True Crime Blog UK

BRIAN LEWIS

2011-12-22T08:14:00.000-08:00

Brian Lewis was convicted on the 10th September 2009 of murdering his partner less than a fortnight after she changed her status to single on Facebook.

Lewis first stabbed and then strangled Hayley Jones to death at the home they shared with their four children.

The 31-year-old from Pritchard Terrace, Phillipstown, New Tredegar, South Wales, then fled the scene during the early hours of March 12, 2009 and drove to a police station, leaving his children to find their mother's body in the living room.

Cardiff Crown Court heard the couple's relationship had been under strain due to financial pressures after the defendant was made redundant. They also bickered over the amount of time Ms Jones had taken to spending on the Facebook website.

Lewis had claimed he had been trimming his finger nails with a kitchen knife when he tried to "touch" his 26-year-old partner's sleeping bag with the tip of the blade out of frustration following a row.

The knife pierced two sleeping bags and went through three layers of clothing Ms Jones had been wearing while trying to sleep on a settee before her ribcage prevented it from penetrating any further.

He said he later found himself with his hands around Ms Jones's throat and only came to and released his grip when he heard one of his sons calling out from upstairs.

After just three hours of deliberation, the jury of eight women and four men rejected this explanation and returned a unanimous guilty verdict.

Lewis showed no emotion as the verdict was read out although there were shouts of "Yes!" and "Get in there!" from the public gallery.

After calling for quiet, Judge Roderick Evans sentenced Lewis to life imprisonment and ordered that he serve a minimum tariff of 14 years, less the time spent in custody on remand.

During the trial the jury heard the couple had been together for 13 years and regarded themselves as husband and wife.

However, due to financial pressures after the defendant lost his job working on the railways in 2007, cracks had begun to appear in the relationship.

On March 2, Ms Jones went as far as changing her relationship status to single following a row over the disciplining of one of their sons.

The court has previously heard a post-mortem examination found Ms Jones died of strangulation. Most significant, said prosecutor Mark Evans QC during his opening, was a stabbing injury she received to her chest before she died.

The prosecutor said although this proved to be non-fatal, by penetrating two sleeping bags and three layers of clothing she was wearing while trying to sleep on the living room settee, it illustrated she had not been on her feet fighting the defendant at that time.

After taking to the witness box to give evidence, Lewis told the jury he did have an issue with the amount of time Ms Jones was spending on a laptop computer he bought for her in February of this year.

He said she would sometimes come home at 8am after working a 12 hour shift at a care home and stay up for "three to four hours" browsing the site before going to bed. He said her free evenings were also spent on the computer.

"I would be trying to send the kids to bed and she would be on it," he said. "You would try to talk to her and she would just ignore you. There were arguments."

He added: "I didn't have an issue with her using it (the laptop), it was just when normal life was disrupted."

He said Ms Jones was quite open about her activity on the computer at first but gradually became more secretive and would close the lid on the laptop whenever he came near.

When his barrister, Peter Murphy QC, asked how relations were between him and his partner by the end of February, Lewis replied: "They were all right but there were petty arguments about the computer usage.

"We were together and doing things but you could see the usage and problems in the house were just building up slowly."

Mr Evans said the couple's four children, Jordan, Cory, Kian and Tia, are now in the care of their grandmother, Sally Williams.

He said their former family home is also likely to be repossessed imminently after being preserved as a crime scene by Gwent Police until recently.

In mitigation, Mr Murphy said: "Whatever he may have done, he too has lost everything. I don't say that as an excuse or that it can ever be compared with the loss the family of Ms Jones have experienced, but it is true."

He added: "His children are effectively lost to him. I know through my dealings with him that this almost has been a bigger burden to him as the loss he has caused them."

Mr Justice Evans said the defendant launched a "murderous attack" on his partner on the night in question.

He said two aggravating features in the incident were the use of a knife and the attack taking place within earshot of his children.

"Quite how much they (the children) saw or heard is difficult to tell but I have no doubt that part of this incident occurred when they were observing it or hearing it," said the judge.

"There are mitigating factors. I bear in mind you are of good character. I accept it was not pre-planned but I'm satisfied there was no provocation.

"This arose because you were frustrated, angry and upset but not because of what she said or did to you."

After the case the victim's mother, Sally Williams, released a statement which said: "The murder conviction and sentence of Brian Lewis today can never replace the loss of my beautiful daughter Hayley Jones.

"She was a devoted mother to her four children, Jordan, Cory, Kian and Tia. She recently started work to try and improve the life of her and her family."

She said that as her daughter lay asleep, she was "cowardly attacked by the accused and left for dead" who then left their children to "see all the destruction he had left behind".

She added: "Her days of seeing her children growing up and possibly becoming a grandmother were cruelly taken from her on March 12.

"Although Hayley you are no longer with us in this life, you are always in our thoughts and you will always live on through your children. God bless."

Outside court, Detective Chief Inspector Russ Tiley of Gwent Police said: "We are satisfied with the decision of the court. It was a tragic event that had taken place and our thoughts are with the family and friends of Hayley.

"The children and family were brave throughout this process and hopefully the verdict that has been reached will now give them some closure."

He added: "I would also like to thank the officers of the major investigation team for the thoroughness of the inquiry they have taken."

EMLYN EVANS-LOUDE

2011-12-11T15:30:00.000-08:00

A MAN who murdered a fellow student by beating him with a dumbbell was sentenced to life in prison on the 2nd December 2011.

Emlyn Evans-Loude, 27, from Leytonstone, must serve a minimum of 17 years for killing Michal Mazur on January 11, 2011.

Evans-Loude attacked Mr Mazur with the dumbbell and a chair at his flat in Wallwood Road, Leytonstone, following a night out.

The Metropolitan University student then bagged the body and hid it in his airing cupboard before begging an acquaintance to help dump it in Epping Forest.

Police found the corpse of Mr Maxzur at the flat after he was reported missing in January.

Officers later arrested Loude in Devon, where he grew up.

Barry Graves, Crown Prosecution Service lawyer, said: “This was a particularly callous murder and there was little evidence that he acted in self-defence, as he claimed.

“Our thoughts are with Michal’s family at this difficult time and we hope this successful prosecution comes as some comfort to them.”

PETER HOOD AND JOANNE GRIFFITHS

2011-12-11T15:10:00.000-08:00

A Coventry woman and her partner have been given life sentences on the 5th December 2011 for murdering the father of her daughter over fears of losing custody rights.

Jason Bissell, 39, from Coventry, was struck over the head with a hammer, suffocated and left in a fishing lake.

Joanne Dawn Griffiths, 41, of Bridgeacre Gardens, was told she would serve at least 28 years by the judge at Birmingham Crown Court.

Peter Andrew Hood, 44, of Vernon's Lane in Nuneaton, was told he would serve at least 24 years. Warwickshire Police said his minimum tariff was lower than Griffiths's because he changed his plea to guilty on the first day of his trial on 6 October and gave evidence for the prosecution in her trial.

Mr Bissell's body was discovered at Lanny's Lagoon Fishery at Stretton-under-Fosse in October 2010. He had fathered a daughter with Griffiths, who was found guilty of his murder.

'Horrific evidence'

Det Ch Insp Pete Hill said he welcomed the sentences handed out considering the "premeditated" nature of the crime.

Speaking outside the court he said: "The pathologist said that Jason had been struck nine or 10 times with a hammer.

"If that wasn't bad enough he was then bound with gaffer tape around his nose and mouth.

"He was dragged to the pond and weighted down with a rock and then they cleaned up after themselves.

"I'm pleased with the result for the family because the family has shown dignity throughout the trial.

"They've had to listen to some pretty horrific things as to how Jason died.

"I just hope it may be possible for them to start rebuilding their lives."

In a previous statement, Mr Bissell's family said: "Jason was a bright and loving dad, son brother and friend.

"His life was taken in an unbelievable way for trying to do what he knew was right."

DARREN WILLIAM NEWTON

2011-12-11T14:47:00.000-08:00

A FACTORY worker who tormented, abused and finally murdered a helpless baby will serve at least 24 years behind bars.

On the 2nd December 2010, Darren Newton was to sentenced life imprisonment, Mr Justice Stephen Irwin said the months of cruelty inflicted on 15-month-old Charlie Hunt were ‘inexplicable’.

Newton filmed himself on his mobile phone repeatedly slapping, prodding and kicking the child while babysitting.

Eventually the blond youngster’s tiny body gave out and he collapsed and died as a result of serious brain injuries.

Following his death a serious case review was launched jointly by Lancashire and Bradford Safeguarding Children Board.

Charlie had spent the first six months of his life being monitored by social services but was not classed as ‘at risk’ at the time of his death.

Mr Justice Irwin told Newton: “Anyone who watches the video clips of some of what you did, and I am convinced you recorded only some of what you did, will genuinely struggle to understand why you came to do this.

“Eventually you killed him. It was a futile and wasteful death of an innocent toddler.

“Part of the wickedness of what you did was a complete contrast between the sympathetic and affectionate picture you presented to the outside world, to your own family and to Charlie’s mother, and the truth of how you behaved to him when you had him on your own.

“You deceived her and everyone. She will regret being deceived for the rest of her life.”

Charlie was being looked after by Newton, his mother Laura Chapman’s boyfriend, when he suddenly collapsed.

Paramedics rushed the baby to Airedale Hospital after resuscitation attempts by Newton’s parents, Ernest and Joan, who lived next door, failed. He was pronounced dead shortly afterwards.

Home Office pathologist Dr Philip Lumb ruled that Charlie had suffered brain injuries which had been caused by ‘considerable force’.

Newton denied hitting Charlie on the day of his death, insisting he had appeared happy and content before he fell ill.

But checks of his mobile phone revealed a series of horrific video clips of the 15-month-old being tormented and abused, between June and November that year.

Under titles like ‘happy slap’, ‘2 minutes of pain’, and ‘no toys in pen ah’, Newton could be seen cuffing, prodding and even kicking Charlie, from behind the camera.

Charlie’s mother, who had moved to Earby from Bradford, was never present while the abuse took place.

Charlie's heartbroken mum has said she hopes Darren Newton “rots in hell”.

Laura Chapman, 30, speaking alongside Charlie’s dad Richard Hunt, 44, said her 15-month-old son had been her “everything”.

The couple, who split up when Charlie was four months old, said they had been devastated to find out that Newton had abused their son over a number of months.

Laura said: "I didn't have any suspicions about what he was doing, I was in complete shock when I found out.

“I was hysterical when I had to watch the videos - I was disgusted.

“It was extremely difficult to watch them, to see someone you love that much get hurt by someone that you trusted.

"I entrusted him with the care of the one main thing in my life and for him to do that is a betrayal of my son, myself and everything I know.

"A lot of people were asking did I know, or surely I must have known, but no I didn't.

"If I'd have known, he would never have been left with Darren - Darren wouldn't have been walking.”

Laura said that after Charlie died she and Newton were questioned by police investigating what happened to her son.

She said: "I was arrested and was horrified at first. But then I realised that the police had a job to do.”

She said that after being bailed, Darren had seemed a bit upset, “but not like other people grieve”.

"We had to go back in and I was sat in a police cell when they told me about the videos,” she said.

“I didn't believe it could be Darren at first. I actually had to watch them to believe it was him.

"I hate him, I hope he rots in hell.

Laura said she could not understand why Newton had attacked her son.

She said: "I don't know why he did it, it's been going through my head.

"He always knew that I would put Charlie first before anything else. That's the only thing that I can think of.

"In court, he said that Charlie was my entire world.

"I was quite surprised he told the truth to be honest, but he's right. He was my everything.

"Charlie was an angel. He was always very happy, he loved to play and he was a good eater and a good sleeper.

"Any mother would love to been mother of that little boy.

Laura said that before she left on the day Charlie died she had played with him and his babysitter.

Later Newton took over babysitting duties.

She said: “Darren was a bit nervous when he first started to look after him - obviously he'd had experience with his nephew and nieces, but he'd never been in a position when he had looked after a baby that young.

"When I first left Charlie with Darren it was short periods at first, to make sure that Charlie was ok with him - that he was happy with him being around.

"In court he said he resented looking after him, but I asked him every single time.

That afternoon Newton phoned Laura to say Charlie had been taken ill.

She said: "Darren said that Charlie basically had had another fit and that I needed to get to the hospital - the paramedics were downstairs with Charlie working on him.

"I was panicking just to get to the hospital.

"I went to A&E and I was taken through to a family room and Darren's mum was there crying.

"She kept saying to me I'm sorry - I tried to resuscitate him.

"Then a doctor came in, he said about resuscitation and then it is all a blur. He had died before I even got to him.”

Laura said the court case and giving evidence had been extremely difficult.

She said: "I want Darren to go down for a long time for what he has done. I want him to get locked up for life.

"There were times when I felt like I was on trial but I knew it was going to be difficult, I knew it had to be done.

"He is evil and twisted, for what he did to Charlie and for putting everyone through this.

Charlie's dad Richard Hunt said: "Newton is just an evil individual and he deserves what he gets.
"Like Laura said, I hope he gets locked away for a long time.

"I didn't know anything was going on, if I did I would have stopped it, I would have done something about it.

"When I heard about the videos I felt numb thinking what sick animal would do something like that.

"I just can't get my head around it, why somebody would do that? Why somebody like him would do this to a 15-month-old boy who can't protect himself?

"I had to walk out of court. I couldn't handle hearing my boy crying like that.

"He was crying for help and there was no-one there to help him.

Mr Hunt said he would never get over his son’s death.

He said: “He was a cheeky little monkey, always laughing with a cheeky smile. That's how I want to remember him.”

After the verdict Pendle MP Andrew Stephenson said: “I was appalled and angered when I first heard the details of toddler Charlie Hunt’s death.

"We owe it to Charlie to thoroughly investigate if his death could have been prevented and also what wider lessons we can learn from this tragic incident.”

A joint statement from Nigel Burke, independent chair of Lancashire Safeguarding Children Board, and Professor Nick Frost, independent chair of Bradford Safeguarding Children Board, said: “Shortly after this child’s tragic death, we commissioned a serious case review (SCR).

“Such reviews should be undertaken when a child dies and abuse or neglect is known or suspected to be a factor, to enable the professionals to look at their involvement and learn from the case.

"As part of the review, a detailed action plan was developed which is already being implemented by the agencies involved.

"The SCR has now been completed and assessed by Ofsted. It will be published in due course.”

The judge ordered that video clips should be preserved and considered by any parole board considering Newton’s release.

IRENU NEIL INJAI

2011-12-11T12:09:00.000-08:00

http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20110218200720/http:/www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/cms/144_11742.htm

1. On 16 September 2003, following a trial at the Central Criminal Court before HH Judge James Stewart QC, the defendant was convicted of the murder of Paula Injai. The defendant was sentenced to life imprisonment and, in a report written to the Lord Chief Justice, the trial judge recommended that the defendant should serve a minimum period of 14 years. I am now required under sections 269 and 276 and Schedule 22 Criminal Justice Act 2003 to set the period to be served by the defendant before the early release provisions in section 28(5)-(8) Crime (Sentences) Act 1997 apply to him,

2. The defendant was born on 7 June 1963. On 8 January 2003 he had been separated from his second wife, the deceased, for about 4 months. He had previously been convicted of assaulting Mrs Injai and was the subject of a non-molestation order. Usually the deceased agreed to take their son Isaac to visit his father in a public place but on this occasion she was persuaded to take Isaac to the defendant’s flat. The defendant had decided to kill his wife. He told a work colleague the day before that he would hear all about it afterwards. When Mrs Injai arrived with Isaac the defendant attacked her with a knife to her neck. There were 67 sites of injury from the knife and a blunt instrument. His defence, rejected by the jury, was provocation arising from an alleged attack by the deceased upon him.

4. I have received, read and considered a victim impact statement from the deceased’s daughter, Sarah Sargeson, who at a young age has been required to cease her paid employment and take on the mothering role both for her full brother and for her half-brother, Isaac.

5. I have received a short letter from the defendant who expresses his remorse for his crime.

6. I should set the minimum term by reference to the transitional provisions contained in schedule 22 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003, in particular paragraphs 7 and 8. I may not, under paragraph 8, specify a part of the sentence which is greater than that which would have been notified under the practice followed by the Secretary of State before December 2002. The practice of the Secretary of State in considering murders committed between 31 May 2002 and 18 December 2003 was to follow recommendations made by the Lord Chief Justice in accordance with his Practice Statement of 31 May 2002. During that period there were ‘normal’ and ‘higher’ starting points set at 12 and 15/16 years which were varied according to features in aggravation and mitigation of the offence.

7. The starting point for this offence was 12 years. The offence was aggravated by (1) the planning which preceded it and (2) the course of conduct of which the killing was the culmination.

8. I agree with the opinion of the trial judge that the appropriate minimum term, which I now set, is 14 years less 8 months 6 days spent on remand awaiting trial.

9. The defendant should understand that this is not the maximum period he will serve. This is the period he must serve before he may be considered for parole. He will not be released if and while he remains an unacceptable risk to the public.

From Get Surrey

Warehouse worker Irenu Injai, 40, bit Paula Injai’s nose and shoulder and plunged the knife into her neck with such force the blade snapped.

He then ripped the wedding rings from her fingers and left his home in Woking, with his two-year-old child Isaac.

The Old Bailey heard how Injai had phoned up her new lover before the attack on January 8 this year to ask whether he had been having sex with his wife.

He was furious that his young son would have a new father figure because his first wife had also found a new man after they separated.

He had married Paula in 1999 but he left their home in Wimbledon Road, Camberley, after their separation in August 2002.

He was forbidden by court order from going within 500 yards of Paula’s house and would meet her to pick up his son at a local petrol station.

On January 7 Injai had told a colleague at a supermarket warehouse in Bracknell he could not afford the child support payments and was leaving work.

When asked what he meant, Injai allegedly replied: “Never you mind. Listen to the news or read about it.”

The next day, Paula, 36, went to the defendant’s home at Maybury Road with Isaac to tell him she had got together with new partner Glen Campbell.

She had received a text from her friend saying: Be strong, hope it all goes OK.

At around 10am that morning, neighbours heard screaming and a baby crying and Injai left his flat with his son later that morning.

He then made phone calls to her friends pretending not to know what had happened to her and turned up at a friend’s house with cuts to his hand.

Injai also admitted he had taken the wedding rings from his wife to sell to reduce his debt.

That evening police officers found Paula’s body lying beneath a duvet on a bed at Injai’s flat.

She had been stabbed four times in the neck, severing her major arteries, and human bite marks were found on her nose and shoulder.

Jurors saw gruesome pictures of the blood spattered and pooled on the walls, windows, carpet and curtains of the bedsit.

They found Injai guilty of murder by a unanimous verdict after only two hours deliberation.

Judge James Stewart, QC, jailed Injai for life condemning the “horrendous crime”.

“This was a brutal attack. The only sentence I can pass upon you is one of life imprisonment”.

Injai, of Maybury Road, Woking, had admitted manslaughter but denied murder.

He claimed he was provoked when Paula came at him with a knife.

After sentencing, Paula’s 19-year-old daughter, who did not want to be named, said: “My mum was a beautiful, loving and caring person who had a heart of gold. It is impossible to describe the tragedy he has caused our family.

“Although we are pleased with the court verdict, it will never bring back our mum, who we dearly miss.

“We would like to thank all the witnesses who gave evidence at court and the police for their hard work in this case and their support to our family.”

Det Chief Insp John Cox, who led the investigation, said: “The effects of murder are not limited simply to the victim. What is left behind is a trail of devastation in the lives of other people.

“Our sympathies in this case go particularly to Paula’s three children who have been deprived of their mother by this horrific act.”

http://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/s/29347_life_for_wife_murderer

STEPHEN MCFAUL AND ANTHONY CLEAVER

2011-12-11T11:55:00.000-08:00

http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20110218200720/http:/www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/cms/144_5711.htm

1. On 21 June 2002 at Luton Crown Court, Stephen McFaul and Anthony Cleaver were sentenced for the murder of Colin Ward. McFaul was sentenced to imprisonment for life, and since Cleaver was not yet 21 years old, he was sentenced to custody for life. Cleaver had pleaded not guilty to the murder, but was convicted by the jury. McFaul had pleaded guilty to the murder. I presided over their trial, and I subsequently recommended that McFaul should serve at least 15 years in custody, and Cleaver at least 13 years, before they could be released on licence. The Lord Chief Justice, Lord Woolf, agreed with the recommendation for Cleaver, but he recommended that McFaul should also serve 13 years in custody before he could be released on licence. He thought that greater credit should be given to McFaull for his plea of guilty.

2. Schedule 22 to the Criminal Justice Act 2003 (“the Act”) came into force on 18 December 2003. By then, the Home Secretary had not notified McFaul or Cleaver either of the minimum period which he thought they should serve before their release on licence or that he did not intend that they should ever be released on licence. Accordingly, the Home Secretary referred their case to the High Court under para. 6 of Schedule 22 to the Act for the making of an order under sections 269(2) or 269(4) of the Act – in effect, an order that they should never be released on licence, or an order that their release on licence can be considered by the Parole Board after they have served a specified term in custody (“the minimum term”). Section 270(1) of the Act requires me to give the reasons for such order as I make in ordinary language.

The facts:-

3. Colin Ward was a 29 year old blind man who lived on his own in Luton. On Friday 26 October 2001, he went to his local public house to celebrate his birthday. He did not take his usual cab home. It was not possible to trace his movements after he left the public house, but an hour or so after leaving it he was attacked in a car park a short distance from his home. It was about 2.30 am. The men who attacked him were McFaul and Cleaver. McFaull was 22 years old, and Cleaver was almost 20.

