“It was the barbaric reality of terrorism on our land...it’s left an indelible print on society”Dr Abdul Haqq Baker – former chairman of Brixton mosque and founder of STREET UK.

Intelligence agencies are aware that there is little they can do to combat this new form of terrorism. The killers received no training and indeed had no contact with organisations like al-Qaeda and yet they were able to make a huge media impact:“This was an incredibly successful attack...obviously there are far more lethal attacks out there. But it got a huge amount of media coverage.” Professor Andrew Silke – Programme Director for Terrorism studies, University of East London.

But as successful as it was in capturing the headlines, the killers ultimately failed to achieve anything tangible. Community relations were strengthened not divided by the killing. Admittedly, there were some low-level outbreaks of violence by right-wing groups targeting Muslims and mosques. But the general view was that these were as senseless and pointless as the killing of Lee Rigby. Not surprisingly, foreign policy stayed exactly the same and, if anything, support, or at least empathy, for the troops increased. And of course, the murderers failed to martyr themselves, or persuade anyone that they themselves were soldiers.

True crime anniversaries in May

From one of the worst terrorist bombings in modern British history, to a tragic arson attack that claimed 6 young lives.

But for the family of Lee Rigby, and the witnesses who saw his last shocking moments, life has forever changed. As much as Tina Nimmo has tried to move on from that day, the scene she witnessed still seeps into her mind and still haunt hers. And where once she was happy to see uniformed soldiers on her streets, now she is fearful:“(Woolwich barracks) been a garrison for many years and...we’ve...got so much in pride in the borough in our armed forces...We see the soldiers walking about...all their gear on. And they’ve never been bothered and you actually feel quite proud. But not anymore: It doesn’t feel like that. If I see a soldier with his gear on, I think ‘go and take it off because you’re going to be identified.”Lee’s son Jack was just two when his father was taken from him.

In July 2013, he attended the funeral wearing a T-shirt that said, ‘My Daddy, My Hero’. Thousands lined the streets to pay their respects:“Heaven has gained a hero”. Writing on the wreath laid in respect of Lee Rigby. In July 2014, Adebolajo, lost the first stage of his appeal. By this stage, some estimate that the pair have received over £200,000 in legal aid.

Britain’s most shocking bomb attacks 

22 people, including several children, were killed when a terrorist detonated a bomb after an Ariana Grande concert at Manchester Arena

Relatives and friends of the victims hoping to receive some form of financial compensation found that English law does not allow compensation for victims of accidents who do not have dependents. As the majority of the deceased were in their twenties with no long term careers or dependents few relatives were granted anything apart from receiving funds for funeral costs.

One of the issues looked at during the resumed inquest was the decision to remove the hands from victims for finger printing purposes rather than make arrangements for finger printing to be carried out at Westminster Morgue. Until the inquest proceedings, the families were unaware of this process having taken place.

Seven years after the tragedy the Bowbelle was sold to another dredging company and renamed Bom Rei. In 1996, caught in rough weather, she broke in half, sinking off the Portuguese island of Madeira. The wreck is now popular with scuba divers and tourists, many of whom have little knowledge of the ship’s infamous past. 

When the tragedy happened in 1989 London did not have a coastguard or Lifeboat on the Thames. In 2002, as part of recommendations to improve safety on the Thames the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) set up four lifeboat stations at Gravesend, Tower Pier, Chiswick Pier and Teddington.  They are now the busiest lifeboat stations in the RNLI network.

The 20th anniversary of the tragedy was held in August 2009 at Southwark Cathedral. Margaret Lockwood Croft, mother of victim 26 year old Shaun Lockwood Croft, who shortly after the tragedy began the Marchioness Action group, reflected on her loss twenty years later. “It’s a nightmare for any parent for it’s a death that should never be. I’m aware how powerful and dangerous the Thames is and although the powers that be are working hard there’s still tweaking along the way. But I’ve thrown them the rugby ball and going to leave them to run with it”

Lessons learned from the tragedy mean dredgers now move in and out of the Thames and are more aware of other ships and craft due to improved navigation and lookout.

Not far from the site of the disaster, a memorial to the victims can be found in the nave of Southwark Cathedral where every year a service of remembrance is held for those who lost their lives.

