Leslie Grantham

Leslie Michael Grantham (30 April 1947 – 15 June 2018) was an English actor who played "Dirty" Den Watts in the BBC soap opera EastEnders. He was a convicted murderer, having served 10 years for the killing of a West German taxi driver, and had significant press coverage resulting from an online sex scandal in 2004.

Early life

Leslie Michael Grantham was born on 30 April 1947 in Camberwell, London, the son of Adelaide (née Flinders) and Walter William Grantham (1915–1998). He enlisted in the Royal Fusiliers regiment of the British Army in 1965, aged 18.

Murder conviction

Grantham was soon posted to West Germany, where he quickly got into debt to army colleagues. He resorted to criminal activities in his attempt to clear the debt.

On 3 December 1966, Grantham attempted to rob a taxi driver, Felix Reese, in Osnabrück, Lower Saxony, by threatening him at gunpoint and demanding money. In a struggle between the two men, Grantham shot Reese, who died from a gunshot wound to the head. Grantham was arrested soon afterwards and charged with murder.

In his statement to the police following his arrest, Grantham said that he did not know the gun was loaded and it had gone off during the struggle, which would have resulted in a conviction for manslaughter had a jury believed this version of events. However, at his trial in April 1967, he was convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. Although he had committed the murder in West Germany, he served the entirety of his sentence in British prisons. This was because soldiers and officers convicted of any criminal offence that warrants a sentence of over two years were automatically transferred to Her Majesty's Prison Service, since they are also automatically dishonourably discharged.