4. At the time of the attack, McFaul and Cleaver were with two other youths (who were younger than them). It was when the four of them were together that they came across Mr Ward. The reason for the attack was that someone said that Mr Ward was a known sex offender. It is not possible to say who said that. It was untrue, but McFaul and Cleaver were not to know that. Both of them claimed that they did not know that Mr Ward was blind. That may be true, but the evidence was that he was stumbling around when they came across him. Whether that was because he was disorientated (the taxi having failed to drop him off at the usual place) or because he had had too much to drink (as might have appeared to McFaul and Cleaver), anyone coming across him would have realised how vulnerable he was.

5. The form which the attack took was that Mr Ward was pushed to the ground. While there he was kicked in the head a number of times, his head was stamped on and two bricks were thrown at his head. He was in a coma for two months before contracting the bronchopneumonia from which he died. The weight of the evidence suggested that McFaul was the more violent of the two, though it has to be said that that evidence came from one of the two youths and from what Cleaver told the police, and they would have had reason for wanting to minimise their own roles.

6. By his plea of guilty to murder, McFaul admitted his part in the attack on Mr Ward, but he claimed that the four of them had joined in the attack, and that Cleaver had been as violent as he had been. A psychiatric report on him suggested that the dysfunctional environment in which he had been brought up, the history of sexual abuse to which he claimed to have been subjected when he was young, and his claim that his mother had been raped, had made him unusually hostile towards persons whom he believed were sex offenders, and particularly susceptible to being provoked into violent behaviour towards them.

7. Cleaver’s case was that McFaul had been responsible on his own for the attack on Mr Ward. He admitted simply to having punched Mr Ward twice in the face when he thought that Mr Ward was going to attack one of the two other youths. However, when he had been interviewed, Cleaver had admitted having taken part in the attack on Mr Ward by kicking him while he was on the ground, although he also told the police that McFaul “did all the rest, he was mad, he was just mental, jumping on his head and everything”. The jury’s verdict suggests that it was sure that at the very least Cleaver kicked Mr Ward in the head while Mr Ward was on the ground.

The appropriate minimum term:

8. The minimum term which McFaul and Cleaver should serve must reflect the seriousness of their offence. That involves choosing the appropriate starting point, and then taking into account any aggravating or mitigating factors to the extent that they were not allowed for in the choice of the appropriate starting point.

9. Under the current law, the choice of the appropriate starting point is limited to a whole life order, 30 years or 15 years. All murders involve the tragic loss of life, but the murder of Colin Ward did not come within any of the examples given in schedule 21 to the Act of cases for which a whole life order or a starting point of 30 years is appropriate. That is not to say that the gratuitous violence used on a particularly defenceless man does not seriously aggravate the murder. But it does not mean that the appropriate starting point for the minimum term in McFaul’s and Cleaver’s case should not be 15 years.

10. The factors which aggravated the murder of Mr Ward were (i) his vulnerability, (ii) the lack of any real motive for the attack on him, (iii) the brutality and mindlessness of the attack (especially on the part of McFaul), and (iv) McFaul’s and Cleaver’s apparent unawareness at the time that they were doing anything wrong (even though by the time of their sentence they were said to be expressing contrition). In addition, McFaul had a previous conviction for violence, namely the unlawful wounding of his son, by shaking him severely when he would not quiet down, as a result of which the baby sustained significant brain damage, for which McFaul was sentenced to 15 months’ imprisonment, the killing of Mr Ward occurring less than two months after his release from prison.

11. However, there were a number of factors which mitigated their murder of Mr Ward. First, I do not think that they intended to kill him: they merely intended to cause him really serious bodily injury. Secondly, the attack on Mr Ward was not planned. It was McFaul’s spontaneous reaction to hearing that Mr Ward was supposed to be a sex offender which Cleaver decided to join. Thirdly, Cleaver was relatively young at the time, and although he was unable to express contrition at the trial in the light of the nature of his defence, I felt throughout that he deeply regretted what had happened to Mr Ward. Fourthly, McFaul pleaded guilty to murder (something which his counsel said was a difficult thing to do), but I am unable to tell whether that was because he was genuinely contrite or whether it represented a real assessment of the strength of the evidence against him. Balancing all these factors, the minimum term which would now be set in their cases would be in the region of 14-15 years.

12. But the minimum term which I must set may not be any longer than the minimum term which would have been set by the Home Secretary under the practice which the Home Secretary would have followed at the time. Recommendations by the trial judge and the Lord Chief Justice were then based on the guidance given by the then Lord Chief Justice, Lord Bingham, in a letter he sent to judges on 10 February 1997. But as his successor, Lord Woolf, said in Sullivan [2004] EWHC Crim 1762, the Home Secretary fixed the minimum term in accordance with the recommendation of the trial judge and the Lord Chief Justice “in the great majority of cases”. There is nothing in this case which suggests that this would have been one of those exceptional cases in which the Home Secretary would have differed from the view expressed by Lord Woolf. I conclude therefore that the minimum term which would have been set by the Home Secretary under the practice which he would have followed at the time would have been 13 years for both McFaul and Cleaver.

13. Finally, from the minimum term of 13 years which they must serve, there must be deducted the time which they spent on remand in custody prior to sentence. That period was 7 months and 10 days in the case of McFaul and 7 months and 18 days in the case of Cleaver.

Conclusion:-

14. I therefore order that the early release provisions in sections 28(5)-(8) of the Crime (Sentences) Act 1997 apply to McFaul and Cleaver as soon as they have served 12 years 4 months and 20 days and 12 years 4 months and 12 days of their respective sentences. That is the minimum term which I set for their cases.

From Free Library

TWO men were jailed for life at the weekend for the murder of a blind Irishman last year.

Colin Ward, 29, from Castleblayney, Co Monaghan, who was living in Luton, was returning from birthday celebrations when he was set upon.

Luton Crown Court heard how he was beaten and left unconscious on the street near his flat.

His attackers punched and kicked him and bashed his head with bricks while he was lying on the ground. They then stole his wallet.

Mr Ward remained in a coma for a month and died without regaining consciousness at the London Royal Free Hospital last December.

Stephen McFaul, 22, from Luton, pleaded guilty to the murder but Anthony Cleaver, 21, also from Luton, denied the charge.

Sentencing, Mr Justice Keith said: "This was a vicious, mindless and brutal attack on a blind man who was totally vulnerable."

Mr Ward's brother Peter said: "We are still trying to come to terms with what happened."

JAMES JOHN CITRO

2011-12-11T10:35:00.000-08:00

On the 9th December 2011, a convicted rapist was sentenced to life imprisonment for strangling his neighbour in north-west London.

James Citro murdered Nijole Siskeviciene, 44, in Lancelot Road, Wembley, in October 1998.

Citro, 54, of Abbots Close, Weston-super-Mare, was previously convicted of two rapes involving attempted strangulation, in Ireland 33 years ago.

Sentencing him at the Old Bailey to a minimum of 20 years, Judge David Paget called Citro a "dangerous man".

During the trial, Philip Bennetts QC, prosecuting, said Miss Siskeviciene was strangled and her body was left outside garages at the back of her home in Lancelot Road.

Citro - who changed his surname from Kennedy had been living nearby on the same road - told police officers at the time that he did not know her.

However in court, Citro admitted two offences of perverting the course of justice by writing two anonymous letters to police shortly after the murder.

One letter said "two dark men" were seen with the body while another claimed to be from an elderly person saying a "girl was carried out from a house by two black men".

The court heard detectives regarded the letters as "credible and genuine" evidence so appeals were made for the "vital witnesses" to come forwarded.

Citro was arrested in connection with the murder, in October 1998, after his DNA - which matched forensic evidence connected to the murder - was taken by police when they stopped him for drink-driving in July 2010.

Miss Siskeviciene, who had two grown-up sons and worked in the hotel trade, had only just moved into the street where she died.

Nijole Siskeviciene's body was found propped up outside garages.

Citro, originally from Nenagh, Co Tipperary, was jailed for 10 years for two rapes in the same area of Ireland in 1978, in which the victims were held or throttled around the neck.

Judge Paget commended one of the victims, who thought she was going be killed when she was thrown into a lake, and a garda officer for giving evidence in the murder trial.

Sentencing him to a minimum of 20 years, Judge Paget told Citro: "This case is the third time you have admitted to strangling your victim in a sexual context.

"By lying you have escaped justice for 13 years.

'Utmost respect'

"I have no doubt you are a very dangerous man."

Citro changed his name by deed poll in 2003 and is believed to have worked as a barman in the Hayes, Ealing, Hampstead and Essex areas, before moving to Weston-super-Mare in 2002.

Detectives believe Citro attacked other women and have appealed for any victims of assaults to come forward.

Det Supt Keith Niven told them: "I can assure you that you will be treated with the utmost respect and sensitivity and your information will be dealt with in the strictest confidence."

ANDREW DOUGLAS COLE

2011-12-11T10:05:00.000-08:00

http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20110218200720/http:/www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/cms/144_10854.htm

1. The defendant Andrew Cole is an existing prisoner currently serving a mandatory life sentence in respect of which a tariff period of fifteen years has been set by the Secretary of State. He seeks a review of that minimum term. The background to this application is a little unusual and needs to be set out.

2. The defendant has been tried twice for the murder of Fiona Ovis and William Crompton in May 1996. The first trial took place in January 1997. The defendant ran a defence of diminished responsibility and was convicted by the jury. The trial judge declared himself “astonished” that jury rejected that defence but, loyal to their verdict, recommended a minimum term of fifteen years. The Lord Chief Justice of the day, in view of the trial judge’s comments as to the surprising nature of the verdict given the evidence that was called in that case, was led to recommend a shorter punitive term of ten to eleven years.

3. That conviction was set aside by the Court of Appeal principally on the ground of the availability of fresh evidence, namely a change of view by the prosecution’s expert witness who, in the light of her observations of the defendant at trial, had formed the view that he was indeed entitled to a diminished responsibility defence. A retrial was therefore ordered. That trial took place in November 1998 and again resulted in the defence of diminished responsibility being rejected and a conviction on two counts of murder by the jury. The trial judge on that occasion described the murders as “a particularly terrible case of two planned murders in revenge” and recommended a minimum of fifteen years. The Lord Chief Justice, still Lord Bingham CJ, said this “had it been possible to regard this man as normal I would have considered punitive term of at least fifteen years – probably rather longer – as a suitable minimum. As it is I find it difficult to recommend a punitive term on the assumption that this man is normal. I must however accept that two juries have convicted, and two trial judges have recommended a minimum term of fifteen years. I still feel that the real issue here is risk, not punishment, but I accept that minimum of fourteen to fifteen years may be appropriate”.

4. The Secretary of State fixed the minimum term at fifteen years.

5. The circumstances leading up to these events are bizarre. The defendant, almost from birth, had a difficult relationship with his mother, with whom he would have little contact, and he was effectively brought up by his grandmother. In his teens he was rebuffed by a girl in a way which has evidently caused him enormous hurt which has lasted all his life. The result was that he took to a reclusive lifestyle, literally barricading himself in his own room, and this led to his compulsory admission to psychiatric hospital where he met the first deceased. She had problems of her own but the two were immediately attracted and entered into what was from the defendant’s point of view and intense and passionate relationship with what was his first real female friend.

6. Fiona Ovis then formed a relationship with another man, the second deceased in this case, which devastated the defendant. He sought the help of his social worker and was readmitted to hospital. The murders occurred within thirty hours of his being released from this second period of hospitalisation.

7. Taking a small collection of items with him which included a knife, fuel, tape, cord and a tape recorder he went to the place where he knew he would find the two deceased. By inserting the tape recorder he persuaded himself that he could hear sounds of love-making. He broke into the house and in a frenzied attack inflicted fifty two wounds on Fiona Ovis and thirty eight on her lover. These included significant wounds to their private parts. He then took a car from the house and drove to the local hospital where he admitted what he had done.

8. There was no dispute but that the defendant suffered from a paranoid personality disorder of the obsessive/compulsive type at the time of these events. The issue was whether his responsibility for what he did was substantially impaired and the verdict of two juries was that it was not. That said, he was on any view a deeply damaged personality at the relevant time.

9. Judicial review proceedings were taken in respect to the Secretary of State’s decision to set the tariff at fifteen years. The point at issue was that in setting that tariff he was effectively passing sentence on the defendant, and therefore acting in contravention of the Criminal Appeal Act 1968 schedule 2 paragraph 2 which prohibits the passing of a more severe sentence on a retrial than was passed at the original trial. That argument was based on the courts decision in Lea [2002] EWCA Crim 215.

10. In the Divisional Court’s judgment in the judicial review proceedings ( R v Cole and Others [2003] EWHC179 (Admin)) that argument was rejected, on the basis that the schedule of the 1968 Act would not apply to the Secretary of State in his tariff-setting capacity. Giving the judgment of the court Lord Justice Rose said at 35 “the High Court can be expected to take into account the terms of Lord Woolfs’ judgment in Lea, and the fact that judicial review of the Secretary of States decision has been sought here. I would accordingly dismiss Coles’ application”.

11. In written submissions on behalf of the defendants it is argued that the tariff should be reviewed back to the original figure of eleven years on the grounds that there was no change in the evidence in the second trial as compared with the first which pointed to there being any greater severity attaching to the underlying offences. Indeed, if anything in the second trial the psychiatric evidence was more heavily in favour of the defendant than it was in the first. The only thing that has changed, and which appeared to influence the judgment of the Lord Chief Justice, was that yet another jury had rejected the defendant’s argument, the burden being on him to establish diminished responsibility. I, however, have to consider the seriousness of the offence and the culpability of the defendant and those have not changed since the Secretary of States first tariff setting exercise. I see force in that argument.

12. As to whether in exercising my current view function I am myself bound by the terms of the Criminal Appeal Act 1968 Schedule 2 Paragraph 2 (1) a more difficult question arises. That sub section reads “(1) where a person ordered to be retried is again convicted on retrial, the court before which he is convicted may pass in respect of the offence any sentence authorised by law, not being a sentence of greater severity than that passed on the original conviction”.

13. The issue is whether exercising this jurisdiction I come within the definition of “the court before which he is convicted…”. The 1968 Act when passed could not be expected to embrace the changes that have occurred since that date, in relation to the setting of life sentence tariffs and judicial oversight of the same. It seems to me, however, consistent with the House of Lords seminal decision in Anderson [2003] 1 AC 837 that it can strongly be argued that the tariff-fixing exercise, in which I am engaged in this judgment, is legally indistinguishable from the original imposition of the sentence. If therefore my decision turned on it I would regard myself as inhibited by the 1968 Act from increasing the tariff figure.

14. My decision however does not depend on this point. I believe that the arguments advanced on behalf of the defendants are persuasive, and that, notwithstanding the appalling nature of this double murder, considering the then relevant guidance from Lord Bingham in his letter of the 10th February 1997 the outstanding feature of the case acting in reduction of his starting point of fourteen years is the obvious sub-normality or mental abnormality of the defendant, which alone is sufficient to require a significant reduction from that starting point down to eleven years.

15. For these reasons I therefore direct that the early release provisions shall apply to these sentences but that the defendant should not be considered for release until a minimum term of eleven years has passed. From that term the time spent on remand in custody namely twenty nine months and twenty six days shall be deducted.

From BBC

The mother of a murdered teenager has welcomed plans to give victims' families the chance to speak in court before their killers are sentenced.

Wendy Crompton's son William, 18, and girlfriend Fiona Ovis were murdered by Andrew Cole in Llandrindod Wells.

A UK government consultation paper proposes bereaved relatives address judges before sentencing.

Mrs Crompton said she had been frustrated by being unable to speak at Cole's 1997 trial and later retrial.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/4204142.stm

ABDALLA YONES

2011-12-11T09:50:00.000-08:00

Mr Justice Grigson:

1. Abdalla Yones pleaded guilty to murder and consequently was sentenced to imprisonment for life. The recommendation as to the minimum term to be served by way of retribution and general deterrence was 14 years. No final decision has been notified to the offender. The purpose of these proceedings is to set the minimum term under the provisions of the Criminal Justice Act 2003.

2. The term fixed under the Act must not exceed that likely to have been set by the Secretary of State for the Home Department. That term is to be determined by reference to the Guidance to Judges given by Lord Bingham CJ on 10th February 1997 and by Lord Woolf CJ on the 31st May 2002.

3. The Court may not make an order that the early release provisions should not apply to the offender unless such a notification would have been made under the practice followed by the Secretary of State before December 2002.

4. The determination of the minimal term in relation to mandatory Life sentences is governed by Schedule 22 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003.

5. The starting point of a minimum term is to be decided by the seriousness of the offender’s conduct.

6. There are 3 categories of seriousness:

(a) Where the offender is over 21 and the seriousness of his conduct is exceptionally high, the starting point is a whole life order.

(b) Where the offender is over 18 and the seriousness of his conduct is particularly high, the starting point is 30 years.

7. The seriousness of the offender’s conduct is to be determined by the criteria set out in paragraph 4(2) for exceptionally high cases and in paragraph 5(2) for particularly high cases. Conduct which does not qualify for either comes into the third category.

8. Having determined the starting point, the Court may either increase the minimum term or reduce it, depending upon whether there are aggravating or mitigating factors. Some of these factors are listed in paragraphs 10 and 11.

9. Having fixed the minimum term the Court must deduct from it time spent in custody on remand in relation to the murder.

10. If the offender has shown exceptionally good progress whilst in prison, that progress may be recognised by a reduction in the minimum term which would otherwise have been chosen.

11. Where there is evidence of the effect of the murder upon the victim’s family, the Court gives proper consideration to that material.

12. Facts

On 12th October 2002 Abdella Yones stabbed to death his 16 year old daughter Heshu in the flat where the family lived. It was a frenzied attack. Heshu suffered 11 wounds to her face, neck and body. He then tried to cut his own throat before jumping from a 3rd floor balcony. He made a further attempt to take his own life whilst in custody awaiting trial.

Abdella Yones is a Kurdish national who had spent most of his life involved in the Kurdish struggle for independence. He brought his family to the UK when Heshu was 5. He sought and was granted asylum. Heshu went to local schools. Abdella Yones was a loving father and he and Heshu got on well. Heshu formed a relationship with a young Lebanese Christian. Abdella Yonis became aware of it but not that it had become a sexual relationship. Hesu’s progress at college deteriorated. She failed her examinations. She incurred substantial bills with use of her mobile phone. On 10th October 2002 Abdella Yones received an anonymous letter in which the author described Heshu as a prostitute and slut who regularly slept with her boyfriend. Abdella Yones did nothing immediately, but on 12th October he was left alone with Heshu in the flat. He heard her on her mobile phone. He has no recollection of how he acquired the knife nor of the actual attack on Heshu. He recognised that he had killed his daughter and had destroyed his family. He felt that the appropriate punishment was death. The judge accepted those feelings as genuine.

13. Material before the Court

Trial Judge’s Report.

Transcript of Mitigation and Sentence Remarks

Submissions on behalf of Abdella Yones.

14. Submissions

Whilst submissions by Steel and Shamash Solicitor’s largely repeated Counsel’s mitigation, it is argued that the 14 years recommended by the judge was too high and that the proper figure should be 9 or 10 years. They point out that the offender pleaded guilty.

15. Aggravating Features

The victim was a child of 16 and the daughter of the offender.

16. Mitigating Factors

It would seem that the murder was unpremeditated. It is arguable that Heshu’s conduct provoked her father. His remorse was genuine.

17. Conclusion

Under the Criminal Justice Act 2003 the starting point is 15 years. A starting point of 14 years is easily justified under the Bingham/Woolf guidelines. This was a terrible crime as Abdalla Yones himself recognised. In my judgment there is no compelling reason for departing from the recommendation of the trial judge. I set the minimum term as 14 years less the 7 months and 6 days spent in custody on remand.

From BBC

Last Updated: Tuesday, 30 September, 2003, 01:58 GMT 02:58 UK

'Honour killing' father begins sentence Abdalla Yones

Heshu's father Abdalla cut his own throat after killing his daughter

A Muslim man is beginning a life sentence for murdering his daughter because he disapproved of her Christian boyfriend.

Abdullah Yones admitted stabbing 16-year-old Heshu to death at their home in Acton, west London.

The Old Bailey heard Kurdish Abdalla Yones, 48, murdered Heshu on 12 October 2002 because he feared she was becoming westernised.

He pleaded for the court to pass the death sentence on him for his "appalling" crime after he tried to take his own life.

'Strong punch'

Heshu, who was described as popular and fun-loving, planned to run away from home after starting a relationship with an 18-year-old Lebanese teacher.

In a letter to her parents, apparently showing she planned to run away, Heshu wrote: "Bye Dad, sorry I was so much trouble.

Violence in the name of culture will not be tolerated Detective Inspector Brent Hyatt

"Me and you will probably never understand each other, but I'm sorry I wasn't what you wanted, but there's some things you can't change.

"Hey, for an older man you have a good strong punch and kick.

"I hope you enjoyed testing your strength on me, it was fun being on the receiving end. Well done."

Yones was a political refugee who fled Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq 10 years ago.

Cut his throat

The court heard that after repeatedly stabbing his daughter and slitting her throat, he cut his own throat and jumped from a third floor balcony.

Scotland Yard described it as a "brutal honour killing" - a reference to the practice of women being killed by male relatives to redeem the family name.

Commander Andy Baker holds a photograph of Heshu

Photographs and a letter by Heshu were released by police

Detective Inspector Brent Hyatt said: "There was nothing, nothing at all 'honourable' about her murder.

"After hacking his daughter to death, Mr Yones has attempted every defence, from psychiatric, and diminished responsibility to extreme provocation, in order to save his own skin."

He added that Yones first claimed al-Qaeda members had broken into the flat, murdered Heshu and then attacked him. He only admitted murdering her last Monday.