The 8 police officers and 11 civilians, who helped save 80 lives, were honoured with Royal Humane Society awards. Crewman Andrew McGowan, who risked his own life to free trapped passengers, was given a rare medal for courage. A society spokesman said: "The acts of heroism that dreadful night demonstrate raw courage”

“I’m a very lucky man” Harris’s last words at his BAFTA acceptance speech,

His victims believed his sentence was too short, and that, coupled with his lack of remorse, spurred many of them to consider taking a civil action against him. This, in turn, has brought forth more alleged victims.

In July 2014, Harris’ crowning career moment, his BAFTA Fellowship, was annulled.It was just one of many, many honours of which he was stripped.

Even in the suburb of Bassendean where he grew up, portraits of their now infamous inhabitant were removed.

In June 2015, a letter emerged allegedly written by Harris in prison. The author referred to his victims as “money grabbing wenches.” If authentic, it showed how little the perpetrator understood the suffering he had caused. The solicitor of his victims said that Harris should be denied parole after he reportedly called them ‘slimy little woodworm’ in a jail-penned song.

The following month, the Crown Prosecution Service said it would work with police to see if there was enough evidence to bring further charges against the 84 year old.

“In 1995, he was asked ‘What is your greatest fear?’ His answer was, ‘Not being loved’. Well frankly, Rolf Harris is loved by nobody anymore” Patrick Carlyon, Senior Journalist, Melbourne Herald Sun.

Rolf Harris had a career in which he did nearly everything.

Over almost six decades, he performed comedy, made music and created art.

The boy from Bassendean was awarded some of Britain’s highest honours by the Queen herself. He served a 5 year, 9 month prison sentence at Her Majesty’s Pleasure, Stafford.

On 12th February 2016, he was charged with an additional seven counts of indecent assault. The Crown Prosecution service said of the new charges: "We have concluded that there is sufficient evidence and it is in the public interest for Mr Harris to be charged with seven counts of indecent assault."

That is our future, just the four of us. Not the five of us.

After seven months of searching for April’s body, the police ended the operation.  

On 26 September 2013, just five days short of the anniversary of the day April went missing, the community of Machynlleth gathered for the funeral of April Jones.

A horse drawn carriage carries her coffin - though it contains little of April. Her final resting place still a mystery known only to Mark Bridger.  

So that other parents may be spared their fate, Paul and Coral Jones have called for internet providers to restrict access to images of child abuse on the web. They have also asked for longer sentences for those convicted of sex offences against children.

They’re campaigning for new legislation which they hope will be called April’s Law.

“Once they’re put on the sex offender list they’re on it for life not come off it in like 6 years time or 5 years time they need to be put on it for life.” Coral Jones

“The way I see it is the internet sites are a big playground for paedophiles.”

Paul Jones

Paul and Coral have even met with the Prime Minister, David Cameron.But as yet, little has changed.

One small consolation for them was that in November 2014, Mark Bridger’s cottage, Mount Pleasant, was bought by the Welsh government - and demolished.

But it is a small token for parents who still feel grief even when simply seeing other children play.

“You see them out playing and you think…

...She should be there. She should be playing”

                                                                                          Coral and Paul Jones

April’s sister, Jazmin, has to face a similar sadness in the everyday.

“I shared a room with April, so obviously in the morning you get up and you’re thinking, for that split second, you’re like, ‘Oh normal.’ And then you turn around and you’re like ‘Ah, no, she’s not there.’ You know, she’s not in her bed or waking you up, she’s not in everything you do so you do think of her because you could be watching a film and you’re thinking ‘Aw yeah, April would like this,’ so she’s constantly in your thoughts of everything you do.”

And, despite one of the biggest search operations in police history, April’s body has never been found.

Mark Bridger has refused to reveal what he knows.

Every 4 April, on what was April’s birthday, Paul places a pink ribbon on the mountains overlooking their home, in memory of her.

“The lasting image for me was only a few weeks before there was a double rainbow just outside the back of our house, and as she came out the door she squealed “enfys, enfys!” Enfys is Welsh for rainbow...she jumped up and down and pointed, two rainbows, “enfys, enfys”. I mean it was just the sheer joy she jumped up and down on the spot squealing it...and that’s the kind of girl she was.

