A man who murdered his wife more than 25 years ago has admitted asking their son to dig up her remains and post a sample of her hair from abroad in an attempt to convince police she was still alive.

Andrew Griggs was jailed for life in 2019 for killing pregnant mum-of-three Debbie Griggs - 20 years after he had reported her missing from their home in Deal and despite her body not being found.

Her remains were eventually uncovered in October 2022, buried in the back garden of a house in Dorset that Griggs had moved to two years after her disappearance.

Prior to the discovery, and after his murder conviction, Griggs tried to involve one of the couple’s three sons in an elaborate ploy to falsely prove she was still alive.

Between November 2019 and October 2022, he asked Jake Griggs to dig up his own mother’s remains and remove part of her hair, before travelling to another country and sending the sample and a letter professing to be from Debbie back to the UK.

Debbie’s body was found on October 5, 2022, by police acting on “fresh information”.

Appearing today at Canterbury Crown Court via videolink from HMP Isle of Wight, Griggs entered a guilty plea to perverting the course of public justice. He is expected to be sentenced later this year.

He is also accused of obstructing a coroner in the execution of their duty by burying his wife’s body in an unknown place, preventing an inquest into her death from being held.

No plea was entered for the charge during today’s hearing.

It is the latest development in a tragic tale now in its 27th year.

It began when 34-year-old Debbie was reported missing by her husband from the family home in Cross Road, Deal, in May 1999.

Days later her car – a white Peugeot 309 – was found abandoned little more than a mile away.

Her blood was recovered from the vehicle, but no further trace of her was found. Her bank accounts sat dormant and she did not interact with the health service or social security.

It left detectives in the initial investigation struggling to determine if nurse Debbie could still be alive.

It was not until 2019 that Griggs – who had remarried and moved to Dorset – was charged and put on trial accused of murdering his wife and disposing of her body.

The decision to finally bring charges was the result of evolving case law in cases where the body of the deceased had not been found, and the ‘proof of life’ investigations which cold case detectives used to show that there was overwhelming evidence that Debbie was not alive.

At the trial, prosecutor Duncan Atkinson KC argued that the concealing of the whereabouts of Debbie’s body was “the most aggravating factor” of the case.

A jury at Canterbury Crown Court found Griggs guilty in October 2019, with a judge accusing the sailor of dumping Debbie’s body at sea.

Even after he was jailed, the couple’s three sons - aged six, four and 18 months when Debbie disappeared - continued to believe he was innocent and clung to hope their mum was still alive.

Griggs attempted to overturn his conviction, but his appeal was rejected in July of 2022.

Just three months later, Debbie’s remains were found buried in the garden of the Dorset home he had moved to with their three boys.

At an inquest in March 2023, her family were told her cause of death would likely never be revealed.

The short hearing heard results from a post-mortem examination classed her death as unascertained, due to decomposition.