Yones's counsel, Icah Peart QC, said his client wanted to be sentenced to death.

Judge Neil Denison said Yones had tried to commit suicide twice but told him he would pass the only sentence he could for murder - life imprisonment.

This is, on any view, a tragic story arising out of irreconcilable cultural differences between traditional Kurdish values and the values of western society

Judge Neil Denison

UK Muslims condemn 'honour killings'

He added: "This is, on any view, a tragic story arising out of irreconcilable cultural differences between traditional Kurdish values and the values of western society."

But Scotland Yard warned the sentence should be a warning to those who condone or stay silent about the mistreatment of women in their communities.

Commander Andy Baker added: "Violence in the name of culture will not be tolerated. Murder in the name of honour will be punished by the severest penalties available in law."

Scotland Yard believe there were 12 'honour killings' in the UK last year and said they were not restricted to Muslims, but also occurred in Sikh and Christian families.

A specialist police unit is researching the practice but police say only a handful of people believed 'honour killings' were an appropriate cultural response.

Mr Baker said people who had tried to shield Abdalla Yones from police could now be investigated on suspicion of perverting the course of justice.

"We are completely satisfied that some members of the community, or his friends, tried to assist him in that cover-up," he said.

"It's not about one person committing the murder, it's about the few that acknowledge it and support it and are involved in it."

DERRON BAILEY

2011-12-11T09:35:00.000-08:00

A burglar who stabbed a "kind and caring" man to death at his home in south London has been jailed for life.

Derron Bailey, 19, stabbed 41-year-old Ian Jones in the heart and back at his Catford home on 18 May 2009.

On the 22nd January 2010, Bailey was sentenced to a minimum of 22 years at the Old Bailey for murder and attempted robbery.

This was a truly violent crime against a man in his own home, a place where he should have felt safe

Det Ch Insp Amanda Hargreaves

Mr Jones was already in a distressed state after being the victim of another unconnected burglary two days earlier.

Mr Jones' estranged wife Alena said of her husband: "He was a kind and caring man who had no enemies."

Det Ch Insp Amanda Hargreaves said outside court: "Ian Jones was beaten so violently that shoe imprints were left on his body."

ANTHONY TIRADO AND DION GRIFFIN

2011-12-11T09:07:00.000-08:00

Anthony Tirado (Left) and Dion Griffin

On the 25th June 2010, Two men were given life sentences after they were found guilty of murdering a 27-year-old man in Nottingham's Lace Market.

Bernard Langton of Bulwell, died from a gunshot wound after he was found in an alleyway close to the Pitcher and Piano bar on 25 May 2009.

Anthony Tirado, 25, and Dion Griffin, 35, were found guilty of murder at Birmingham Crown Court on Thursday.

The pair, who are both from Top Valley, will serve a minimum of 28 years.

Birmingham Crown Court was told Mr Langton was shot after a fight in a Nottingham bar in May 2009.

He was taken to the Queen's Medical Centre after he had been shot in the back at the Paris nightclub in the Lace Market.

The jury heard Mr Langton, who had stabbed another man after being hit over the head with a bottle at the nightclub, died shortly after getting into the hospital.

After the verdicts, Mr Langton's mother Christina Walker said: "I really miss his cheeky smile.

"He was always laughing, and had a very bubbly character. He liked to make us all laugh.

"We are a big family, some living in Nottingham, some in Liverpool. Despite the distance, we were always travelling up and down to see each other and as a whole family we were all very close.

"Bernard had a long-term partner, who was his childhood sweetheart, and together they had two children.

"He was a brilliant dad. His daughter was only one when he died. He would always be spending time with his son, who is now six-and-a-half, going to the park and taking him to the cinema. It is hard to believe he is gone and they have to grow up without him.

"The people who did this have taken my son from me and ruined my life. Everyone needs to wake up and know what is going on around them and to understand gun crime devastates families."

'Complex case'

Det Ch Insp Kate Meynell, who led the murder investigation, said the verdicts sent a strong message to anyone carrying a gun in Nottinghamshire.

"Bernard's murder shocked everyone, especially the thought that some people considered it acceptable to take firearms and weapons into licensed premises and go on to use them," she said.

"It happened in a busy part of the city, at a time when people would have been leaving pubs and clubs.

"This has been a complex case which required in-depth analysis of CCTV and evidence from several witnesses who saw what happened before, during and after Bernard was killed."

RICHARD SHANAHAN AND ADAM SMITH

2011-12-11T07:58:00.000-08:00

Richard Shanahan (Left) and Adam Smith

Two teenagers who murdered a man at his home in were caught after boasting to friends, Cardiff Crown Court heard.

Richard Shanahan and Adam Smith, both 18, were jailed for life for a "prolific and ferocious" attack on the 47 year-old Richard "Dickie" Dyas.

They admitted murdering the ex-security guard, who was found dead in bed at his house in Mountain Ash in March 2010.

Imprints from Smith's trainers were visible on Mr Dyas' face and chest, the court heard.

Mr Dyas choked on his own blood after the attack.

Shanahan and Smith, both of Mountain Ash, were given life sentences on 12th November 2010.

The court heard their 22-stone victim, who was described as "friendly, naive, kind and gentle", asked them to break into his home in Mountain Ash after it was repossessed by a building society.

Prosecutor Jeremy Jenkins said: "Shanahan popped the lock and he and Smith kicked down the door and they all went in.

But the pair returned in the early hours while an unsuspecting Mr Dyas was sleeping."Mr Dyas gave them alcohol and electrical equipment to thank them for getting him back into his home - then the pair left."

Mr Jenkins said: "We can't say exactly what happened that night - only three people know and one of them is dead.

"But Shanahan and Smith punched, stabbed and stamped on their victim as well as whipping him with a fishing rod.

'Boasted'

"The next day they boasted to friends about the attack and Shanahan said: "I stabbed him and kicked him and danced on his head."

Judge Mr Justice Lloyd Jones ordered Shanahan to serve a minimum of 18 years and Smith a minimum of 17 years.

The court was told Smith has since shown remorse by saying: "No one deserves what we did to him."

Mr Dyas suffered fractured facial bones and stab wounds to the chest and legs.

At sentencing the judge told the pair: "It was a prolific and ferocious attack by two fit young men on a man who couldn't defend himself.

"You inflicted considerable suffering before he died."

Det Ch Insp Dorian Lloyd said the success of the investigation was due to the "diligence of the investigation team and the considerable support we received from the community of Mountain Ash - particularly from the young people who live there".

"I would like to thank all of those residents of Mountain Ash who came forward with valuable witness statements which, combined with the overwhelming forensic evidence, resulted in the guilty pleas from both Smith and Shanahan," he said.

"Securing guilty pleas in a murder investigation is very unusual and it is as a result of the support and courage of many residents from Mountain Ash that we were able to achieve this result."

Senior District Crown Prosecutor for Cardiff and Merthyr, Catrin Evans, said: "This was a particularly brutal and senseless murder.

"The pain and suffering Richard Dyas had to endure in the course of his death is impossible to comprehend."

She said the community should be consoled that "these dangerous men will be off the streets for a very long time".

ALAN LEVEY

2011-12-11T07:26:00.000-08:00

A frenzied knifeman randomly killed a homeless man after deciding earlier in the day he wanted to commit murder 'to see if he could get away with it.'

Alan Levey scoured the streets looking for a victim for more than an hour late at night until he finally found a man to kill.

The 36-year-old befriended Damian Whyte, known as Tottenham Paul to his friends for his love of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, at a soup kitchen and lured him to a secluded island on the River Thames where he stabbed him 25 times.

On the 12th October 2011 Levey, wearing a khaki jacket and brown shirt, was jailed for a minimum of 24 years.

Reading Crown Court heard the killer told a neighbour after the attack it was like 'putting a knife through butter.'

Levey had told a friend just hours before: 'I'm going to stab somebody, I'm going to look for him now.'

Levey and Mr Whyte walked side by side chatting until they reached the isolated island where he turned on him.

He left Mr Whyte, aged 34, screaming in agony on View Island, in Reading, Berkshire late on February 22 after repeatedly stabbing him with an eight inch blade.

Levey returned to his flat where he showered and set about disposing of his clothes. He had earlier dumped the knife in the river.

Prosecutor Ian Acheson told he court that while at the flat Levey told a friend: 'I just stabbed someone 30 times. I only stopped stabbing him because he was crying for his mummy.'

When neighbour James Belshaw suggested checking if Mr Whyte was all right, Levey said: 'He's dead. He's bleeding out of his eyes and nose and everything. I stabbed him in his guts. It was like putting a knife through butter.'

Murder scene: Levey left Mr Whyte screaming in agony on View Island, in Reading, pictured, after repeatedly stabbing him with an eight inch blade

Mr Acheson told how Levey had planned to kill another homeless man who was wheelchair-bound and sold the Big Issue outside a library, but turned his attention to Mr Whyte when he couldn't find the magazine seller.

Levey, of Reading, Berkshire, admitted a charge of murder yesterday at what was supposed to be the first day of his trial.

Mr Acheson told Judge Zoe Smith: 'This was an utterly random and utterly motiveless murder. The only possible reasoning behind it, which comes from the mouth of Levey, is when he told a witness that evening he had decided to kill someone.

'It seems it mattered not who that person was. He wanted to see what happened and if he could get away with it.

'He said to a friend earlier in the day 'I'm going to stab somebody, I'm going to look for him now'.

He also asked another friend: 'If you could, who in Reading would you have killed?'

'He told this friend that he wanted to kill a man by the name Alan Matey who sold the Big Issue from his wheelchair and slept rough outside the central library.

'He walked around central Reading for an hour before the killing. CCTV would be consistent with him looking for that person. It was, in essence, a search of the area.

'This was a murder which was planned, albeit with someone else in mind but with the intention of murder committed to see what would happen and to see if he could get away with it.'

Timothy Raggatt QC, defending, told the court that before changing his plea to guilty, Levey had been assessed by a psychiatrist who determined that he was suffering from a personality disorder.

'This man has an abnormality of the mind and a serious long term personality disorder linked with a long term history of substance abuse, linked with a background of abuse as a child in various forms,' he said.

Mr Raggatt added that although Levey stabbed his victim more than 25 times, not all the wounds would have led to his death.

'Many of the wounds are, in clinical terms - and I stress the word clinical - superficial and non life-threatening,' he said.

'Of course there are wounds that led to his death.'

Mr Whyte was found the following morning by a horrified dog walker, lying in a pool of blood and in the recovery position on a footpath on the island.

Levey handed himself in to police two days after the murder. He told detectives he and Mr Whyte had been walking by the river and had become involved in a heated argument about football and lashed out with the knife.

He was arrested and later took police officers to where he had dumped his clothes and the knife.

He had originally denied murder based on a psychiatric defence but changed the plea at the opening of his trial.

Levey has previous convictions dating back to 1989 and in 1998 was jailed for three-and-a-half years after repeatedly stabbing a man.

AIAH TONDONEH

2011-12-11T07:05:00.000-08:00

A male psychiatric nurse was jailed for life in May 2011 after admitting the murder of a female nurse.

Aiah Tondoneh, 44, from Claire Court, Shoot Up Hill, Kilburn, north London, had pleaded guilty at the Old Bailey to murdering partner Donna Drepaul, 50.

Officers found Ms Drepaul suffering severe burns at her home in Clifton Court, Finsbury Park, on 2 July 2010.

Tondoneh was told at the Old Bailey that he must serve a minimum term of 21 years and six months.

Ms Drepal, a senior oncology nurse at University College Hospital, was taken to the Royal London Hospital, where she died two days later.

'Zombie-like'

She was so badly disfigured that horrified neighbours did not recognise her as she went knocking on the doors of their flats begging for help.

Ms Drepaul appeared to have lost her lips, nose and hair and suffered burns to her face and upper body, with skin peeling from her torso.

A police officer who went to the scene in Finsbury Park, north London, said: "I have never seen anything like this before in my life and for a split second, a feeling of numbness overcame me."

Philip Bennetts QC, prosecuting, said: "The police say she was almost zombie-like as she moved towards them holding her arms out saying 'help me, help me'."

The court heard that she said "my partner poured gasoline on me and set me on fire" as she struggled to breathe.

Tondoneh plotted the attack after realising Miss Drepaul, who had tried to end the relationship, had been out that night with another man.

The judge, Mr Justice Nicol, said: "The injuries to Donna were the stuff of horror movies for the neighbours and emergency services which dealt with her."

Meanwhile, Tondoneh took a night bus home and was arrested soon after.

FRANK DONNELLY

2011-12-11T06:33:00.000-08:00

The family of a man stabbed to death by one of his closest friends said they may never know the motive for the murder.

Frank Donnelly, 34, of Lower Hazel Close, Blackburn was sentenced to life, with a minimum of 25 years, at Preston Crown Court on the 17th September 2010 for the murder of David McGee, 42, of Grindleton Road.

Donnelly had changed his plea to guilty part-way through his trial.

Speaking after the verdict, Mr McGee's brother Gordon, sister Debbie Barker, partner Michelle Barnes and carer Deborah Winstanley said the victim had 'trusted people too much'.

Gordon, 43, who has moved back from Cornwall to Gisburn to be closer to sister Debbie, said: “He was known as 'smiler' and was a very trusting person. He didnt see the bad in anyone.

“David had an absolutely horrific childhood and never really coped with it.

"He was in foster care and was always a victim and that led him to his life of drink.

“He was a very intelligent man with a passion for gardening and photography.

"But he was traumatised by his childhood and that was at the root of his issues with drink.”

Victim David McGee.

The McGee family grew up in Bacup then moved to Water, where David McGee went to the local primary school, before moving away to Altrincham, Cheshire.

Mr McGee's alcohol addiction meant he needed a carer, but Mrs Winstanley said in the last few years he had 'got himself back together' and was 'seeing something of a future'.

Mr McGee's daughter Amy, 13, is cared for by sister Debbie, but she fears they may never know why Donnelly turned on his friend.

Debbie, of Stacksteads, said: “We will probably never get an answer.

"Maybe Donnelly just took is anger out on the first person he came across.”

The court heard that Donnelly had been given a six year jail sentence in 2001 after stabbing an innocent man who intervened in a row between the defendant and a group of men.

Judge Anthony Russell QC, the Recorder of Preston, pointed out the similarities to the 'catalyst' for this case, when Donnelly had returned to what the prosecution described as a 'doss house' in Grindleton Road, looking for a fight with a group of young Asian males.

Instead he 'transferred his anger' to Mr McGee, in an 'out-of-control' and savage attack, while the victim was asleep, drunk, in a dark upstairs bedroom.

Judge Russell said: “The reality is David McGee had no chance.”

Peter Wright QC, for Donnelly, told the court his client had descended into a spiral of drink dependency and alcohol-fuelled misconduct and violence.

ALENIYI OLOYEDE, MILES MADDY, SIKIRU DOKERTY, IFEDOTUN GBADEBO-ARAOYE

2011-12-04T01:24:00.000-08:00

Friends of a schoolboy stabbed and kicked to death by a gang revealed how he came to London in search of a better life after his parents died in his native Nigeria.

Fifteen-year-old Sunday Essiet was chased and killed by a group of six youths following a row as he walked through the Glyndon Estate in Plumstead.

Witnesses described how the teenager was "kicked like a football" and stabbed repeatedly after being pulled from a wall in Invermore Place. He was the fifth teenager to be murdered in London in 2008.

Today Sunday's friends said he had been sent from Nigeria at the age of six or seven having become orphaned following the deaths of both his parents.

Sunday's best friend Abu Mansaray, 17, said the news of his death had still not sunk in. He said: "I was like a brother to him. He was struggling, struggling all his life - coming here from Nigeria at primary school age for a better life. But he was a happy boy, and loved football and supported Manchester United.

"When he was around everyone was happy. He was so funny, always cracking jokes - that is why we can never forget him."

Sunday, a Year 11 pupil at Geoffrey Chaucer Technology College in Southwark, was staying with a guardian in the UK.

It is thought he was attacked by a Somalian gang dealing crack and heroin in the area. Locals suggested the death was linked to a drug "turf war" between the Somali gang and the T-Block gang from Thamesmead. But Mr Mansaray insisted that Sunday was not in a gang.

He added: "He was sick - he had bad asthma. He was at school, studying for his GCSEs. I kept telling him, 'just one more year until you're finished'. He was focused on doing well.

"Everyone is crying. We are all still so shocked. Everyone thinks it is a dream but we are all having the same dream.

"I am, still wishing it is not him. His girlfriendis just crying all the time too." Another friend, who did not want to be named, said: "His parents are dead. He was a good, sweet kid, Everyone knew him, he was such a popular guy."

The attack took place at just after 4pm on a Tuesday. A boy, thought to be Sunday's friend, ran into nearby Greenwich Community College to beg for help. A security guard raised the alarm. Sheila Moss, 40, saw the assault. She said: "They kicked him like a football and stamped on him. They made sure he was dead."

Paul Whisker, 53, who telephoned the ambulance and stayed with the victim until the emergency services arrived, said: "He had a lot of blood coming from his mouth. There was blood all over the road.

"The victim was lying on his side. His eyes were open but you could see there was no life there. He was gazing into space."

Detective Superintendent Phil Adams, leading the murder investigation, said: "This incident has taken place in the middle of an estate, with a number of properties overlooking not only the initial incident but the subsequent fatal assault.

"I am pleased to say we've already had a large number of people from the local community come forward, but we would still like to hear from anyone who witnessed the incident or who has information."

A witness who gave evidence against four thugs who stabbed a teenager to death had his face scarred by an acid attack.

The incident was believed to be in retribution after the victim testified against the killers of 15-year-old Sunday Essiet, from Southwark, south east London, who was stabbed to death in Plumstead in February 2008.

Sunday's aunt, who was too scared to give her name, claimed the witness had been taken into police protection.

“We're all still in shock and we're scared,” she said. “Right now they're not even telling us his whereabouts. We don't know how bad the injury is. The case is still being investigated at the moment.”

She is particularly fearful for Sunday's sister, Blessing, 19, who still lives with her in Southwark. She told the Standard: “Blessing is the only thing we've got now. We don't want anything to happen to her. She's not allowed to talk to anybody. It's for her own protection.”

Speaking of the family at large she added: “All the parents are scared about what could happen to their children.”

Sunday was knifed nine times in the back as he begged his killers to spare his life in what is believed to have been a turf war between the T-Block gang from Thamesmead and a Somali gang who were dealing crack and heroin.

In April 2009, Adeniyi Oloyede, 19, from Thamesmead, who ask also known as Knifer, was jailed for a minimum of 13 years while Miles Maddy, 19, also from Thamesmead, was jailed for at least 15 years. Sikiru Doherty, 20, from Woolwich, and Ifedotun Gbadebo-Araoye, 19, from Charlton, were both sentenced to a minimum of 16 years.

Gbadebo-Araoye was also convicted of the knife-point robbery of a chain and sentenced to another seven years to run concurrently.

Locals said Sunday lived with another aunt in a block called Rivet House in Cooper's Road off Old Kent Road prior to his death.

Both his parents were dead, so the Nigerian-born youngster had previously lived with various family members around the area.

Despite their relatively young ages, all the defendants have previous convictions, cautions or reprimands for related violence, including possession of a bladed article, common assault, robbery and affray.

After they were led to the cells Edward Brown QC prosecuting told the court of the attack on the witness who had been granted anonymity and gave evidence from behind a screen.

A clearly shocked Judge Timothy Pontius said: “Whatever measures the court can apply sometimes, I fear, they are not sufficient.

“This witness has the court's sympathy and its thanks for having the courage to come to court and give evidence about what he had seen.”

JOHN DEAN RICHARDSON, BRADLEY PARKIN, JOHN SIMON RICHARDSON, NEIL BROWN, LIAM ACKROYD.

2011-12-04T01:00:00.000-08:00

JOHN DEAN RICHARDSON (RING LEADER)

In October 2011, Five men were jailed for life for a brutal gang attack that left a former soldier dead.

A judge sentenced the gang for the vicious murder of 22-year-old Ian Smith, which saw him beaten with a pickaxe handle, kicked and left for dead with massive head injuries.

John Dean Richardson 44, of Wakefield Road, Fitzwilliam, Bradley Parkin, 22, of Mallard Mews, South Elmsall, Neil Brown, 29, also of Mallard Mews, and Liam Ackroyd, 22, of Bell Lane, Ackworth, were all found guilty of murder after a three-week trial at Leeds Crown Court.

John Simon Richardson, 23 – son of John Dean – of Kinsley House Crescent, Fitzwilliam, had already pleaded guilty to murder.

At the trial, the court was told that Mr Smith was attacked in the early hours of February 19 after being chased through South Elmsall town centre.

That evening he had been out with his family celebrating his aunt’s 60th birthday.

He had been involved in a dispute at the Mega Love takeaway with John Dean Richardson, who moments earlier had phoned Brown and the other three men following an argument with a group of unconnected youths.

Mr Smith punched the elder Richardson twice and pushed him to the ground before the four men arrived in a van and a car.

When they arrived, John Dean Richardson told Mr Smith: “Now it’s your turn.”

John Simon Richardson took a pick axe handle from the van and the group gave chase before carrying out the attack.

Mr Smith suffered severe head injuries after being repeatedly struck with the pickaxe handle, as well as being kicked in the head.

The Recorder of Leeds, Judge Peter Collier QC, set the minimum terms that each must serve before being eligible to apply for parole.

John Simon Richardson was told he must serve a minimum of 17-and-a-half years.

John Dean Richardson must serve 14 years, while Parkin was told he must serve 18 years, Brown 17 and Ackroyd 16.

Passing sentence, the judge said: “This was a mob-handed attack upon a man who was unarmed and alone.

