Every month we’ve got a rundown of some of the most atrocious and significant crimes in recent history. Below are those crimes that took place in November.
7th November: The unsolved murder of Lindsay Jo Rimer (1994)
The murder of Lindsay Rimer remains unsolved and the police still appear to be no close to finding her killer nearly 30 years on. Lindsey was a 13-year-old who was last seen alive buying cornflakes at her local shop in Hebden Bridge on 7th November 1994. Her body was discovered a mile away in the Rochdale Canal in April 1995. There have been regular appeals for more information, but her murder remains unsolved. As of 2016, the police have confirmed they have isolated the DNA profile of the killer but have yet to make an arrest.
16th November: The Night Stalker is finally arrested (2009)
Delroy Grant is a convicted serial rapist, believed to have carried out hundreds of attacks between 1990 and 2009. He was convicted of over 20 different crimes including burglary, rape and sexual assault. He gained the nickname the Night Stalker and preyed mainly on elderly women who lived alone.
On 16th November 2009, Delroy Grant was arrested and charged with 22 individual offences. He was found guilty of all offences in March 2011. He received four concurrent life sentences with a minimum recommendation of 27 years before he would be able to apply for parole. He also received concurrent eight-year sentences for his 18 burglaries and attempted burglaries.
18th November: PC Sharon Beshenivsky killed on duty (2005)
PC Sharon Beshenivsky was a new police constable in the West Yorkshire Police when she was shot on duty. She had only been a serving constable for nine months when she was killed by a criminal gang during a robbery in Bradford. Six suspects were originally sought for the attack. Three of those involved were convicted of murder, two of manslaughter and the final suspect was extradited to the UK from Pakistan in April 2023 and has been charged with murder.
25th November: 12-year-old murdered in Liverpool city centre (2021)
In a shocking attack that took place on International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, 12-year-old Ava White was stabbed to death in Liverpool city centre. Ava was murdered by a 14-year-old boy in an argument over a Snapchat video. The boy cannot be named for legal reasons and Ava is believed to be the youngest victim of knife violence in the UK since Damilola Taylor in 2000. The offender was convicted of Ava’s murder in May 2022.
26th November: The Sunderland Strangler murders Thomas Kelly (1993)
Steven Grieveson gained the nickname, the Sunderland Strangler, when he murdered four teenage boys. The murders took place between 1990 and 1994, but it was the strangling of Thomas Kelly which initially sent him to prison. Grieveson murdered the 18-year-old and set his body on fire, before going on to commit two further similar murders.
27th November: Damilola Taylor stabbed and killed in London (2000)
Damilola Taylor was just 10 years old when he was stabbed to death in November 2000. He and his parents had only moved to the United Kingdom in August 2000 but by November, Damilola had been fatally stabbed. On 27th November, Damilola left Peckham Library to walk home and was stabbed in his leg as he approached the North Peckham Estate. A severed artery led to quick blood loss and within 30 minutes he had collapsed and died.
In 2002, four youths were initially on trial for his murder, but none were convicted. It took several years and several trials to reach justice. In August 2006, Ricky and Danny Preddie were convicted of the manslaughter of Damilola Taylor. Damilola’s father has publicly called for an inquiry into the handling of the case as the Preddie brothers were released by 2011.
28th November: Rikki Neave murdered by a teenager (1994)
Rikki Neave was a six-year-old boy who was murdered by 13-year-old James Watson in Peterborough. Watson lured Rikki into the woods before strangling him to death. Rikki’s short life had been difficult throughout and initially his abusive mother was tried and acquitted of his murder. It wasn’t until 2022 that James Watson was finally convicted after police found new DNA evidence.
