Friday outside the court Maureen Greaves said of her husband of 40 years: “Alan was a man driven by love and compassion and he would not want any of us to hold on to feelings of hate and unforgiveness.”
Two men were sentenced to a total of 34 years for killing Greaves, 68, when he made his way to St Saviour’s Church, in High Green, Sheffield, on 24th December.
“My prayer is that Jonathan Bowling and Ashley Foster will come to understand and experience the love and kindness of the God who made him in his own image and that God’s great mercy will inspire them to true repentance,” Maureen Greaves, 63, said in moving remarks to reporters.
“So, in honor of Alan and in honor of the God we both love, my prayer is that this story doesn’t end today,” the widow added.
The police officer who led the investigation, Detective Superintendent Matt Fenwick, spoke of his admiration for her saying she was “remarkable.”
“Alan Greaves suffered an appalling, extremely violent and totally unprovoked attack as he walked to church,” he said outside court. “In a matter of minutes, Jonathan Bowling and Ashley Foster had left an innocent man for dead.”
He said Maureen and her family had displayed great strength and dignity in “ghastly circumstances.”