“Furthermore, it was committed at night and in a public place where there were other people present; some of them were young people; some of them were friends of the victim and saw this terrible ending of his life.”

He added: “Having rendered him senseless, you all fled the scene.”

The jury of six men and six women took more than 18 hours to reach unanimous verdicts at the trial.

Members of Mr Smith’s family bowed their heads and fought back tears as the sentences were read out.

RICHARD HENRY ELLIS

2011-12-03T07:22:00.000-08:00

http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20110218200720/http:/www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/cms/144_11638.htm

1. Richard Henry Ellis (“the applicant”) was sentenced to life imprisonment on 11 June 2002 at the Central Criminal Court after he had been convicted of the murder of Fetah Marku who was an Albanian. He now applies under the provisions of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 (“the 2003 Act”) for the Court to fix the minimum period which he must serve before he can be considered for parole.

2. The facts which give rise to this offence were that the victim and three fellow Albanians visited the Oscar Wilde public house in Edgware on the night of 23to 24 March 2001. One of the friends of the victim (Emir Cakaj) danced with Natasha Hewitt for about 2 hours and they frequently kissed each other.

3. The applicant worked at this public house as a music promoter and was present on the night although he was not working. According to the prosecution case, the applicant was part of a group who stared at the dancing couple while Natasha Hewitt was the worse for drink.

4. Later on that night outside the public house, Natasha Hewitt was crying because she had mislaid her handbag and she was comforted by Cajak. The applicant, intervened and swore at Cajak and physically assaulted him. Cajak fought back and there was a dispute as to who started the violence but the two were separated by the other three Albanians. It is possible that the applicant may have suffered an injury at this stage.

5. Then a large number of people estimated between 10 and 30 emerged from the public house and chased all four Albanians with three of them getting into a car park further along the road. When they were there, Fetah Maku was attacked by punches, kicks and blows with sticks by at least one person armed with a knife. In consequence he suffered some 80 injuries of which 29 were inflicted by a sharp instrument or instruments. His death was caused by the stabbing.

6. The case against the applicant which was accepted by the jury was that he was one of the attacking group and that he had participated in the attack generally when he was aware that a knife or knives were being used by a man who intended to do really serious injury or to kill. It was not the case for the prosecution nor was there any evidence to suggest that the applicant was the person who had actually used the knife to murder the victim.

7. The trial Judge (His Honour Judge Coombe) recommended a term of 11 years his reasons were:“My view of the minimum sentence that the defendant should serve is 11 years He was a secondary party to the murder. On the other hand, his actions were the beginnings of the trouble. His motives may have been some form of jealousy (although the girl Hewitt was not his girlfriend) and anger that he came off the worst in the initial fight. But there was evidence to support the fact that this killing was racially aggravated. The defendant was a black Englishman, the victim and his friends were Albanian. In his police interviews, the defendant demonstrated his hostility to Albanians (although he denied the implications of this in the witness box)”.

8. Lord Wollf CJ commented “I agree a minimum period of 11 years”.

9. Submissions have been made on behalf of the applicant who has not requested an oral hearing. No victim impact statement has been obtained from the family of the victim although attempts have been made to obtain one.

10. The submissions on behalf of the applicant are that:

(a) this was not a premeditated attack but an attack initiated as a result of an initial skirmish involving the applicant and the four Albanians;
(b) he did not have the knife and was a secondary party to the murder;
(c) the intention of the applicant was at most to cause a serious injury rather than an intention to kill; and
(d) a minimum period of not more than 9 years would be appropriate.

11. Under the 2003 Act, the starting point would be 15 years against which there would have to be a reduction for the mitigating factors which are correctly identified in paragraph10 (a) to (c) above. In my view, it is also necessary to regard as aggravating factors the findings of the trial judge first he started the violence which led to the stabbing as the trial judge explained and second that “there was evidence to support the fact that this killing was racially motivated” although this must be considered in the light of the fact there was not an intention to kill and that the applicant was a secondary party to the killing.

12. In all the circumstances, I have concluded that the appropriate minimum period for the applicant to serve under the 2003 Act before he would be considered for parole would be 12 years. In order not to breach the principle of non retroactivity, I have to ensure that the minimum term under the 2003 Act does not exceed the term that the Secretary of State would have imposed under the practice followed by him for murder committed when this murder was committed.

13. In this case the murder was committed in March 2001 and the practice adopted by the Secretary of State is stated in Lord Bingham CJ’s letter of 10 February 1997 which fixes the starting point at 14 years for the “average”, “normal” or unexceptional” murder. In the light of the aggravating and mitigating factors to which I have referred, I would be obliged to reduce that minimum period from 14 years especially in the light of the fact that the applicant was a secondary party. That would reduce the period to 11 years.

14. As I have explained, in order not to breach the principle of non retroactivity, I have to ensure that the minimum term under the 2003 Act does not exceed the term that the Secretary of State would have imposed under the practice followed by him for murder committed when this murder was committed, which means that the minimum period is 11 years less the period spent on remand before sentence. That means that the period to be served by the applicant before he can be considered for parole is 10 years 4 months and 20 days which is calculated as being the minimum term of 11 years less 7 months 10 days spent on remand before sentence.

From IRR

03/01, Fetah Marku, 24, Edgware, London

This Kosovan asylum seeker was beaten to death by a gang of men following an argument in a pub in Edgware, north London. Fetah suffered eighty injuries, twenty-nine of which were from sharp instruments. In June 2002, Richard Ellis, a Black man, was found guilty of his murder. The judge commented it was unlikely he was 'solely responsible'. Ellis denied knowing any of the 20-30 strong gang that beat Fetah to death. In April 2007, Ellis was told that he must serve at least 11 years for the racially motivated attack before he could seek parole.

http://www.irr.org.uk/2002/november/ak000008.html

From BBC

Police have appealed for help to find a number of men who beat and stabbed an asylum seeker to death in a "vicious" assault following an argument outside a pub.

Fetah Marku, a Kosovo Albanian, was chased and killed by the group in Edgware, north London, last year, as he celebrated his 24th birthday.

Mr Marku's body was found to have 80 separate injuries, including 29 stab wounds, when he died. The cause of death was found to be massive internal bleeding.

One man, Richard Ellis, 33, of Watford Road in Harrow, was jailed for life for his murder last week.

But police say there were "a number of others" involved in the attack, who have not been caught.

Mr Marku's 18-year-old brother Isa told a news conference Fetah had been a "very friendly" person who did not deserve such an attack.

'Horrendous assault'

Speaking through an interpreter, Isa said: "He would talk to people, he was a very hard-working person, always smiling. He liked to be in the company of others - he was very friendly."

The news conference came during Refugee Week, in which the UK press has been criticised for stirring up suspicion and ill-feeling against asylum seekers.

Mr Marku and Isa came to the UK seeking political asylum in September 2000.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2052149.stm

DONALD MACKAY

2011-12-03T07:04:00.000-08:00

AWAITING MUG SHOT PHOTO

1. On the 20 December 1989, following his conviction for murder before Mr Justice Ian Kennedy, after a trial at the Central Criminal Court, Donald Mackay was sentenced to the mandatory term of life imprisonment. Following the practice of the time, the judge recommended that he serve 18 – 19 years before being considered for release by the Parole Board (the judge thought that fully 30 years might elapse before the defendant could safely be released, but that is another matter). In due course, Lord Lane CJ recommended that the minimum term should be only 16 years. The Secretary of State fixed the minimum term which he must serve as 20 years. Under paragraph 3 of Schedule 22 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003, the defendant has now asked the High Court to review the minimum term fixed.

2. I base this factual narrative entirely upon the report of the trial judge. The victim, Ann Petherick, was aged 26; she was a prostitute. The defendant was then aged 41; he was one of her regular clients. She was last seen alive on 2nd January 1989. On 19th February her naked, decomposing body was found bundled in a black plastic bag in the defendant's flat in north London after Rosemarie Saunders had gone to the police, following the defendant’s assault upon her.

3. Rosemarie Saunders was another prostitute. On the night of 17th /18th February, the defendant had picked her up. He had taken her to his flat. The agreement between them was for "straight sex". When they arrived at his flat, the defendant asked for bondage. Saunders refused. The defendant then walked naked into the room, with a rope, one end of which he fashioned into a noose, which he put around her neck; he then trussed her up. He then sexually and physically abused her for several hours. He threatened to kill her. He threatened to hang her from a hook, which he placed in the door frame. He threatened to put her body in a black plastic bag and to dump it on Hampstead Heath. He gagged her. He pulled the noose tight so that Saunders lost consciousness for a while. He attempted to bugger her and submitted her to various other indignities. So terrified had she been that she became incontinent of faeces and urine. These outrages only ended when he fell asleep from tiredness and drink. She then escaped. She was, by then, hysterical. She raised the alarm. The rope marks on her body could clearly still be seen.

4. The offences upon Rosemary Sauders gave rise to convictions, after a trial, for offences of making threats to kill, assault with intent to commit buggery, indecent assault and assault occasioning actual bodily harm. For these offences, the trial judge imposed determinate sentences totalling seven years, to run concurrently with the life sentence. In my judgement any minimum term which the defendant is ordered to serve for the murder must take account of the scale of offending against Rosemary Saunders, otherwise he will escape punishment for these ‘bestial’ offences, as the trial judge vividly described them. To put it another way: the minimum term must reflect his overall criminality, that is to say the offences committed against both victims.

5. Following her complaint, the police went to the defendant’s flat to arrest him. He was arrested while still asleep in the chair, still drunk. When they searched the flat, they found Ann Petherick’s body. Because of the decomposition, no precise mechanism of death could be established but her facial bones had been driven in by 3 or 4 heavy blows; it is probable that she died from asphyxia consequential upon those injuries. She also had a broken bone in a foot and a bruise over one shoulder blade. Although it seems to me that the inference could readily have been drawn that she had been subjected to the same kind of sexual and sadistic indignities as was suffered by Rosemarie Saunders, the trial judge was unwilling so to conclude; he heard the evidence and it would be wrong for me to make any different finding.

6. It should be noted that the defendant had a previous conviction for manslaughter in 1984, when he received 5 years for stabbing a man to death with a sword. This is plainly an aggravating factor to be considered when fixing the minimum term. I might add that it is likely to be a highly relevant consideration when the Parole come to consider whether he can safely be released.

7. I have read the Victim Personal Statement of Mrs Petherick, Ann’s mother. She speaks with bitterness of the dark shadow which her daughter’s murder has cast over her life.

8. The defendant still maintains his innocence; he has shown no remorse. I have seen the reports on the defendant’s progress in prison. He has achieved considerable academic success. However, there is nothing in this case which is so exceptional as to justify a reduction in the minimum term otherwise appropriate. In short, I see no mitigating features whatsoever.

9. The defendant has requested an oral hearing. I have read the detailed submissions in writing made on his behalf (and indeed the manuscript observations which the defendant made at the time before the tariff was first set). I am unable to see that anything could be gained from further oral argument. I decline to hold such a hearing.

10. Section 276 and Schedule 22 of the Act ensure when a minimum term has been fixed by the Secretary of Sate, on a review the High Court can only confirm the term fixed or reduce it; it cannot increase a minimum term already fixed.

11. Before Lord Bingham CJ wrote his letter to the judges on 10 February 1997 (conveniently set out in paragraphs IV.49.18 – 21 of the Consolidated Criminal Practice Direction, as amended) there was no guidance as to how minimum should be set. In the absence of any other guidance, the best guide to practice is probably Lord Bingham’s letter, so which I have already referred, which suggested a starting point of 14 years.

12. This was a most terrible murder. The particularly aggravating factors here were the concealment of the body, his previous conviction for manslaughter and the subsequent offending against Rosemary Saunders. These plainly justify a substantial increase upon the starting point. I think that the minimum term fixed by the Secretary of State properly reflects the grave features of this case. Accordingly, I confirm the minimum term to be 20 years. Had this murder been committed now, I do not doubt that this sentence would be longer but I must loyally apply what I take to be the conventional tariff of the time.

13. I order, as I am required to do, that the term of 20 years is reduced by the period of 10 months and 6 days which he spent in custody before being sentenced.

14. I am anxious that this sentence is not misunderstood or mis-reported. The sentence is – and remains – a sentence of imprisonment for life. The defendant may not even be considered for release until he has served at least 20 years. That is not to say that he will then be released; indeed he will be detained unless and until the Parole Board is satisfied that he no longer resents a risk to the public. Even if the Parole Board decides then or at some time in the future to authorise his release, he will be upon licence which will extend for the rest of his life. It is as well that the public knows that many prisoners are in fact detained long after their tariff has expired.

From Daily Mail

Before me is a newspaper cutting with the headline: "Bestial killer jailed for 40 years for sex attacks." It is dated December 21, 1989, and tells of the gruesome murder of a 27-year-old woman by one Donald Mackay.

The killer was described by an Old Bailey judge as a grave danger to the public and, in particular, women. The injuries inflicted upon Ann Petherick were appalling. Her body was hidden for weeks in a cupboard and discovered only when another woman narrowly escaped a similar end after a vicious sexual assault.

Mackay had killed before, and the intention in passing one of the longest jail sentences seen for many years was that the 41-year-old should never be free to strike again.

The murder of Ann Petherick naturally devastated her parents. Their daughter had lived a wayward existence and during the trial there were suggestions of prostitution. But her parents loved her deeply, not least because they had already lost a Down's syndrome son at the age of nine.

The murder particularly affected her father. He retired from work as a civil engineer with ill health and died a year ago at the age of 66. Her mother Ida, for much of her life a nurse in Essex, now lives alone, still haunted by the terrible fate of her daughter.

Nevertheless, she believed that the length of the sentence handed down to Mackay meant she would never ever hear his name again.

That was until she recently received a letter from the probation service asking for a meeting to discuss the case. She agreed and was told that the murderer's sentence was due for a "lifer review". To her horror Mrs Petherick learned that this would take place in a few weeks' time.

I have seen a copy of the confidential document reporting on the meeting with Mrs Petherick. In it, the probation service's victim contact officer, Debbie Anderson, says Mrs Petherick was "shocked" when told that what she believed to be a 40-year sentence was in fact a 20-year tariff.

To her superiors, Ms Anderson acknowledges that time has not healed the mother's hurt. Whether she is fully aware of the distress this new development has caused or is simply adhering to a form of words she has learned from some manual, she uses bloodless language: "It is hoped by Mrs Petherick this offender is not released back into the community at the end of his tariff, if ever."

Limply, she opines that in the event of release being considered, her unit would "request" that Mackay is never permitted to make any attempt to contact or approach the family of the victim. This, while a laudable sentiment, is something of an insult to Mrs Petherick. A glance at the figures relating to crimes of violence shows the majority are committed by reoffenders who have been released without thought as to how they will roam free and cause further misery. Unsurprisingly, Mrs Petherick tells me the interview with the probation service has left her "devastated".

Nor do other areas of the judicial system come out of this episode with much credit. The Home Office Minister responsible for sentencing, Fiona Mactaggart, has explained to Mrs Petherick that, while in open court the judge deemed the crimes worth 40 years, this represented his assessment of future risk. In fact, the tariff he recommended to the Home Secretary after the trial was nearer half this amount.

Hence this dreadful killer's sentence is now due for review. If, as the Minister puts it, he is thought to have made "sufficient progress", he could be transferred to an open prison and be released when the tariff expires early in 2009.

One must question why, after such a high-profile public trial, the sentence was then reduced so drastically in private. At the time, the public were led to believe that this man would never be seen on our streets again. Yet, behind closed doors, the most senior political and judicial figures decided otherwise.

One must ask how many other times such a sleight of judicial hand has been practised in this way. How many other victims or relatives will receive, or have received, similar news?

The decision to keep all this a secret for so long is scandalous. No one was told that the killer of Ann Petherick had, in effect, had his sentence halved. No one at the time of this crime thought about the loved ones of the victim. No one bothered to pick up the telephone and explain to Mrs Petherick that justice as promised in 1989 would not be done.

Only when Debbie Anderson from the probation service popped around did a mother realise that no one had told her the truth. That the "bestial" killer of her beloved daughter could be freed. It is a shameful story.

MAREK MIAZGA

2011-12-03T07:01:00.000-08:00

A Polish man has been found guilty of the double murder in Luton of two of his fellow countrymen and was jailed for life on the 12th May 2008

Marek Miazga, 41, was told he would have to serve a minimum of 25 years in custody in this country.

During a month long trial a jury had heard how the victims - the Markuszeski brothers Waldeck, 43 and Andreaus, 46 were 'savagely' murdered in their rented home in Luton. They were bludgeoned with a set of weight lifting bar bells. The motive remains a mystery.

Their bodies lay undiscovered for two days until a housemate and friend made the grisly discovery.

A cash card stolen from one of the brothers was used almost immediately after the killings to plunder his account.

Miazga, pleaded not guilty to two charges of murder on May 30 2005 and to four charges of theft and four of attempted theft. He was found guilty by a jury of all charges by a majority of 11-1.

The prosecution allege a second man, Remi Piotrowski, was involved but he fled to Poland. A warrant has been issued for his arrest.

Prosecutor Miranda Moore QC told Luton Crown Court that on May 30 2005 - the day of Luton's Bank Holiday carnival, the four men were drinking heavily together. Pictures gathered from various CCTV cameras show Waldeck, Miazga and Piotrowski walking back towards Waldeck's home in Dunsmore Road. Andreaus had become parted from them.

An hour and a half later Miazga and Piotrowski are seen back in the town centre attempting to use Waldeck's bank card, and eventually obtaining some cash.

On June 2n the bodies were found by a housemate who was brought home from hospital by a female friend.

It was discovered that Waldeck had suffered 'particularly severe' injuries to his chest and head with fractures to his skull, breast bone and ribs. The injuries were consistent with being stamped on or attacked with a heavy weapon.

Footprints were found on his body which an expert said came from at least two different shoes.

Andreaus also had severe head injuries: "All areas of his skull and facial bones had been fractured. His head was physically flattened either from heavy stamping or one or more blows from the bar bells."

She said examination of the bar bells revealed it had been used as a weapon and DNA from the absent suspect was found on them, said Miss Moore.

But she said no forensic evidence was found to link Miazga to the crime scene.

Miazga who lived in Leagrave Road at the time, moved within days to Brook Street.

He claimed he never went to the house but was in a drunken stupor in a nearby park, later meeting back up with Piotrowski.

Mr Justice Keith told Miazga that he believed Waldeck was killed first after something flared up between them.

"I believe Andreaus stumbled upon the crime and had to be silenced. They were both subjected to attacks of real savagery."

After the case Mariusz Markuszeski, a brother of the two dead men, who had listened to much of the case said in a statement: "A special thanks to Bedfordshire Police who have painstakingly put all the pieces together. I have never doubted the justice system in Great Britain and I have not been disappointed.

"However no punishment can justify our loss of our dearly loved brothers who are greatly missed."

The Judge also commended the police investigation.

Acting Det Chief Insp Andrew Richer said: "We do not consider the case closed until we have the other defendant tried here for the murders."

RICHARD DETTMER

2011-12-03T06:33:00.000-08:00

The killer of a popular Luton shopkeeper stabbed to death for the sake of a few pounds to spend on alcohol was jailed for a minimum of 31-and-a-half years in November 2009.

Jashbhai Patel was stabbed eight times by Richard Dettmer, 39, as he was opening the family business, Moon's Newsagents, in Park Street at 6.30am on June 14 2009.

Three hours earlier Dettmer had stabbed another man, James Foster, 18, who he had been drinking with in a park at Manor Road, Luton, and then demanded money from him.

Dettmer, who habitually carried a knife strapped to his leg, was angry at being thrown out of a friend's flat and having no money when he attacked Mr Patel.

The stabbing of Mr Foster had been potentially fatal, prosecutor Beverley Cripps said at Luton Crown Court.

She said a 77-year-old customer, Daniel Bacchus, had seen Dettmer struggling with Mr Patel in the shop doorway. He grabbed Dettmer and pushed him away and then saw the attacker had a knife.

Miss Cripps said: "He threatened the customer with it, saying 'if you want some more of the same', before taking some coins from the till area, possibly £20 or a little more. Then he fled.

"Mr Bacchus tried to help Mr Patel and dialled 999 before going to fetch his family who lived nearby. But he was in cardiac arrest and died shortly afterwards."

Dettmer was arrested at lunchtime the same day and at first made no reply to questions. But then he told an officer he wanted to make a confession. He first told how he stabbed Mr Foster twice in the back but the knife had then broken.

He said he had gone to the newsagents intending to steal a 'nourishment' drink. They were stored low down and when Mr Patel bent over he stabbed him.

He said: "It was a bit odd how that all came about. I stabbed him twice in the back and twice in the front [although it was in fact six times in the back and twice in the chest].

"He got up and started fighting me. I twisted the knife so he could not get hold of it."

Dettmer, of no fixed address, had originally intended to contest the murder charge on the grounds of diminished responsibility, but ten days ago wrote personally to the judge to say he wanted to plead guilty.

He has been examined by two psychiatrists who have diagnosed him with an emotionally unstable personality disorder.

Members of the family wore Tshirts with a picture of Mr Patel on the front to all court hearings.

Speaking on behalf of the family, Mr Patel's daughter, Jaina Patel, said: "Our family was a happy small family with a comfortable life and loving parents who would do anything to ensure that all our needs and wishes were fulfilled.

"My father came to this country from India to settle down and make a go of his life. He called this place home.

"He went on to build a reputation for himself and the people of Luton knew who he was, what type of man he was and what he would do for others.

"His friendliness was priceless. He would go above and beyond for anyone, especially those who needed help.

"If it was snowing he would deliver papers to his customers and many were elderly and could not get out of their houses.

"My dad was a genuine family man he was close to retirement and would look forward to seeing his grandson every day.

