A BURGLAR who battered a Burnley grandfather to death after he surprised him during a break-in at a Rossendale mill has been told he must serve 16 years behind bars.

Today the family of murdered security guard Bryan ‘Joe’ Platt are content that Gavin Cox will remain in prison until he is 41, following a ruling by a High Court judge.

But his wife of 53 years Audrey, and son Tony, are still angry that one day Cox will be a free man with his life ahead of him, an opportunity denied to former publican Joe.

Tony, 52, from the Barden Mill area of Burnley, said: “He deserves everything he gets - he is going to serve 16 years but he got away lightly.

“He is going to come out and have the best part of his life to live.”

Seventy-four-year-old Joe, of Sycamore Close, Gannow, was working as a security guard at Calder Marketing, in Nunnhills Mill, Blackwood Road, Stacksteads, when he disturbed Cox during a burglary in February 2001.

Cox battered Joe with an iron bar and left him with 36 separate injuries to his head and neck, a murder trial at Preston Crown Court was told.

Cox then stole his credit cards, as he lay dying, and his car, and went on a spending spree.

Cox, of Park Road, Waterfoot, initially denied killing Joe, then confessed and eventually tried to pin the blame on one of his co-accused, Paul Greatholder, of the killing.

Greatholder, then 45, of Rawtenstall, pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice and Cox’s then-girlfriend Sarah Bugat, then 35, of Church Street, Stacksteads, was cleared of handling stolen goods said to have belonged to Joe.

The High Court ruling, made by Mr Justice Field, means that Cox will be able to apply for parole in 2017.

But he will only be freed once he has convinced the Parole Board that he is no longer a danger to the public.

Even then, Cox will remain on perpetual “life licence", and be subject to prison recall, if he steps out of line again.

Joe’s son Tony believes that Cox has shown little guilt over his crime, while in prison, and supports his continued detention.

“He has not been behaving himself while he has been in prison, I believe, and has not shown any remorse and not admitted his guilt,” said Tony.

“So when the 16 years is up he should stay there until he is admits it.”

The family is convinced that the strain of Cox’s trial had a tragic effect on Joe’s younger brother Roy, who collapsed of a heart attack midway through the court proceedings in 2001.

Roy survived to be told the verdict but never recovered from his cardiac problems and died aged 60.

Tony said: “He could not get over the fact that my dad suffered so much.

"His heart packed in and even though it was something he was probably born with, we think that something like this could have triggered it.”

Former licensee Joe was a well-known figure, having been the landlord of the New Black Bull in Padiham in the mid-70s and later a steward of a number of Burnley area pubs and clubs.

He had been working at the mill for more than a decade and was still considered to be a very fit and active man for his age.

His widow Audrey is sure that Cox must have caught Joe by surprise, on the fateful night, as the ex-marine was still capable of looking after himself.

The 74-year-old said: “I cannot understand how Cox managed to kill my husband without him retaliating.”

Tony added: “I thought exactly the same thing - he must have surprised him because my dad would have only have had to swat him once. He was a tough man.

“Cox didn’t show any mercy - he just let my father die.

"In his first statement to police, he said something to the effect that he kicked him to stop him getting up. But he kept getting up so he hit him again.”

The family will be conveying the news of Cox’s court hearing to Tony’s older sister Lesley, who has lived in Brisbane, Australia, for the past 30 years.

More than 100 police officers investigated Joe’s murder, back in 2001, and senior investigating officer Det Insp Tony Ronnan described it as “one of the worst examples of violence that I have come across” following the case’s conclusion.

It later emerged that Cox had a previous criminal record littered with burglary offences, and one conviction for assault.

The case caused concern in the quiet village of Stacksteads, as detectives combed Blackwood Road for clues for days after the brutal killing.