"With my niece she completed the family. Both grandchildren were my dad's pride and joy. Spoiling them, loving them and playing with them was something he made sure he did.

"On June 14 our lives changed in a way that was unimaginable. Our lives have come to a halt and we are rebuilding it, learning to live again but things will never be the same.

"We will miss his life which was devoted to his family and to those who were his close friends. This was not my dad's time to die."

JOHN O'ROURKE

2011-12-03T06:08:00.000-08:00

A man who flew into a “murderous rage” and battered his lover to death at her quiet country cottage has been found guilty of the frenzied attack and was sentenced to life on the 1st December 2011.

John O’Rourke, 66, used two glass ornaments to beat Amanda Sorrell, 55, around the head and body in a “prolonged, determined attack” in her bedroom.

The married former plumber had always admitted killing the divorced mother-of-two, who worked at Cornwall Registration Service, but denied her murder.

Jurors heard he was the sole carer for his wife, who suffered from paranoid schizophrenia. His five-year relationship with Ms Sorrell was known to family and friends.

Following a trial at Truro Crown Court, the jury took two-and-a-half hours to find O’Rourke, from Milton Abbot, near Tavistock, guilty of murder. He received a mandatory life sentence and was told by judge Graham Cottle he must serve a minimum term of 14 years, less the 419 days served on remand, before he can be considered for parole.

In evidence, O’Rourke said he could not remember killing Ms Sorrell at her home at Pempwell, near Stoke Climsland, South East Cornwall, on September 27 last year.

He has never revealed what sparked the attack and claimed he could not remember what he had done.

Judge Cottle told him: “You took Amanda Sorrell’s life in a most brutal way. “You literally battered her to death in a prolonged and determined attack.

“In view of the nature and extent of the injuries sustained by her it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that you intended she should not survive.

“It might be in the aftermath of your frenzied attack you regretted what you had done in taking the life of someone you had been in a relationship with for some years, a relationship which, by all accounts, both of you valued.”

Judge Cottle said his lack of an explanation for the murder left Ms Sorrell’s family with unanswered questions and he believed O’Rourke knew the reason.

He said: “I believe something happened to trigger your murderous rage and I believe you knew what that was but you have never revealed it at any stage.”

Much had been made during the trial of the mental strain O’Rourke had been under caring for his wife. Judge Cottle said that, while he understood the strain must have been “considerable”, he did not accept it caused the attack.

The court heard O’Rourke met Ms Sorrell at a local jazz club in 2005 and their blossoming relationship gave him an escape from his home life.

After O’Rourke killed his victim, he used a kitchen knife to stab himself in the neck and abdomen and paramedics later found scratches around his wrists in another apparent suicide attempt.

O’Rourke and Ms Sorrell were discovered lying on the bedroom floor behind the door with a duvet pulled over them by a friend and colleague of hers who became concerned that she failed to attend a meeting.

Ms Sorrell was on her back with a pillow under her head, O’Rourke lying cuddled up next to her.

After sentence was passed, O’Rourke’s two daughters, Victoria and Bobi, broke down in tears and were led away from the courtroom. Ms Sorrell’s family and friends also wept.

Speaking outside the court, her sons, Edward and William Salatas, aged 27 and 25 respectively, described Ms Sorrell as a “devoted mother, sister, auntie and dear friend to all”.

In a joint statement, they said: “When we heard of our mother’s horrific death our worlds fell apart. Amanda was only 55 when her life was taken, just three weeks before the birth of her first grandchild – something she was looking forward to more than anything.

“It’s impossible to begin to understand the cowardly and selfish actions of John, who violently murdered our mother.

“We will never know why he did what he did, but we are grateful that John’s failed suicide attempt has lead us to where we are today and that justice can be served on him.

“We take comfort knowing that he did not succeed with taking his own life after he took our mother’s and hope the memory of his actions haunt him until the day he finally dies alone.

“Even with the support and best efforts from the police officers in charge, we have still had to endure many delays. These delays have resulted in a 14-month wait for the trial and the sentence to finally be heard.”

They added: “During this time, John has shown no remorse for our mother or her family and friends.

“We are glad that today John O’Rourke has finally been found guilty of murdering our mum.

“We will always be shocked and perplexed that this has happened to such a lovely person.”

Detective Inspector Ian Ringrose of the major crime team, who led the investigation, said: “Amanda suffered a prolonged, vicious, inexplicable attack at the hands of John O’Rourke. “He has never offered any explanation for this completely inexplicable attack.

“Amanda was a well-respected and admired member of her local community and loved by family and friends.

“Hopefully now O’Rourke has been convicted they can start to rebuild their lives.”

CLEMENT MCNALLY

2011-12-03T05:42:00.000-08:00

A PSYCHOPATHIC Satanist, given a 'life means life' sentence for strangling his cell mate whilst already serving life for murder, has had that cut to 20 years by top judges on appeal.

The move came despite the admission that double killer, Clement McNally, is likely to pose the gravest risk to others for the rest of his life.

Dad-of-one Anthony Hesketh, of Eastham Way, Worsley, who was in custody for a driving offence and facing drugs charges, was found dead with a ligature made of T-shirt material around his neck in September 2003, on the floor of the Strangeways cell he shared with McNally.

McNally, 34, a devil worshiper who decorated his cell with satanic symbols and suffers from a toxic brew of psychopathic, narcissistic, paranoid and obsessive-compulsive disorders, all mixed together - was serving a mandatory life term for stabbing to death his friend, Arthur Skelly, outside a party in Ashton under Lyne in July 2002.

He was given a life term, with a whole life tariff, for thesecond killing, after pleading guilty to manslaughter by way of diminished responsibility at Manchester Crown Court on July 12 2004.

But now the minimum term on his life sentence has been slashed to 20 years by Lord Justice Hughes, at London's Criminal Appeal Court.

The judge said it was not right that McNally should be denied a light at the end of the tunnel and never have a chance of release.

McNally, who was prescribed anti-depressants and mood-stabilisers, had told a psychiatrist after being jailed for Mr Skelly's murder that he had worshipped the devil for two years and had been allowed to read books on the occult while in prison, some of which came from the prison library.

Satanic symbols

His cell was adorned with satanic symbols, including a pentagram and an inverted cross.

Nevertheless petty criminal, Mr Hesketh, was locked up with him and met his death through the man who called himself 'the hands and eyes of Satan.'

Lord Justice Hughes, sitting with Mr Justice MacKay and Mr Justice Davis, said of Mr Hesketh's killing: "McNally had no particular grievance against his victim - he simply suffered an urge to kill him.

"He said it was exciting - better than sex. He said Satan told him to do things and it was his job to do as he was told.

"He said he was not in the least bit sorry for what he had done, but had derived a great deal of pleasure from subsequently thinking about it.

"He suffers from compulsive homicidal urges and poses an exceptional risk to other prisoners. He made it perfectly clear that he would kill again if the opportunity arose and the urge to kill was of sufficient intensity."

However the judge said it was wrong not to give McNally the chance of being freed if, at some point in the future, his mental state stabilises to the extent that the authorities no longer consider him a danger to society.

He told the court: "The life sentence was plainly correct as he was likely to represent a danger of the gravest kind, for a period which could not be determined.

"However the imposition of a whole life tariff was a mistaken application of the process of sentencing.

"The life sentence itself is designed to cater for a prisoner in whom it cannot be seen when, or if ever, they will cease to be a danger to the public.

Danger

"The Parole Board will not release a prisoner under a life sentence until it is convinced that they no longer pose a danger to the public.

"The minimum term should be set on the basis of the severity of what the offender has done and his level of culpability for it.

"If this man never ceases to be a danger, he will never be released.

"But what cannot be known is whether his condition will change in the future.

"Accordingly, we set aside the order, declining to set a minimum term, and the question of his dangerousness now and in the future is reserved to the Parole Board.

"His culpability was plainly reduced because he was in the mentally abnormal condition that he was, but the circumstances and gravity of the acts were considerable.

"It was a second homicide within about 15 months. It was a pointless killing, generated simply to satisfy an internal impulse.

"The appropriate course now is to set a minimum term which takes account of both the murder and manslaughter offences. We arrive at a minimum term of 20 years.

"However, the plainest evidence of the absence of a risk would be needed before any consideration could be given to his release.

"It may very well be that there is never sufficient evidence of an absence of danger, but those decisions lie in the future and, to that extent, this appeal is allowed," the judge concluded.

WAYNE DOHERTY

2011-11-26T10:05:00.000-08:00

A builder caught by DNA evidence 27 years after raping and murdering a woman has been jailed for life.

Wayne Doherty, 50, raped and killed Norah Trott, 63, whose naked body was found dumped by the side of her garage in November 1978 in Rochford, Essex.

Doherty's DNA sample, obtained in 2004, matched an analysis of semen stains on the victim's clothing.

In November 2005, The judge at Basildon Crown Court said he must serve at least 23 years before being considered for release.

Doherty was also given a 10-year concurrent sentence for rape.

Outside court, Mrs Trott's former husband Ronald, 84, said: "This is a great day for the forensic science services and for justice and our jury system.

"I think that the forensic scientists and Essex Police have done a marvellous job in so diligently following up their inquiries 27 years after this terrible event.

"No-one can bring Norah back to enjoy the retirement she was looking forward to, but convicting her vicious killer is the next best thing."

The two-week trial heard Mrs Trott had been repeatedly struck in the face and her attacker had stamped on her body, breaking her voice box so she could not scream for help before he raped her.

Her killer was never caught but the jury heard that in July 2004, Doherty, who had lived close to Mrs Trott's home, was stopped for drink-driving in Cambridge.

A routine mouth swab matched a sample obtained by scientists from Mrs Trott's body and clothes, which had been placed on the national DNA database in March 2003.

Martyn Levett, prosecuting, said there was a one in 190 million chance of the DNA found on Mrs Trott's clothing not belonging to Doherty and a one in 180,000 chance of the DNA found on her body belonging to someone other than Doherty.

After the jury's unanimous guilty verdict the court heard Doherty had a conviction for indecently assaulting a two-year-old girl around 100 yards from where he killed Mrs Trott and a number of other convictions for unrelated offences.

Very dangerous man

Judge Philip Clegg said Doherty was "plainly a very dangerous" man from whom the public needed protection.

He praised the efforts of the forensic scientists and police involved in the case.

"It is entirely due to their perseverance and dedication that the perpetrator of this lady's rape and murder has finally been brought to justice," he said.

"I hope it brings a degree of resolution to those who have been mourning her death for many years."

SEAN CREIGHTON, SIMON TURNER, DANE GARSIDE, DEAN TAYLOR, MALCOLM BULL, KARL GARSIDE, IAN CAMERON.

2011-11-21T16:03:00.000-08:00

Seven members of the Outlaws motorcycle gang were sentenced to life in prison at Birmingham crown court on the 28^th November 2008 for the murder of Hells Angel Gerry Tobin.

The men were convicted of killing Tobin on the M40 in August 2007. The two last members of the south Warwickshire chapter of the club on trial were convicted of murder yesterday after jurors deliberated for eight days.

The seven include Sean Creighton, 44, from Coventry, who pleaded guilty to murder and firearms charges before the start of the trial last month.

The others were Simon Turner, 41, from Nuneaton, Dane Garside, 42, Dean Taylor, 47, Malcolm Bull, 53, Karl Garside, 45, and Ian Cameron, 46, all from Coventry.

The sentence was passed by Mr Justice Treacy.

The 35-year-old mechanic was shot on his way home from a bikers' festival. A green Rover in the outside lane of the M40 pulled alongside him and two shots were fired from different weapons. Tobin was hit just below his helmet and his customised Harley-Davidson spun on for 200 yards before it came to a halt.

Creighton, the man whose finger was on the trigger of one of the guns, claimed to be the "sergeant-at-arms" of the south Warwickshire chapter of the Outlaws, the main rivals to Hells Angels.

Creighton had plans for the Outlaws, long in the shadow of the Angels, to make their mark that weekend. For three days, he and fellow members had been carrying out reconnaissance on the roads round the Bulldog Bash festival in Warwickshire and from 5am that Sunday he had been ordering his fellow members into action.

Police believe the shooting was probably part of the feud between the two gangs and the hit must have been sanctioned at a high level by the Outlaws.

Detective Superintendent Ken Lawrence said: "They are taking a big risk which will have an impact on the whole organisation so it would be illogical to think that a chapter would do that acting alone." He said the chapter could have suggested the hit themselves or could have been given the task by a different part of the organisation. The Bulldog Bash was taking place on their territory.

Creighton directed the operation as the crowd of 30,000 left the festival. Along with two other men, Dane Garside and Turner, he parked the Rover in a layby on the A46 and waited for someone wearing the distinctive Hells Angels death's-head insignia to go past. Three others in the chapter, Dane's brother Karl, Cameron and Taylor, were in a Range Rover further up the motorway.

A seventh member, Bull, was in a third car, apparently acting as a link between the two groups. Creighton had decided that a Hells Angel – any Hells Angel – would die that day.

The Angels had attended the Bulldog Bash for 20 years. In the territorial world of motorcycle clubs, one club entering another's area can be a source of conflict but, according to other bikers, the Angels had long had tacit permission to attend the Bash and would not have had any notion of what awaited one of their members that day.

It is estimated that there are 250 Hells Angels in the UK and slightly fewer Outlaws. The gangs first clashed in the 1960s, when three Angels were murdered in the US.

Because such gangs do not cooperate with the police, detectives thought they were in for a protracted investigation. But while the hit was professional, the planning and the cover-up were amateurish.

The police knew they could be looking for a burnt-out Rover and when one was almost immediately reported, they investigated its pedigree. The name of the registered owner proved to be fictitious but its previous owner was Creighton. The Outlaws had left other clues: Creighton and Dane Garside were seen on CCTV at a nearby petrol station wrapped in hats and warm clothes on a hot summer's day and a search of the chapter's unofficial clubhouse in Coventry yielded two shotguns in a bag with Turner's fingerprints on it.

The detectives also had two unexpected breaks: Bull spoke to them, breaking one of the club's rules, and Creighton, faced with strong evidence against him, decided to plead guilty. Bull was separated from the other defendants in the dock and is in a different prison, now at risk not only from Hells Angels but from other Outlaws. The police speedily arrested all the members of the chapter.

Timothy Raggatt QC, prosecuting, had told the jury of six men and six women: "This wasn't a case of a man being killed for any personal motive or any personal reason. This was a man who was targeted not because of who he was, but because of what he was. In one sense, Gerry Tobin was a random victim."

VINCENT TABAK

2011-10-30T17:33:00.000-07:00

On Friday the 28^th October 2011, at Bristol Crown Court, Vincent Tabak was sentenced to life imprisonment for murdering his neighbour Joanna Yeates. The judge has ordered that he must spend at least 20 years in prison.

Mr Justice Field said Tabak, who was flanked by six security guards in the dock, was guilty of an evil and wicked act and is a "very dangerous" individual.

Yeates's parents were not in court to hear the verdict but her boyfriend Greg Reardon stared at Tabak, visibly shaken and close to tears as he was led from the dock. In a statement from her parents read out by police outside court, they said: "It is a regret that capital punishment is not an option."

The Dutch engineer strangled 25-year-old Yeates at her flat in Bristol before bundling her body into the boot of his car and dumping it on a snowy roadside verge.

During his trial the prosecution claimed that Tabak, 33, was motivated by sex when he attacked Yeates at her home on 17 December 2010.

It suggested he may have spied on the landscape architect and claimed that an important feature of the case was that when her body was found on Christmas morning, her top had been pulled above her bra and part of one breast was exposed. His DNA was found on Yeates's chest.

The jury did not hear during the trial that when police delved into Tabak's computers after his arrest they discovered an interest in hardcore pornography, some of which featured strangulation and bondage.

He accessed a portal to a pornographic site on the day he killed Yeates. Following the killing he sometimes navigated between reports about her disappearance and pornography.

Police were particularly interested in an image on one of his computers showing a slight blonde woman, resembling Yeates, with her pink top pulled up.

Police analysts also found that during business trips Tabak researched escort agencies. While in Los Angeles shortly before his attack on Yeates, police believe, he may have twice used the services of a sex worker, once after checking into a hotel under a false name.

The judge, Mr Justice Field, ruled that the value of the evidence in explaining why Tabak acted as he did could not outweigh the prejudice it would cause his defence.

After Tabak appeared in the witness box and portrayed himself as a loving man devoted to his girlfriend, Tanja Morson, the prosecution argued that the jury ought to be told about the evidence relating to escort girls. The judge disagreed and the jury did not hear the evidence.

After the verdict, the judge told Tabak, "In my view you are very dangerous. In my opinion you are thoroughly deceitful, dishonest and manipulative.

"When you entered her flat on the evening of 17 December last year you did not even know her name and had virtually nothing to do with her.

"You proceeded to strangle her, intending, in my judgment, to kill her.

"A dreadful, evil act committed against a vulnerable unsuspecting young woman in her own home.

"That wicked act ended the life of a young woman who was entitled to expect a life of happiness and fulfilment."

Speaking outside the family home in Ampfield, near Romsey, Hampshire, Yeates's parents, David and Theresa, said in a statement: "We are not elated. We always knew that he was guilty, whatever the jury decided. We are, however, relieved with the murder verdict because we do not know how we would have reacted if they had come back with manslaughter.

"We are feeling mixed emotions, but we don't really have any anger. Tabak has shown no remorse – in court he made noises, but there was nothing there.

"After Jo died we tried to put our lives back together. The trial was something we had to go through and now we've got to try and get back to life before that.

"It hasn't changed anything. Jo is still dead."

Tabak may face further police questioning about some of the material found on his computer.

During the trial Tabak claimed Yeates invited him into her Clifton flat and he made a pass at her when she made a "flirtatious" remark to him.

He said she screamed when he attempted to kiss her and he put one hand over her mouth and another around her throat to "calm" her. Tabak claims he gripped her for about 20 seconds before she fell lifeless to the floor.

Neither the prosecution nor those close to Yeates believed she flirted with him. Nor did they believe Tabak's claim that she did not struggle when he held her by the neck.

The judge said there were no mitigating features in the case – only aggravating factors – and he proceeded to outline them. "There is a sexual element to the killing of Joanna Yeates," the judge said.

"On your own evidence, after an acquaintanceship of only a few minutes, you moved to kiss Joanna and I am quite satisfied that you did not intend to stop there and intended to go much further.

"It was only because of her loud and gestured screams that your sexual purpose was frustrated."

As he sent the jury away to consider its verdict, the judge said the central point to consider was whether Tabak had intended to kill or seriously harm Yeates. If the jurors were sure of that, they would return a verdict of guilty.

Tabak had admitted manslaughter but denied murder.
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ALAN COOPER

2011-10-27T05:32:00.000-07:00

A 'highly dangerous' man who stabbed his teenage nephew to death in a petty argument over a mobile phone was jailed for life on the 23rd September 2011.

Alan Cooper killed 14-year-old Jordan in front of the schoolboy's grandmother - his own mother - at her home in Washington, Tyne and Wear.

Cooper and Jordan were living with Susan Smith at her house in Newriggs when the argument broke out.

They rowed after Jordan used the 32-year-old's phone to contact a girlfriend on Facebook and Cooper joked that he would contact the girl later.

Mrs Smith defused the tension and she and her grandson went to watch television her room.

As they sat in the dark, her son burst in and attacked Jordan, then continuing the brutality outside the room.

Mrs Smith called the police and said: 'My son is killing my grandson.'

When paramedics arrived, the injured boy said to them: 'I'm going to die aren't I?'

Judge Milford said the paramedic had made a statement explaining the particular impact the murder had on him.

Cooper admitted killing Jordan but claimed he had suffered an abnormality of mind which diminished his responsibility.

A jury at Newcastle Crown Court convicted Cooper of murder by a majority, before judge John Milford jailed him for life.

The judge said he was a 'highly dangerous' man and would have to serve at least 22 years before being considered for parole.

The court had heard that Cooper had a history of violence towards family members when drunk and multiple convictions for violence, arson, dishonesty and car crimes. In one attack, he attempted to gouge out his father's eyes.

'Highly dangerous': Alan Cooper, 32, has a string of previous convictions for drunken violence towards family members.

Cooper killed Jordan while on bail for a horrific attack on his girlfriend in which she was forced to crawl naked to a neighbour's home for help.

He left her with a perforated duodenum which had to be repaired surgically, causing scars which meant 'she could never again wear a bikini'.

Mitigating, Alastair MacDonald QC said Cooper had an 'excellent relationship' with Jordan before the attack.

He said: 'He is a man who tried desperately to battle against his anger but failed.

We have suffered an unbearable loss. I cannot adequately describe the gaping hole his death has left in our lives or the despair that we feel - Susan Smith

'He has now lost every tie with his family. He has not been visited in prison at all, for obvious reasons.

'He is now deprived of even the basic succour of a family when he is going to serve what will inevitably be a long sentence.'

But Judge Milford told Cooper: 'You have been a bully since you were a small child and given to losing your temper and using violence, which is more likely when you have taken drink.

'You took the decision to kill Jordan, which you did not repent. You take no responsibility for your actions.'

Cooper remained expressionless as he was taken down.

Mrs Smith said: 'We have suffered an unbearable loss. I cannot adequately describe the gaping hole his death has left in our lives or the despair that we feel.'

Detective Inspector Gareth Craig, who led the investigation, said: 'Alan Cooper's actions led to the tragic death of a boy who had his whole future ahead of him.

'The loss of Jordan has been felt by not just his family but his friends and people he went to school with.

'I'd like to thank Jordan's family for their assistance during this investigation and the dignity they've shown despite difficult circumstances, something which has been recognised and praised by the judge in court.

'I hope they can eventually move on from what has been a horrific ordeal.'

A statement on behalf of Jordan's family read: 'This is not a victory for us. There are no winners out of this trial. It doesn't change anything. We have to live with our pain every day and the knowledge that we will never have Jordan back.

'The jury came to the right decision and we are grateful to them for that.

'Justice has been done and now we have to try to rebuild our lives without Jordan.

'We would like to say that we conducted ourselves with Jordan in mind.

JOSHUA DAVIES

2011-10-16T20:29:00.000-07:00

Joshua Davies, 16, was jailed for life on the 2^nd September 2011 at Swansea Crown Court, for battering 15-year-old Rebecca Alyward to death with a rock and was told he would spend at least 14 years behind bars before being eligible for parole.

Davies was found guilty of luring Rebecca into woods near their homes. He tried to frame a friend over the killing and his barrister, Peter Rouch QC, told the court that he still insisted that he was not involved.

Mr Rouch said: "Although all murders are senseless, you can usually derive a reason or motive for the killing.

"In this case it is difficult to reason why it was that Rebecca came to be killed. All that we can say is that what happened in the forest that day had a terrible and ruinous effect."

The court was told that psychiatrists who had spoken to Davies found no condition that might explain his brutal attack. It heard that Davies had been a well-liked boy with no history of violence.

But the judge Mr Justice Lloyd Jones told Davies that he had a "deep-seated hatred towards Rebecca which eventually led you to kill her".

He said the teenagers had separated a year earlier with "bitterness" on both sides. He called Davies "devious, calculating and controlling".

Addressing Rebecca's family, the judge accepted that no sentence could make up for a lost life. Rebecca's killing was a huge shock in Maesteg, her home town, and the village of Aberkenfig, where the killing took place and where Davies lived.

The jury heard that Davies and Rebecca had known each other for some years and dated for three months.

After they parted, Davies began to talk about killing Rebecca, telling friends he would find a way of murdering her and getting away with it. He spoke of making a poison out of plants such as deadly nightshade.

Davies once asked his friends what they would give him if he carried out the killing. They say they did not take him seriously and promised to buy him breakfast if he did it.

On 23 October 2010 Davies and Rebecca arranged to meet in woods at Aberkenfig, a popular hangout for teenagers.

Rebecca wore an outfit she had bought the day before, possibly believing they were going to get back together. Before he left for the woods Davies smiled at one of his friends and told him: "The time has come."

After the attack, when a friend phoned him in the woods to ask him if he was with Rebecca, Davies coolly asked him to define what he meant by "with".

He later boasted to friends that he had attacked Rebecca, who was slightly built, from behind. She was screaming and the worst thing, he said, was seeing her skull give way. The rock he used to batter her was so heavy that in court during the trial an official struggled to pick it up with one hand.

Following the murder, Davies summoned a friend to the woods. The boy described in court how he "glimpsed" Rebecca's body lying face down, her arms splayed out. Davies was a "bit shaky" but "didn't seem upset at what he'd done".

The alarm was raised and a search was launched after Rebecca failed to return home.

Meanwhile, Davies updated his Facebook page to say he was "chilling" with friends. He had a cup of tea and watched Strictly Come Dancing and the film No Country for Old Men.

During the search for Rebecca he sent a text asking her to get in touch: "We're all worried," he wrote.

Rebecca's body was found in the woods the next day.

JONATHAN VASS

2011-10-16T19:22:00.000-07:00

A man who stabbed his ex-partner to death while on bail charged with raping her has been given a life sentence of imprisonment at Preston Crown Court in October 2010.

Ambulance technician and former bouncer Jonathan Vass, 30, was given a minimum 30-year term for the murder of nurse Jane Clough, 26, the mother of his baby daughter.

He had been due to stand trial on nine rape charges and murdered her to stop her giving evidence against him.

Judge Anthony Russell QC handed down a mandatory life sentence before telling Vass, that he would not be eligible for release until 2040.

Jane Clough was found with multiple stab wounds outside Blackpool Victoria hospital on Sunday 25 July 2010. She died after being taken to the accident and emergency department where she worked.

Her parents and family wept and hugged each other as the court heard for the first time that after stabbing and slashing her with a 7.6cm blade Vass walked away momentarily, then went back to slit her throat.

"As she lay bleeding you walked away but then returned and slowly, deliberately and cold-bloodedly slit her throat," Judge Russell said as he passed sentence.It is difficult to imagine a more horrific crime

than this murder. Furthermore it was a crime motivated by real hatred and revenge.

"This was a deliberate, brutal and callous murder for which you have shown no remorse and no care for your own daughter.

"Jane Clough was a nurse who devoted her life to the care of others. She had the misfortune to become involved with you.

"She bore your child and then you murdered her, leaving your infant child without a mother and with the prospect of growing up to learn one day that her father murdered her mother."

The court heard that Clough had kept a diary detailing her abuse and fears of Vass and what he might do. She and her family had been "rocked and devastated" when he was bailed on the rape charges, leaving her "extremely concerned for her safety".

She left home to live with her parents and recorded in her diary that she was worried "Johnny was going to do something stupid".

Another entry read of fears he would "get his revenge", adding: "What's he going to do?"

Dennis Watson QC, prosecuting, said it was clear the motive for the murder was to prevent Clough giving evidence.

Watson said the couple had met while both working at the hospital but their relationship was troubled because of Vass. "He was a jealous man who wished to dominate and have complete control over Jane despite the fact that, unknown to her, he was carrying on a relationship with two other women at the same time,"

In November that year she reported him to police, complaining to officers of months of physical and sexual abuse and repeated rapes that continued when she was heavily pregnant.

Text messages between the pair were read out. She sent him a message saying: "You have hurt, raped and reduced me to tears on countless occasions ... and you want to get engaged and have more kids? Why?"

He replied: "We are staying together regardless of our problems."

Another said: "You physically and sexually abuse me. You threatened to kill me the other night."

Among Vass's replies was: "Please can I come home ... best behaviour promise."

He was charged with nine rapes and assault in November 2009 and told a work colleague, a former boyfriend of Jane Clough, that if he was found guilty he would kill her. The friend dismissed the threat as bravado.

When it became clear she was prepared to give evidence in court Vass decided to act, the court heard.

Detective Superintendent Neil Esseen, who led the inquiry, said: "There is no doubt in my mind that he committed this brutal murder to prevent this brave young woman from having her day in court. Clough was a new mum who had everything to live for. She enjoyed her job at the hospital and had many friends there, but she was cruelly taken away from those who loved her by Jonathan Vass in the most violent of circumstances."

PHILIP SMITH

2011-10-03T21:24:00.000-07:00

9th November 2000,The smouldering body of Jodie Hyde aged 21, was found near an adventure play area in Birmingham. Jodie was a drug addict who had made friends with Smith in the Rainbow pub in Digbeth, Birmingham. He then took her back to his flat.

After he killed her, her naked body was put into the back of Smith's Volvo car and driven to open land at Ackers Trust, an adventure play area in Birmingham.

He wrapped the body in a blanket and bound with a green rope.
Her body had received 60% burns and had to be identified by her fingerprints.

A post-mortem examination showed she had been strangled before being rolled up in a carpet and set on fire.

12th November 2000, Smith then battered to death Rosemary Corcoran aged 25, and Carol Jordan aged 39.

Smith had beaten Miss Corcoran with such force that she was physically unrecognisable

.
Identification of her body was only possible through fingerprints and dental records after her jaw was put back together.

Her body was discovered in a lane close to the Robin Hood pub at Rashwood, near Droitwich Spa, Worcestershire.

20 miles away in Lea Bank, Birmingham, a dog walker found the battered body of mother-of-six Rosemary Jordan in parkland.

Victims' clothes were found in Smith's bath

Mrs Jordan had been knocked down by Smith as she walked to work. She had been badly beaten and had to be identified through her dental records.

Hours before Ms Corcoran's body was found, Smith was caught on CCTV violently struggling with her outside a club in Handsworth.

A few hours later, a pensioner said they saw a man fitting Smith's description, with bloodstained clothing, filling a petrol can in Bromsgrove, a neighbouring town to Droitwich.

Experts from the Forensic Science Service in Birmingham analysed a massive amount of evidence in this case, the results linked Smith to each victim.

Wednesday 18th July, 2001, Originally denying all charges, halfway through his trial at Leicester Crown Court, Smith changed his plea to guilty. Smith was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum 25 years.

After Smith, was jailed, West Midlands Police Chief Superintendent Ellie Baker said: "Philip Smith is already a triple killer and we would be wrong to leave it at that, we need to search further."

Investigations will go back 20 years across several forces but at present, detectives say he is not being positively linked with any unsolved crimes at this time.

ADRIAN PROUT

2011-10-03T17:51:00.000-07:00

A Gloucestershire landowner has been ordered to serve a minimum of 18 years in prison for murdering his wife.

Adrian Prout, 47, was found guilty on Friday 5th February 2010, of murdering Kate Prout, 55. Her body has never been found.

His trial at Bristol Crown Court was told that before her disappearance she had asked her husband for a divorce.

Mrs Prout's brother Richard Wakefield, has urged Prout, of Redmarley, to reveal where he hid her body.

Sentencing Prout to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 18 years, Mr Justice Nigel Davis said:

"One of the pieces of evidence that sticks in my mind is that Kate Prout used to remember her parents by placing flowers on their grave.

"I expect her family would like to place flowers on her grave but they can't, and they can't because of you."

He continued: "It was said on your behalf that there was some sort of stress or a degree of provocation. I couldn't accept even that.

"The truth is you allowed your temper to erupt and it was your anger that killed her.

"How you killed her is only known to you. You most probably did it by strangling her."

We will continue to appeal to Prout to give Kate's family the chance to say a proper goodbye by revealing where her body is.

Det Supt Neil Kelly, Gloucestershire Police

The last time anyone heard from Mrs Prout was 1529 GMT on 5 November, when she called her bank.

Since then no agencies have had any contact with her, including banks and passport agencies, and a prolonged police hunt has failed to find a trace.

Defending counsel Elizabeth Marsh said a "prolonged period of stress" could be considered as a mitigating factor.

Miss Marsh said there had been several events leading up to Mrs Prout's disappearance, in particular 27 October 2007, when she drunkenly abused Prout in front of friends at the local pub.

The three-week long trial had heard that Mrs Prout had demanded an £800,000 divorce settlement from her husband.

This would have meant he would have had to sell the £1.2m farmhouse, near Gloucester.

Prout ran a pipe-laying business and a pheasant shoot from the property, Redhill Farm.

Kate Prout disappeared from her home in November 2007

Speaking after the case, Mrs Prout's brother Richard Wakefield said: "Nothing will bring Kate back to us, but we are pleased that justice has been done.

"We would, however, appeal to Adrian to tell us what happened to Kate and where she is because we would like to lay her to rest and say our goodbyes."

Det Supt Neil Kelly, of Gloucestershire Police said: "We will continue to appeal to Prout to give Kate's family the chance to say a proper goodbye by revealing where her body is."

Prout, who has become a father with another partner since Mrs Prout's disappearance, is thought to have strangled her and then used his expertise as a professional pipe-layer to bury her body.

Prout Confesses to the murder here

Adrian Prout shows police where body is buried here

Watch killer Adrian Prout's police interview here.

SCOTT HANCOX & AMANDA ALLDEN

2011-10-03T07:03:00.000-07:00

A drug dealer and his lover have been jailed for life for murdering a boy and dumping his body in a recycling bin.

Scott Hancox, 35, and Amanda Allden, 29, were found guilty at Worcester Crown Court in May 2009, of killing 17-year-old Nathan Lyons, of Birmingham.

Nathan's body was found on 13 May at a recycling depot in south-east London.

Drug dealer Hancox, of Fownhope Close, Redditch, and Allden, of Burcot Lane, Bromsgrove, were given minimum tariffs of 17 and Allden 15 years respectively.

They also received concurrent sentences of three years and three-and-a-half years after admitting perverting the course of justice.

'Viciously attacked'

Their trial was told Nathan had been employed by a Birmingham gang to mind to drugs that had been sent to Hancox.

Nathan Lyons' body was found in a waste depot in London

The prosecution said he was murdered in Hancox's flat on either 30 April or 1 May after it is thought he refused to hand over drugs to the defendants.

Both lovers had blamed each other for the murder but they were both found guilty by a jury on Tuesday.

Mr Justice Penry-Davey said Hancox had "viciously attacked" Nathan Lyons with a wooden club and had been encouraged by Allden.

He said both were "driven by the need for more and more drugs".

Nathan's body was then dumped by the pair in a rubbish bin and his body was found after travelling more than 150 miles through the recycling system to Craydord, in south-east London.

In a statement, Nathan's aunt Jacky Lyons said: "Nathan was one of 11 children and, because of other people's greed and addiction to class A drugs, our Nathan was brutally murdered.

"His death has devastated our family and our lives will never be the same again.

"We cannot find the words to express the pain we feel.

"In his short life he brought so much joy to everyone who knew him and he will never be forgotten."

Det Ch Insp Dave Morgan, of West Mercia Police, said: "They (the defendants) chose a life of crime and would literally go to any length to deal drugs so they could feed their habit.

"They were responsible for this horrific and frenzied attack which resulted in the brutal murder of Nathan Lyons and most people will feel their callous behaviour simply beggars belief."

ANDREW DAWSON

2011-10-03T06:35:00.000-07:00

A convicted murderer who branded himself the 'Angel of Mercy' after butchering two of his neighbours thought other serial killers were 'wimps'.

Andrew Dawson was sentenced to a term of whole-life imprisonment on 20th July 2011, for stabbing defenceless John Matthews and Paul Hancock to death in separate attacks, before leaving their bodies in their bathtubs.

The 48-year-old told police he felt an 'urge to kill' before knocking on the men's doors in the block of flats in Chaddesden, Derby, where they lived, and launching frenzied assaults on them.

Dawson, who has already served one life sentence for a murder he committed in 1981, wrote a rambling note to police confessing to one of the killings which he signed: 'Yours, the Angel of Mercy'.

His brother has called him a 'psycho', claiming it is 'only a matter of time' before he kills a fellow inmate while serving his jail term.

Malcolm Dawson, 51, said: 'They should have left him in there the first time.

'When they said life they should have meant it and kept him in for life. I was best man at his wedding but I would never turn my back on him for a second.

'I know what he is like - he has no conscience. He was always talking about The Yorkshire Ripper, Peter Sutcliffe, and all these other murderers, saying they were wimps.

'I think he will take himself out or he will try and do one of the other inmates - he is pure evil, a total psycho.

Murder scene: Dawson savagely attacked John Matthews and Paul Hancock in the block of flats that they shared with him, pictured

The remains of kitchen porter Mr Matthews, 66, were discovered by police officers on 25th July 2010, after he was reported missing by concerned relatives and work colleagues.

Five days later, 58-year-old Mr Hancock, who lived on the floor above Dawson and Mr Matthews in the block of flats, was also found dead.

THE RAMBLING NOTE DAWSON SENT TO POLICE

'to head of homicide
I wAnt to confess to a Murder
I stabbed a man to death
A man lies in a bath of wAteroweverH
2 mAjor wounds to his left side

1 Maybe two too his chest
ONE To his BACK ---- ONE
to his the base of his
neck

This is NO HOAX
IF U Don't find him
In a week I will
Give you his ADDRe(s)(s)

The Pink Rose WAS
nice Touch
YOURS
(TH)e Angel (OF) MERCY

Both had suffered terrible injuries, with Mr Matthews receiving at least 18 stab wounds to the face, neck and head, and Mr Hancock at least 22, to the head, chest and body.

After killing Mr Matthews, Dawson had carefully cleaned the flat in a bid to remove any evidence linking him to the crime - although he did leave a pink rose at the scene.

But before stabbing his second victim, two weeks later, he donned waterproof clothing and rubber gloves in an attempt to avoid leaving any clues behind.

Nottingham Crown Court heard Dawson had already served a life sentence for another murder, committed in 1981, before being released in 1999.

He denied murdering Mr Matthews and Mr Hancock on the grounds of diminished responsibility - but suddenly changed his plea on the first day of his trial.

He was given a whole-life jail term by judge Mrs Justice Dobbs, who said Dawson's victims had 'done nothing to upset him'.

Dawson was arrested in Whitehaven, Cumbria - more than 200 miles from the scene of the killings, in Chaddesden, Derby. Police officers found him with camping gear, and a number of kitchen knives.

Speaking after the case, Detective Inspector Paul Callum, of Derbys Police, said: 'We are satisfied that Dawson will never be released. He is a very evil individual, and these were planned, and horrific, offences.'

NATHAN MANN

2011-10-03T05:27:00.000-07:00

A teenager burglar who killed two patients after breaking into a nursing home was jailed for life in July 2008, with a recommendation he serve a minimum of 24 years and three months. Nathan Mann was just 19 when he carried out his horrific attack on Rashmi Badiani and Radhaben Chauhan after getting into the ground-floor room they shared through a window.

Both were bed-bound and helpless to resist Mann as he beat 56-year-old Mrs Badiani to death and smothered Mrs Chauhan, 72, with her bedclothes.

Mann admitted being in the two friends' room at the Hayes Park Nursing Home, Leicester, in November 2007, but has refused to say why he killed them.

At Nottingham Crown Court, he pleaded guilty to the murders, his counsel denied suggestions of a sexual motive

Police revealed a member of staff who was carrying out a routine early-morning check discovered the pair’s bodies just before 4am on November 7 2007, and believe Mann killed them after sneaking into their ground-floor room through an insecure window at around 11.30pm the night before.

Mrs Chauhan, was beaten to death.

Mrs Badiani smothered

Det Insp Mark Harrison, of Leicestershire police, who led the investigation, said officers would probably never know why Mann turned to murder.

He said the killer had admitted entering the women’s room with the intention of stealing something but had said nothing about what else happened.

Mr Harrison said: ‘Mrs Badiani suffered severe head injuries. No weapon was found, and we were left to deduce that he used his own hands.

‘Mrs Chauhan was smothered with her own bedclothes, which we assume included her pillow.

‘The level of violence against two bed-bound women, both of whom needed constant medical care, is an indication of extreme cowardice.

‘You have to ask why it was necessary to take these two lives and leave their families utterly devastated. There was little of value to steal.’

Detectives were never able to establish whether Mann, who was arrested the day after the killings, actually stole anything from the home.

During legal argument before Mann’s guilty pleas Timothy Spencer QC, prosecuting, suggested there may have been a sexual motive.

He said: ‘Whatever might have been going on in his head, the facts indicate that sexual conduct had taken place in both of these killings.’

But Paul Mann QC, defending, said: ‘We accept the ladies concerned were partially undressed, but he has no recollection of how that came to be.’

The judge ordered medical reports to be carried out on Mann, of Avonside Drive, Crown Hills, Leicester, who admitted two charges of murder.

After the hearing Det Ch Insp Phil Smith described the killer, who has previous convictions for burglary, as ‘a violent and dangerous individual’.

He said: ‘Nathan Mann took the lives of two defenceless and vulnerable women in an unprovoked and cowardly attack as they lay in their beds.

‘This was an horrific incident that devastated two families. I hope that once the sentence is handed out they will be able to begin to rebuild their lives.’

Speaking on behalf of her family, Dilip Popat, Mrs Badiani’s brother-in-law, said Mann deserved never to leave prison for such shocking crimes.

He said: ‘He took away the right to life of two vulnerable women, and for that we would like to see him never having the joy of a normal life.

‘He has taken the smile from our faces and made our lives a misery. We have lost a dear and loved member of our family, and that pain will never go away.’

Mr Chauhan’s son-in-law, Vinjay Solanki, added: ‘My mother-in-law was a strong-willed lady who had devoted her life to helping others.

‘She was recovering from a stroke and looking forward to her grandson’s wedding. She was loved by all her family and always had a smile on her face.

‘Mann took away from us one very precious person who can never be replaced. We will never forgive him - and he must pay for his crime.’

The nursing home, in Cropthorne Avenue, a quiet cul-de-sac in the Rowlatts Hill area of Leicester, offers accommodation for around 50 residents.

It caters for the elderly, people with learning and physical disabilities, people with dementia and people suffering from mental disorders.

Police said that, although Mann was able to enter through an insecure window, they were satisfied the home met ‘standard safety requirements’.

ANTHONY HARDY

2011-10-01T14:39:00.000-07:00

A man who killed three women and mutilated two of them to satisfy his "depraved and perverted" sexual cravings was jailed for life on 25th November 2003.

Anthony Hardy had been released from a psychiatric hospital just weeks before he dismembered two of his victims, leaving their body parts in bin bags near his home in Camden, north London.

Nine months earlier officers had discovered the body of another woman in his flat, but her death had been put down to natural causes.

It emerged that Hardy had also previously been investigated about a series of rapes.

Earlier, he pleaded guilty at the Old Bailey to all three murders. Giving him three life sentences, Mr Justice Keith told him: "Only you know for sure how your victims met their deaths but the unspeakable indignities to which you subjected the bodies of your last two victims in order to satisfy your depraved and perverted needs are in no doubt."

The partial remains of Brigette MacClennan, 34, and Elizabeth Valad, 29, were found by a tramp rummaging in bins near Hardy's flat in the early hours of December 30, 2002. The body of , 31, had been discovered at the flat the previous January.

All of the women were drug addicts and had worked as prostitutes in north London.

The court heard that Hardy, 53, had an obsession with pornography and may have killed the women so that he could photograph their bodies.

Forty-four pictures of MacClennan and Valad were found by officers. They showed both women naked apart from a baseball cap - worn by Hardy when he was arrested - or a decorative "devil's mask". Both were dead when the pictures were taken.

Mr Horwell said: "Whether he intended to kill his first victim or else to do her serious bodily harm, it is the Crown's case that by the time he killed victims two and three, he must have intended to kill them."

He added: "We do not profess to have every piece of this disturbing jigsaw, but the defendant had an obsession with pornography and liked to dominate women. A motive for the murders we suggest is that he decided to kill these women in order to photograph them in various positions which he had arranged when they were dead."

Mr Horwell said Hardy had been preparing White to be photographed when he was disturbed in January by police investigating a dispute between him and a neighbour.

Officers discovered White's naked body on a bed in a locked room and Hardy was arrested for murder. However, a postmortem examination ruled she had died from a heart attack caused by a longstanding condition. "In the light of that [natural causes] conclusion police had no choice but to agree that no further action could be taken against the defendant," Mr Horwell said.

Hardy pleaded guilty to the criminal damage charge arising from the neighbour dispute and was sentenced under the Mental Health Act. He spent time at St Luke's hospital in Muswell Hill, north London, until he was discharged on November 4 last year - less than two months before the body parts were found.

Following that discovery a massive hunt was launched and officers recovered more body parts in bins around Hardy's home and found Valad's torso at his flat.

An examination revealed that both women received injuries consistent with strangulation and that their bodies had been mutilated after death with a sharp instrument.

The court heard that knives and saws were recovered from Hardy's home
.

Outside court, Detective Chief Inspector Ken Bell, who led the investigation, said it was the most disturbing case he had been involved in. "It has always been the belief of the investigating team that a man in possession of all his faculties committed these murders.

"Hardy is a dangerous, devious and manipulative man. He took his victims to his flat where he murdered all three vulnerable women.

"Hardy dismembered his last two victims with considerable skill, whether this was part of his gratification or simply an attempt to hide his crimes we will never know."

The police are now looking into unsolved murders going back 20 years to see if Hardy had a hand in other attacks. Scotland Yard said he had previously been investigated for a number of rapes and an indecent assault. Police would not disclose details but a Yard spokeswoman said that a file had been sent to the crown prosecution service which decided there was "insufficient evidence".

DCI Bell said there was an investigation ongoing now that was looking at possible links to other attacks and Hardy, although nothing concrete had yet been found.

ANTHONY JOSEPH

2011-10-01T13:50:00.000-07:00

Anthony Joseph has been detained indefinitely for killing another man on a night bus in north London in 2005. It is the latest in a series of cases which have highlighted the difficulty of judging if someone has genuine mental health problems. Is there not a better way?

CASE HISTORIES:

Wayne Royston killed a man in Bargoed, south Wales. Prosecution refused to accept diminished responsibility plea. Jailed for life for murder in Nov 2006

Stuart Harling jailed for life in Jun 2007 for murder of nurse Cheryl Moss. Harling's lawyers claimed he suffered from Asperger's syndrome and a personality disorder

Kemal Dogan given life on 12 Dec 2007. Claimed he was suffering from severe depression when he killed wife Aygul

Anthony Joseph claimed to be schizophrenic. Two trials ended in hung juries. Prosecution finally accepted plea of guilty to manslaughter on grounds of diminished responsibility. Sent to Broadmoor on 20 Dec 2007

Garath Davies convicted of murdering jogger Egeli Rasta despite diminished responsibility defence. Sentenced next month

Killer schizophrenic detained

Stabbing a complete stranger to death for no apparent reason may appear - to the layman - to be the actions of a "madman".

But when it comes to the law there is a fine line between being "mad or bad".

Every year dozens of juries all over the country are asked to decide for themselves - based on often diametrically opposed views from psychiatric experts - if someone is guilty of murder or manslaughter, due to diminished responsibility.

In recent months there have been a number of high-profile trials in which there was little doubt the man in the dock was the killer but he and his legal team were seeking to persuade the jury that a mental disorder had removed his ability to form intent.

The case of Anthony Joseph was one of the hardest to judge.
Joseph's defence counsel, Philip Katz QC, claimed his client was suffering from the onset of schizophrenia when he killed Richard Whelan on a night bus in north London in July 2005.

The prosecution initially refused to accept the diminished responsibility defence. At the retrial Victor Temple, QC, said: "The defendant had been drinking and taking drugs and needed little or no excuse to turn his pent up anger against the innocent victim."

He pointed out Joseph had gone out and bought a knife only hours after being freed from prison.

The defence of diminished responsibility in this case has been used as a defence for the indefensible, with so much evidence showing that Anthony Joseph was an angry and vindictive man

Whelan family

Two psychiatrists gave differing views and two juries were unable to reach verdicts, with the prosecution eventually agreeing to accept the diminished responsibility plea.

Richard's family were angry and his sister, Teresa Ward, said outside court that diminished responsibility was a "defence for the indefensible".

Last week the government announced "the next step in the first comprehensive review of murder law for 50 years".

The Ministry of Justice said it was seeking the views of key "stakeholders" on a report by the Law Commission which suggested, among other things, a reform of the defence of diminished responsibility.

It promised that if changes were necessary draft legislation would be published for public consultation next summer.

A Ministry of Justice spokeswoman said: "Where mental disorder is cited as a diminished responsibility defence, a successful defence may lead to a hospital order which requires evidence from at least two psychiatrists, one of whom must be registered as having special experience in the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorder."

Killer 'depressed'

But in several recent cases psychiatrists have given very different views on the sanity of the defendant.

Kemal Dogan went on trial accused of murdering his wife, Aygul, after he found her exposing herself on a webcam and flirting with another man in an internet cafe near their home in north London.

Dr Tony Nayani, giving evidence for the defence, said Dogan had been suffering from "medium to severe" depression at the time of the killing and had also reported hearing voices and seeing animals talking to him.

But two other psychiatrists disagreed with Dr Nayani's diagnosis.

One of them, Dr Thomas McLintock, told the court that Dogan was possibly "malingering" and may have been "coached by another patient".

He said there were serious inconsistencies in the symptoms Dogan was presenting and he pointed out that the defendant smiled and laughed when he was visited by his family at the John Howard Centre, a forensic mental health unit in east London.

The jury found Dogan guilty of murder and he was jailed for life.

The government has in the past suggested removing juries from complex fraud trials, although it has yet to introduce legislation.

'Jury right forum'

Barristers have opposed the idea of doing away with juries in fraud cases and Sally O'Neill QC, from the Criminal Bar Association, said she was similarly reluctant to remove them in homicide cases.

She said: "Expert evidence is always difficult for juries and when you have expert witnesses disagreeing then it can be very difficult.

"Sometimes the issues can be very complex but juries are usually able to form a view and I still feel the jury is the right forum. It is usually a question of presentation and that is up to the prosecution."

The Ministry of Justice insists it is right for a jury of laymen to be the final arbiters of guilt, rather than a panel of psychiatric experts. A spokeswoman said: "In a criminal trial which relies on a jury to determine issues of guilt and criminal responsibility, the decision has to be informed but not determined by expert opinion.

"As the European Court has noted, psychiatry is not an exact science. Medical evidence on the single issue of a defendant's mental state is likely to vary widely between doctors, and much more so the issue of criminal responsibility, which turns as much on cultural as medical issues.

The law needs to be clear and fair so that people have confidence in the criminal justice system

Maria Eagle
Justice Minister

"The point that juries may find it hard to conclude the issue of responsibility simply reflects its complexity.

"It is not an argument for delegating the decision to expert opinion which will necessarily approach it from a narrower professional perspective, and with no greater prospect of agreement."

Justice Minister Maria Eagle said: "Murder is the most serious crime and it is essential that the law reflects this. "The law needs to be clear and fair so that people have confidence in the criminal justice system. We want to have an open and inclusive debate on the issues before we bring forward firm proposals on how the law should be reformed."

'Not for jurors'

Michael Howlett, director of the Zito Trust, said he would prefer a system whereby the jury simply decided whether a defendant had committed "homicide".

"It would then be left up to the judge to decide based on the evidence - including the psychiatric evidence - what was the most appropriate way of dealing with the person who was convicted. This distinction between murder and manslaughter is way out of date," he said.

Consultant clinical psychologist, Elie Godsi, agrees and believes the current system is "flawed".

Mr Godsi, the author of Violence and Society: Making Sense of Madness and Badness, said: "Psychiatrists' opinions are not objective. It is not like diagnosing cholera or some other illness. The notion that it is clear cut is a myth."

The diminished responsibility plea can be abused in some rare cases, but it usually reflects that a person is not capable of rational action.

Marjorie Wallace
Chief executive, Sane

He said it would be better to have a system whereby homicides could be graded to take into account a number of factors, including premeditation, provocation and mental illness.

Mr Godsi also pointed out that those killers who fake mental illness because they see "mad as the soft option" may be mistaken.

"They usually get banged up indefinitely and their time in hospital is proportionate to the crime they committed rather than how ill they are," he said.

Marjorie Wallace, chief executive of the mental health charity Sane, said: "The diminished responsibility plea can be abused in some rare cases, but it usually reflects that a person is not capable of rational action.

"While we recognise the concerns of victim's families and loved ones, Sane believes that the law should be able to demonstrate compassion towards those who commit crimes - however terrible - when the balance of their mind was disturbed."

ANTHONY WOOD AND MATTHEW MAW

2011-10-01T13:21:00.000-07:00

Two men have been jailed for the frenzied stabbing of a teenage girl, who they left to choke to death on her own blood in a Lancashire park.

Louise Evans, 18, who had Asperger's syndrome, was stabbed so hard in the attack in Burnley that the knife broke in two, Preston Crown Court heard.

Anthony Wood, 21, from Burnley, was found guilty of murder and jailed for at least 22 years and 183 days.

Matthew Maw, 18, admitted murder and must serve 18 years and 63 days.

Their teenage victim suffered 39 head and neck injuries in the assault in Towneley Park in July 2009.

Slashed throat

Her killers, who had befriended her at a homeless hostel they all shared in the town, led her to a secluded spot by a disused bandstand and "brutally" attacked her, the court heard.

Ms Evans' throat was slashed and she was repeatedly bludgeoned with a branch.

Louise Evans was stabbed and beaten

On sentencing, Judge Anthony Russell QC told the court that Maw, also from Burnley, had inflicted most of the physical violence but Wood had persuaded him to do his "dirty work" for him.

He told the them: "You were prepared to go beyond all basic moral boundaries and act in a fashion referred to as feral violence - completely wild behaviour inflicted on a vulnerable victim for no reason at all.

"The sanctity of human life appears to mean nothing to you. This was a savage attack, carried out relentlessly.

'Loved dearly'

"Louise must have suffered terribly because she did not die instantaneously.

"The only word that even begins to describe your conduct is 'wicked'."

They had been part of a group of youngsters who had been on a drinking session the evening before the attack.

Matthew Maw admitted murder

Ms Evans, from Haslingden, been living in the hostel because she wanted to be independent, her adopted parents said in a statement read to the court.

She had complex needs but was "special" and "loved dearly," Louise and Jeff Evans said. "We are lost and empty and in disbelief that somebody could do this.

"There is a void in our lives that will never be filled."

Speaking after the case, Det Insp Paul Broxson, from Lancashire Police, said his thoughts were with Ms Evans' family, who had lost their daughter in "such tragic circumstances." He said: "I am very pleased with the sentence which reflects the horrific and sustained nature of this attack.

"As for Maw and Wood, this was a particularly brutal and cowardly assault, planned and carried out together, and they fully deserve their sentence."

ASHLEY BUCKNOR

2011-10-01T10:31:00.000-07:00

A 20-year-old man has received a life sentence for shooting dead a teenager in an attack at a south-east London supermarket.

Ashley Bucknor shot 18-year-old Ryan Bravo in the back at Costcutter in Walworth in August 2008

The court heard that Bucknor shot him in retaliation, following an incident that took place earlier in Lambeth.

Bucknor, of no fixed abode, was found guilty of murder at Woolwich Crown Court on 29th September 2009. He must serve at least 32 years.

The court heard that Bucknor and at least one other man pushed past Mr Bravo, his two brothers and a cousin as they entered the supermarket on 6 August 2008.

Mr Bravo, from Brixton, south London, was shot dead at the scene and the men drove away on mopeds.

Police stopped Bucknor later that day and found him carrying a handgun and two motorcycle helmets.

Outside court Det Insp Tim Carter said: "Bucknor was part of a group who went out with firearms that night and targeted two young men as part of retaliation for an incident earlier in the day in Lambeth. "It was still daylight, a warm evening in August in one of the busiest streets in London. They paid no regard to any innocent members of the public." Det Insp Carter said Mr Bravo was from a close-knit family. "He was no gang member. He was expected to start a university course soon and was generally known as a good lad," he added.

Police have questioned a further eight men and one woman in relation to the incident. All have been released on bail.

ASIM KHAN AND FAISAL ASLAM

2011-10-01T09:46:00.000-07:00

Asim Khan

Faisal Alsam

Two men have been jailed for life for the savage gangland murder of a student who was lured to a lonely spot and bludgeoned to death.

Asim Khan, 27, of Devon Street, Farnworth, and Faisal Aslam, 26, of Clarendon Road, Whalley Range, both denied murder at Manchester Crown Court.

But, after they found guilty by a jury on the 18th March 2010, and were told they must serve 30 years in prison for killing Umair Waseem in a plot to keep £7,000 of ‘hush’ money he had promised by gangsters.

Andrew Menary QC said that Umair Waseem, 22, of Fern Street, Deane, Bolton, was studying electronic engineering at Bolton University.

But, unknown to his respectable family, he was leading a secret life as a drug dealer and gangster’s ‘strong-arm man’.

After he was attacked by a gang of hammer-wielding rivals in Bolton in 2008 he was promised £7,000 to withdraw his complaint against two men. Asim Khan was supposed to act as a go-between, but never handed the money over to his friend Umair Waseem.

When Mr Waseem began to pester him for the money, Khan set up what Mr Justice Parker described as an ‘elaborate ruse’ to lure him to his death. Believing he was going to take part in a £500,000 robbery or contract killing, Mr Waseem drove to Angelzarke Reservoir near Bolton, in a Vauxhall Vectra he had been told to hire for the bogus job.

The following day he was found dead in the snow. He had been hogtied and suffered catastrophic head injuries.

Mr Justice Parker said that Umair Waseem was ‘naive, seduced by glamour and fell in with the wrong kind of people’. He said Asim Khan had deliberately posed as Mr Waseem’s friend and confidant to get him killed and that while he was not present when it happened, he was a ‘principal architect of the arrangements to’ murder Umair Waseem’.

The judge added: “The killing itself was brutal, the setting was a lonely and remote spot, especially late at night in the dead of winter."

After the murder Asim Khan and Faisal Aslam tried to sell the blood-stained Vauxhall Vectra to Chorlton car dealer.

The court heard it is likely there were a number of attackers and that it was possible that the gangsters had never intended to pay Umair Waseem, since they went to jail for the assault anyway, following the testimony of other witnesses.

The judge said he was ‘satisfied’ that Fasial Aslam was there when Umair Waseem was ‘cruelly bludgeoned to death’.

Sentencing them both to life, he said: “This was a cold-blooded, premeditated, carefully planned and savage murder for financial gain.”

Mr Waseem’s family said: “We miss our son so much, the loss of his life in such a tragic and horrific way has left such a big hole in our lives which is impossible to fill.”

ASJID MAHMOOD

2011-10-01T09:21:00.000-07:00

An arsonist who murdered two children and their mother in a revenge attack at their Bradford home was on the 11th February 2011, given three life sentences and told he will serve a minimum of 29 years in jail.

Asjid Mahmood, 22, was convicted by a Bradford Crown Court jury of the murders of Iram Shah, her daughter Alina, ten, and son, Aman, eight, by starting a fire at their home in Hendford Drive, Pollard Park, Bradford, shortly after midnight on 6th July 2010.

His brother Arshed Mahmood, 18, who was convicted of three counts of manslaughter, and was locked up for 17 years.

Jailing Asjid Mahmood, the judge Mr Justice Coulson, told him he had committed an "appalling and horrific crime".

PAULIUS KORSAKAS

2011-09-24T19:11:00.000-07:00

Paulius Korsakas, 27, from Lithuania, battered Russian Igor Vinogradov, 37, in a drunken fury as he slept on the floor in Capel Road, Forest Gate, London, after a row left Korsakas feeling ‘‘humiliated or slighted’’.

Korsakas then attempted to burn the body to destroy the evidence, before texting his girlfriend to admit: “I broke one guy really badly”.Both men had come to Britain for a better life, the court was told.

Mr Vinogradov’s body was not discovered until January 31, 11 days after the killing.

Jailing Korsakas in September 2011, to life imprisoment with a recommendation he serves at least 17 years. Judge Peter Rook, QC, told him: “You deprived your victim of his most precious possession – life itself. This was a ferocious, severe and prolonged attack on a highly vulnerable man. You continued your attack despite his pleas and even attempted to destroy his body by fire. In my view those factors outweigh the limited mitigation in this case.”

Korsakas, of no fixed address, who moved to the UK in 2006, denied murder but was convicted after a trial at the Old Bailey.

Mr Vinogradov was kicked, punched and stamped upon. He died inhaling his own blood.

Adrian Darbishire, prosecuting, said Korsakas’s attack was ‘‘no more than drunken temper and loss of self control, resulting from some sense that he had earlier been humiliated or slighted’’.

In a statement, Mr Vinogradov’s mother Anna Rudinskaja said she had been devastated by the death.

It had resulted in tremendous stress and she has been admitted to hospital with a heart condition.

She said that her son moved to England to have a better quality of life.

Jonathan Mann, defending, said of Korsakas: “He came to this country looking for a better life, but that ended up with him losing his job and his family and a descent into alcohol and criminal activity.”

LEON FYLE

2011-09-24T18:39:00.000-07:00

Leon Fyle, 23, has been convicted of killing a sex worker for the second time following a four-week retrial. He was sentenced to life imprisonment at Southwark Crown Court on 21st September 2011 for murdering Destiny Lauren, 29, at her flat in Kentish Town, London.

The accused has protested his innocence since being arrested in 2009.

He was arrested in November 2009 and sentenced to a minimum of 21 years at a hearing in August 2010. But, earlier this year a Court of Appeal ruled his original conviction “unsafe”, triggering the second trial.

Detective Inspector Liz Baker said: “The murder of Destiny Lauren was brutal and pre-meditated.

“Her life was abruptly ended when Leon Fyle, a young man she had never met before, murdered and robbed her in her own home.

”She added: “Fyle has never shown remorse for what he did and instead put Destiny’s family and friends through the trauma of a second trial.”

Ms Lauren was a pre-operative transsexual who changed her name from Justin Samuels and began a new life living as a woman when she was 17 years old.

Her uncle, Paul Hill, was one of the Guildford Four, who were wrongly jailed for 15 years for pub bombings they didn’t commit.

The court heard that on the night of her murder Fyle telephoned Ms Lauren and met her at her flat in Leighton Crescent. He had sex with her before, the prosecution said, he strangled her and ran off with her jewellery, mobile phone and £350 in cash. He then took the bus to King’s Cross where he visited a brothel and spent £250 of the stolen money there, the court heard.

Ms Lauren’s brother, Lyndon Samuels, discovered Ms Lauren lying on her bed, naked and badly beaten, soon after the attack.

She was taken to the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead and pronounced dead shortly after arriving.

At his first trial, the court was told that Fyle had lived a troubled life since spending his childhood in care homes and on the streets in gangs.

His first conviction for robbery was at the age of 12. By the age of 16 he had stabbed a man in the chest and left him for dead in an alleyway in south London.

DANILO RESTIVO

2011-09-23T02:11:00.000-07:00

When the jury at Winchester crown court found Danilo Restivo guilty of murder 28^th June 2011, it brought to an end an international mystery that has baffled and fascinated observers for almost two decades. It's a tragic story that sometimes seems scripted by a screenwriter: there's a serial killer with a bizarre fetish, an innocent young girl, hints of organised crime and a dody priest.

Mr Justice Burnett told Restivo the murder in Bournemouth, Dorset, was so serious no minimum term would be appropriate. He said: "The seriousness of this offence is exceptionally high - namely the depravity of the killing, the careful planning and preparation, its sexual content and the previous killing of Elisa Claps - drive me to the conclusion that the alternative starting point (for a minimum prison term) of 30 years would not be appropriate. I can find no mitigation in this case, none have been advanced on your behalf. There is, in my judgment, no minimum period which could be properly set – you will never be released from prison."

The trial in which Restivo was found guilty was, in many ways, just the tip of the iceberg.

The story began back in 1993 in a forgotten region of Italy called Basilicata, also known as Lucania. It's a region that stretches from the arch to the metatarsal of the Italian boot. Almost entirely mountainous, with poor roads and no tourism, it seems like the land that time forgot. It's so remote that this is where Mussolini chose to send enemies of his regime such as Carlo Levi or the mafioso Calogero Vizzini; this is where the kidnapped John Paul Getty III was held captive back in the 1970s. Until the 1950s, some people were still, literally, living in caves, the famous sassi of Matera. Many of the villages are so remote that, even centuries after they arrived, the people still speak Albanian.

The region's capital city is an ugly place called Potenza. Prone to earthquakes and illegal building, it's now a concrete jungle with a spiral of potholed roads leading to the summit. It was here, on a busy Sunday morning on 12 September 1993, that a 16-year-old girl called Elisa Claps met a young man for a date. She was reluctant to go because he was a strange type: he was older than her and he had, according to gossip, a strange fetish – he used to cut women's hair on the back of buses. He was odd-looking too: he had thick hair, large lips and glasses that magnified his already bulbous eyes. He had told her he had a present for her for passing her retakes. Elisa felt sorry for him and went along.

They met in the Church of the Most Holy Trinity in the city centre at around 11.30am, just as mass was finishing. Elisa was never seen again. Her disappearance seemed inexplicable. There were so many people around and yet she had just vanished.

Suspicion immediately fell on Restivo. He claimed to have seen Elisa leave the church and that he had stayed there to pray. He returned home with a cut on his hand just over an hour later. He said he had fallen on a building site, but the cut was, strangely, to the back of his hand. That afternoon he went to Napoli and the priest of the Most Holy Trinity, Don Mimì Sabia, locked up the church and went off on retreat. Before anyone had realised the seriousness of Elisa's disappearance, two of the protagonists had already left the city.

Conspiracy theories

Ever since that first day, there have been lies and misinformation. "Everything I come across in this case," Gildo Claps, Elisa's oldest brother once said to me, "I've had to smash into a thousand pieces." There were immediately many false sightings. Various sources mentioned seeing Elisa in a white Fiat Uno, either in Potenza or Rome. Attention began to focus on a young man called Eris Gega, an Albanian who was said to have repeatedly lied about his movements that Sunday morning, claiming he had never met Restivo. Restivo, Gega and Elisa's friend Eliana De Cillis were all tried for giving false testimony. Of the three, only Restivo was found guilty.

The case gradually became, for many, an obsession, one of the iconic Italian mysteries that enabled people to engage in dietrologia, literally "behindery" or conspiracy-theorising. Elisa's face – her long, dark hair, thick glasses and carefree smile – haunted the nation. Silvana Ferrazzano was a friend of Elisa's who alleged that Elisa had been bundled into a white Fiat Uno and forced into prostitution. Three people with tenuous links to the case died in car crashes. On one Italian website, Popolo della Rete, there's a discussion forum about the Elisa Claps case with more than 3,000 posts, many of them essay-length monologues containing ideas, hunches, suspicions and accusations. More than a quarter of a million people have read the forum.

Strange, disparate pieces of evidence continued to emerge. The diary of Elisa was analysed and it was discovered that a page has been ripped out. Scientific tests on the few fragments they were able to reconstruct revealed that there were words written in Albanian. The pista albanese remained, for years, one of the best leads. In 1994, a traffic warden was convinced he had seen Elisa in Albania. Police and camera crews went to the country and even found someone who looked extraordinarily similar to Elisa. But there was no trace of Elisa herself.

In the meantime, Gildo had set up a website gathering information and leads regarding his sister's disappearance. One afternoon an email purporting to be from Elisa was sent to it. It claimed she was alive and well in Brasil and didn't want to be contacted. Gildo immediately ascertained that the email had come from an internet cafe in the centre of Potenza. When they rushed round there, they discovered that Restivo had just left the premises.

One of the people who studied the entire case for years, a Catholic priest called Don Marcello Cozzi, wrote recently of the extraordinary fact that there have been more depistaggi, "misleads", than leads: "There have been too many Elisas seen in Italy and around the world," he wrote wearily, "too many coincidences and half-truths and half-lies, too many errors and in the end too many oddities that one feels justified in believing a worrying hypothesis: the existence of a occult but organised production room . . . made up of strong but hidden powers . . . which went into action when it was necessary to intervene to defend someone or hide something."

The Claps family, their private investigator and the production team of Chi l'Ha Visto (the Italian equivalent of Crimewatch) were convinced that there was a concerted coverup. Suspicions were such that the entire investigation into the Elisa Claps case was taken out of local hands and moved to Salerno, some 120km away.

Attention also turned to the strange figure of Don Mimì. Until his death in 2008 he had been a stern, cultured priest, someone who was at the very centre of local power. Don Mimì repeatedly obstructed all investigations: he refused access to his church and his was the only church in Potenza not to ring bells for Elisa on the decade anniversary of her disappearance. Many of his congregation were from the upper echelons of local, even national, politics and a former Italian prime minister. According to Marco Gallo, a private investigator who has worked pro bono for the Claps family for more than a decade, Don Mimì was homosexual. He adds: "This whole story is a disaster. It's a complete, tragic mess. You never touch the bottom. Everywhere you put your nose there's something rotten."

Murder in Bournemouth

A genteel town on the south coast of England, Bournemouth is a far cry from Potenza. Amid the many pensioners are hordes of foreign students coming to improve their English. It seems far removed from the gothic noir of Italian mysteries: in a recent survey, Bournemouth was found to be the happiest place in Britain, with 82% of interviewees expressing contentment with their lot.

But in 2002, the town was to become unexpectedly linked to the Elisa Claps mystery. On 12 November, a seamstress called Heather Barnett was brutally murdered at 211 Capstone Road. She was found dead in her bathroom by her children on their return from school. They called the police and then ran out of the house, understandably in a state of extreme shock. The person who immediately comforted them, who was just arriving home as they ran out, was an Italian who lived in the house opposite, Danilo Restivo.

As the forensics experts went to work on the crime scene, it became obvious that this was a bizarre murder. There had been no forced entry. There were spatter stains on the patio doors of Barnett's sewing room and then long stains of blood going through the flat into the bathroom as if the assailant had dragged the dead or unconscious body. The deceased's bra had been cut between the cups and both breasts had been removed and placed on the floor. Her neck had been cut from ear to ear and strands of hair placed in both of her hands. Her trousers had been opened and lowered and a gloved hand placed inside her knickers, although there was no suggestion of sexual assault.

Using luminol to identify minute traces of blood, forensic investigators were able to ascertain that the murderer then walked back towards the sewing room, the bloodied footprints becoming fainter with each step. But there the footprints stopped: in the hall back to the front door there was no blood, leading them to suspect that the assailant had changed their shoes. The time of death, they estimated, was very soon after the last sighting of Barnett alive, when CCTV footage captured her white Fiat Punto turning into Capstone Road shortly after dropping her children off at school that morning.

Slowly a suspect emerged: in an interview with police the day after his mother's murder, her son Terry said that her keys had gone missing the week before after an Italian, "Danny", had come round to ask her to make some curtains. When police were conducting house-to-house inquiries five days after the Barnett murder and asked Restivo to show them the shoes he was wearing on 12 November, they found his Nike trainers in the bath, soaking in bleach. The trainers were confiscated.

A cunning, clever criminal

And yet, just as in the Elisa Claps case, police appeared unable to pin anything on Restivo. A man who appeared so socially dysfunctional, almost a little simple, was also, it seemed, a lucid, clever criminal, able to plan and execute murders without leaving any incriminating evidence. One of the original policemen who interviewed him in Italy after the disappearance of Elisa Claps recalled a man who was "prepared, cool, very cunning, precise in his answers".

What emerged when Dorset police put Restivo under surveillance was acutely worrying: Restivo had the habit of going to a secluded park outside Bournemouth. He was filmed watching single women, sometimes ducking into the long grass as they walked past. Even though it was spring he was seen wearing gloves. He would take off one shirt only to put on an identical one stashed in the boot of his car. He changed his trainers. On one occasion, coincidentally the 12th of the month, the same date that both Heather had been murdered and Elisa went missing, police were so concerned that they called in uniformed officers to search Restivo and his car. They found a filleting knife, two pairs of scissors, a balaclava and gloves. There was nothing illegal, as such, in those possessions, but common sense suggested that here was a man on the brink of committing another horrific crime.

As well as cunning and forensically clever, Restivo was also a man who was used to being molly-coddled, who made a habit of exploiting his childish, dysfunctional side to persuade women to care for him. He originally moved to Bournemouth in 2002 because he had met a woman online. Fiamma Marsango was a large, expat Italian suffering from arthritis. She had two sons from a previous marriage. Covert police recordings from their home revealed a couple in which the older woman looked after an almost babyish man: she chided him for his lies and tried to coax him into learning English. Restivo even appeared to think he was a child. He mused about "my wonderful innocence" and talked to his parents in Italy as if he were still a young boy.

Hair fetish

Now aware of Restivo's hair fetish, the police were gathering witnesses from Bournemouth who had had their hair cut. Two schoolgirls reported having their hair snipped when Restivo was sitting directly behind them on the bus. One of them described finding something white and sticky in her hair afterwards. Another man described seeing Restivo sitting behind a woman on a bus with her hair, and his hands, under a jacket placed on his lap. The inference was, of course, that he was masturbating. In one of the covert recordings from Restivo's home, he was heard talking of his love of hair: "[when I] touch the hair, hold them in the hand . . . then everything is visible, everything."

It emerged that Restivo also had a long track record of sadism. When only 14 he had tied up two young boys in the courtyard outside the city library where his father was director and tortured them, inflicting cuts with a small knife. Their families dropped charges against Restivo in return for the sum of 1m lire. He had also spied on young students living opposite him, phoning them to describe his excitement at their clothing or their movements. In many ways he was the archetypal serial killer, moving from the trauma of a botched operation on his tonsils to the infliction of wounds on others and, finally, to murder.

And yet, despite all that behavioural evidence, there was no smoking gun or bloodied blade. Police appealed twice on Crimewatch for witnesses to come forward. Forensic evidence had revealed that the lock of hair in Heather Barnett's left hand had been cut from her own head, but that the hair in her right hand wasn't hers. Extensive examination of that mystery lock revealed that the person from whose hair it had been cut had been to Florida and Spain or southern France shortly before. They had changed diets. Police were desperate to trace the person in the hope of linking her to Restivo but, despite the appeals on Crimewatch and extensive trips to Italy to take DNA samples from other women, they never found the owner of that mystery lock.

Evidence against Restivo was, however, slowly stacking up. When his flat was searched in 2004 a lock of hair tied with green cotton was found in a Tesco plastic bag under a chest of drawers. The trainers he had soaked in bleach had revealed minute traces of blood on the inside as if a bloodied sock had been placed inside them. The computer he claimed to have been working on at an educational centre on the morning of Heather Barnett's murder had been subject to an "evidential capture" by a digital forensics expert and it was shown that there was no user activity between 9.08am and 10.10am. His alibi, as in Italy, suddenly appeared very shaky. But most tellingly of all, a green towel found in Heather Barnett's flat revealed a DNA profile that was compatible with Restivo's: the chances of that DNA coming from someone other than Restivo were 57,000 to one. When confronted with the evidence from the towel, Restivo suddenly claimed – something he had never mentioned before – that he had taken it round to Barnett's house to get a match on the curtains he wanted to commission.

Discovery of Elisa Claps's body

The case against Restivo was reaching a critical mass when, on 17 March 2010, an extraordinary discovery took place back in Potenza. Elisa's body was, incredibly, found in the very church where she had gone missing 17 years before. Throughout Italy there was disbelief and indignation that she had been there all along. Workmen had been trying to fix a leaking roof in the church and, having gone up seven flights of stairs, they discovered, in a tiny, cramped garret beside the bell-tower, the mummified, skeletonised body covered by a few tiles.

The contrast with the familiar, smiling shot of Elisa that had been used to publicise her disappearance couldn't have been more stark: there were dark stains against the wall where her pelvis and chest would have been, though now they had shrunk and disappeared and all that was left was a black memory of her form on the wall. There were two shoes at odd angles with barely any legs in them, a jumper that looked more like a brown string vest, a head visible with some teeth but disconnected from the spinal cord. Elisa had been reduced to dust. Half-covered with debris were her perfectly folded glasses. It was a terrible, moving image, a reminder that a 16-year-old girl with her life before her had been left to rot, to sink into dust all alone.

It wasn't just Elisa's family that was outraged. Italy in general and the city of Potenza in particular were bewildered. Whether because of incompetence or corruption, the church had never even been searched thoroughly. It beggared belief: a family had lived with tragic uncertainty for 17 years; a city had searched in sidestreets and its soul in vain. There was a groundswell of fury and outside the now-impounded church a spontaneous "garden of Elisa" grew up with flowers and teddy bears and indignant messages demanding justice.

The forensic examinations on Elisa's remains were painstaking. Her clothing and skeleton revealed many insights into the nature of her death: cuts to her bones suggested that she had received at least nine stab wounds from behind, largely to her ribs, and three from in front. One, going through the front of her neck to her spinal cord, might have been made with a pair of scissors. Her hands, rehydrated to reveal cuts, demonstrated classic "defence wounds". Her trousers, top, bra and knickers had been cut with scissors and her trousers unzipped and lowered. There were the dessicated remains of a single strand of hair, "pelliferous" material, in each hand. Traces of haemorrhages to the inner thighs and mammaries suggested the attack may have contained a sexual element. Most tellingly, DNA matching the DNA profile of Restivo had been found, although the source of it – saliva or blood – was uncertain. A red button had been discovered underneath Elisa's body. It measured 13mm. It was exactly the same dimension and colour as the buttons of ecclesiastical cassocks. It wasn't long before a photograph emerged of Don Mimì with a button missing from his cassock.

The arrest of Restivo

Within weeks of the discovery of Elisa Claps, Restivo was arrested in Bournemouth, accused of the murder of Heather Barnett. The discovery of Elisa was the last piece of evidence the British police needed. The coincidences were too great for common sense to ignore: both women, on different sides of the continent, had connections with Restivo. Both had been found with severed clothing and lowered trousers, their hair and their throats cut. Hair had been found in both of their hands. When a judge, in a ruling before the start of the trial in Winchester, allowed the introduction of the Italian evidence because of its "striking similarity", it finally looked as if the police had a convincing case against the "Barber of Potenza".

Restivo's conviction for the Heather Barnett's murder brings to a close an extraordinary story, but many mysteries remain. Some observers are convinced that a compulsive, psychotic killer such as Restivo must have commited more murders between 1993 and 2002. Over the years he has been linked to many other deaths, particularly to a series of brutal murders in southern France and Spain. In September 1997 a young French-Algerian woman from Perpignan, Moktharia Chaib, was stabbed and her breasts, as well as other body parts, removed. Marie Hélène Gonzalez had, in 1998, been brutally mutilated, having disappeared in Perpignan. In 1999, in Puerto de Alcuida, Majorca, a British woman called Yvonne O'Brien was stabbed 40 times and one of her breasts was removed. On Easter Day 2003 a South Korean woman adopted by an Italian family, Erika Ansermin, disappeared. Her body has never been found but a photograph of her, downloaded from an Italian news channel, was found on Restivo's computer.

The links to those murders may be fanciful, but there's one murder in the same suburb of Bournemouth that many are convinced was commited by Restivo. In July 2002, a young South Korean girl, Jong-Ok Shin, known as Oki, was walking home late at night. She was stabbed and left for dead. She died shortly afterwards, having described a man in a "mask". Given her limited English, some have assumed she meant a balaclava. There are unconfirmed reports that her hair was also cut. The connections to Restivo are tenuous, but suggestive: the murder happened only three blocks from his house; it took place – like the murders of Elisa and Heather – on the 12th of the month. A man called Omar Benguit was tried an extraordinary three times for the murder (because of two mistrials). His eventual conviction for the murder appears to many, including professional criminologists, a tragic miscarriage of justice.

Italian church coverup?

But it is, of course, in Italy that most mysteries remain. There is growing evidence that Elisa's body was found two months before the official discovery in March last year and that the official discovery was a mise-en-scène. According to one of the interim priests in the Church of the Most Holy Trinity, two cleaners discovered the body in January 2010 but were persuaded to keep quiet while the Catholic church, aware of the furore that would result, fretted about what to do. The leaking roof was, allegedly, a pretext to send workmen up to the garret two months later. In fact, workmen had been in that same garret back in the mid 1990s and had seen only a huge pile of tiles and rubble. The fact that Elisa's body was found as it was, exposed and with her glasses perfectly folded at her feet, suggested to many that the crime scene had been tampered with, that tiles and rubble had been removed in a deliberate attempt to expose the corpse. And even though the famous red button from the scene was found not to match the others from Don Mimì's cassock, the role of the late priest is still highly suspicious. He claimed never to have known Danilo Restivo, but photographs have since emerged of him attending the man's 18th birthday party. Restivo was a regular in his church. Why would he lie about something so innocent? And what lengths would he – an eminently blackmailable man – have gone to hide the truth?

Restivo will now be extradited to Italy and tried for the murder of Elisa Claps. But in many ways the story is now less a whodunit than a who-covered-up. Having fought against the pomposities and silences of the Italian elite for almost two decades, the courageous Claps family are now demanding that not just Restivo, but also his accomplices, should face the music. "Because," Gildo said to me recently, "if this is allowed to happen, if with the right connections, with the right power and complicities, you can remain unpunished despite murder, if this is allowed to happen, it means this country is definitively compromised. It's as if this story of Elisa is a way for the country to redeem itself. Because if it's not possible to obtain justice for an innocent 16-year-old girl who goes missing in a church, well, it means there really is no hope for this country."

Now, almost 18 years since she first went missing and over a year since her mummified body was found, Elisa is finally being buried. On 1 July her body will be released, and her funeral will take place on 2 July in the open air in Potenza. "She's never going back inside a church," her determined mother told me a few weeks ago. Perhaps only when she's finally been laid to rest will her familiar, carefree face no longer haunt the Italian conscience.

Tobias Jones's book about the Elisa Claps mystery, Blood on the Altar, will be published by Faber & Faber in the spring of 2012.

JOHN COOPER

2011-09-09T02:07:00.000-07:00

On 26 May 2011, John Cooper was jailed for life at Swansea Crown Court, ending his 25 year-long spree of gruesome violence in a quiet corner of Pembrokeshire, Wales. In that time, he had been responsible for two double murders, several sexual assaults and burglaries, and an armed robbery.

His reign of terror began in December 1985 when he killed Richard and Helen Thomas in a bungled robbery at their Milford Haven home. After tying up Helen Thomas he was disturbed by Richard, her brother, returning to the farm. Both were then shot dead before Cooper set Scoveston Manor alight in an effort to destroy evidence. At the time, he lived less than a mile away in a rented property at Jordanston. But he remained undetected despite a 150-man police operation and extensive media appeals.

But he was hardly in hiding - in May 1989, he brazenly appeared on national television on ITV's Bullseye quizshow. Less than a month later on 29 June 1989, Cooper attacked again in broad daylight. Peter and Gwenda Dixon from Witney, near Oxford were enjoying their last holiday walk on a coastal path near Littlehaven when Cooper attacked them. He tied Peter Dixon up, forcing 51-year old Mr Dixon to reveal his bank card details, he then shot them. Peter was shot three times and Gwenda Dixon twice in an execution-style killing. Their bodies were discovered in thick undergrowth six days later - it was clear that Gwenda had been subjected to a sexual assault.

Richard Thomas

Helen Thomas

Witness sitings

Cooper withdrew just over £300 from Peter Dixon's bank account after the attack. Police released an artist's impression of the suspect, based on witness sightings of a scruffy man acting suspiciously at cashpoints in nearby towns. Many years later, the jury at the murder trial would be asked to compare this drawing to the footage of Cooper on Bullseye. But the similarities were not noted at the time.

Instead, police followed several false leads. One suggestion was that the Dixons had been killed because they had stumbled upon a secret IRA cache on their walk. Despite two Crimewatch appeals for information about the scruffy man and thousands of police interviews, no concrete leads were found. Slowly, the case was wound down, though it was never closed.

Burglaries and an armed robbery

During the same period, Cooper continued to terrorise communities in Pembrokeshire. He carried out a number of burglaries, stashing the stolen goods in local hedges and bushes. In 1996, he threatened five teenagers with a sawn-off shotgun in Milford Haven, only two fields away from Scoveston Park. Disguised by a balaclava, he demanded money, then subjected two of the girls to serious sexual assaults.

That same year, he also committed an armed robbery at an isolated dwelling nearby, occupied by a lone female in Sardis. But his luck was running out. When the woman raised the alarm, Cooper fled the house, discarding his balaclava, gun and gloves in undergrowth on his way home.

Police found the items, and in January 1998, Cooper was jailed for 16 years for burglary and armed robbery. During the burglary investigation, police took a large amount of evidence from his house and surrounding fields. That evidence would be vital for pinning him to the murders and the rapes later on.

Peter Dixon

Gwenda Dixon

Operation Ottawa: Closing the net

In 2006, police reopened the case files on the murders and the Milford Haven attacks. After two years of sifting through thousands of exhibits, witness statements and images, police noticed similarities between all three cases: a similar geographical area, a rural location, the use of a shotgun and the attempts at robbery. John Cooper became their number one suspect, but police still needed evidence.

Fortunately, police had retained enough evidence from the murders that forensic scientists were able to conduct a thorough re-examination. DNA technology and the process of investigating cold cases had advanced a lot since the 1980s, so scientists could test far more evidence than before.

The evidence: Shorts

Scientists examined a pair of shorts that they had found in Cooper's house while gathering evidence for the burglaries trial. Sensitive DNA technology revealed that a minute fleck of blood on the shorts matched Peter Dixon's profile. In addition, there were fibres on the shorts that were identical to those found on Richard Thomas's sock and on the Milford Haven victims' clothes. This linked Cooper to both murders and the rape.

Gloves

Forensic scientists found glove fibres from the branches that had been used to hide the Dixon's bodies and on tapings taken from their bodies. This linked Cooper to the murder scene, as it was known that he had thrown away a glove in hedge near his house, found amongst jewellery from his burglaries.

Balaclava

Fibres from the balaclava worn by Cooper during the attacks were found amongst floor sweepings taken from a shed belonging to him.

Gun

In an interview with Cooper, police were alerted to the potential relevance of the shotgun used in the Sardis robbery. The forensic team found that the gun had been repainted. Below the layers of paint was DNA matching Peter Dixon's profile.

Keys

Cooper also stole keys from his victims - 503 sets of keys were recovered from his property and cess pit, including keys stolen during the course of burglaries. They included a key from a property belonging to Richard and Helen Thomas.

Armed with the evidence, police arrested and charged John Cooper. After a nine week trial, the man described as "highly predatory" by the judge was convicted of two double murders, rape and a sexual assault and five attempted robberies. Twenty five years of painstaking work by the police and the forensic team had finally delivered justice to Cooper's victims and families.