The Aftermath

After quickly realising Suzy’s never coming back, Diana Lamplugh pours her grief into some positive action and sets up the Suzy Lamplugh Trust. She becomes a tireless campaigner for the improvement of personal safety training and education for men, women and children. Her work is recognised in 1992 when she’s awarded an OBE. The Trust becomes a force for good and notches up a number of achievements. Notably it becomes the “driving force behind the 1998 act to license private hire vehicles.” - Rachel Griffin, Director Suzy Lamplugh Trust. Its aim to reduce the number of rapes and sexual assaults which are linked to unlicensed and illegal minicab drivers.In addition it runs the National Stalking Helpline, which has supported 10,000 victims of stalking in the last four years.  It’s campaigned and succeeded in changing the law for stalking to now be recognised as a criminal offence. This is something Diana Lamplugh felt very strongly about. She remains convinced that Suzy, was herself, a victim of stalking. Sadly Diana dies after a stroke on 18 August 2011. She’s survived by her husband and three remaining children. She will never know what really happened to her daughter on the day of her disappearance. Despite Suzy’s body never being found, the police name John Cannan as their main suspect and likely killer. To this day they have not been able to obtain a confession or bring him to trial. Cannan continues to deny his involvement. He has however made this comment to a solicitor.

I may well tell all when my mother dies

Whether he does or not remains to be seen.

Never again

In November 2013, Greater Manchester Police apologise to Lily, the 15 year old girl that reported her rape to them in 2008. And for the failings which “led to children being put back in the hands of their abusers”. After reporting rape, her rapist, Freddie Kendakumana, had not been charged for another four years.Formal management action has now been given to two of the officers involved.  On the same day that Lily’s abusers are sentenced, a serious case review into the issue is published. It finds a catalogue of failings by a variety of agencies that has allowed a generation of underage girls to fall prey to grooming gangs.  

Life for Lily, after the trials, has not been easy. In 2013, she was said to be still on medication and being treated for anxiety and depression. But she’s still glad that she eventually did get justice against the men who raped her though she found the abusive judicial process so appalling that even if she was attacked again, almost unbeliveably, she says she wouldn’t report it to the police:“…if I walked down the street now and I was raped, I wouldn’t go to the police, not because of the police just because I wouldn’t put myself through being re-victimised again and again and again.” Lily, Lily, amazingly, is determined, however, not to be defined by being a victim: “I don’t want to be reminded of being that vulnerable girl who couldn’t defend herself…I want to be remembered for things like helping people.” This, from a girl whose courage and determination has already helped countless children.  For not only did victims like Lily lead to swathes of investigations and convictions of grooming gangs, her experiences of the court system lead to sweeping changes in the treatment of victims and witnesses:“After Rochdale the law changed. We put in place guidance for prosecutors, guidance for police officers, new support mechanisms for victims…It’s difficult to underestimate how much has changed which did not exist back in 2012.”Nazir Afzal, Former Chief Crown Prosecutor, NW EnglandAnd as well as ensuring that victims are more fairly treated, greater attempts are being made to deny groomers easy access to society’s most vulnerable:“We talk to hotels We train hotel receptionists, we go into ice-cream parlours and shisha bars, we go anywhere that we think young people might be a target for someone to groom them. And that’s something that didn’t happen 10 years ago.”Gail Hopper, Director of Children’s Services, Rochdale Council 

False Claims of Race as a Factor

For some in the United Kingdom, already sickened by Savile and the exposure of systemic child abuse, the fact that these sexual predators were largely Pakistanis was unduly seized upon.To do so, as Nazir Afzal explains, is to make a fundamental mistake. “…they see Asians doing it and they forget that actually the vast majority of sex offenders are British White Males. So that to my mind is the danger of just profiling victims and profiling defendants. They come from all communities and from all societies.”Nazir Afzal, Former Chief Crown Prosecutor, NW England,As the judge said to the men who abused Girl A:“Some of you, when arrested, said it was triggered by race…What triggered this…was your lust and greed.” 

Prison life

After her trial it emerged that Joanna Dennehy had been on probation at the time of the murders following convictions for assault and for owning a dangerous dog. It was ruled that her probation officers had been given inadequate training.Joanna Dennehy is currently an inmate at Bronzefield Category A Prison, Surrey. 

Bronzefield is the only purpose-built private prison solely for women in the UK, and is the largest female prison in Europe.In May 2016 Dennehy was informed that her attempt to sue the British Justice System for breaching her human Human Rights by keeping her in solitary confinement for two years had been unsuccessful. Mr. Justice Singh found Dennehy's solitary confinement was "in accordance with law [...] at all material times it has been necessary and proportionate". 

The Prison Years

Initially incarcerated separately, their mother petitioned to have them reunited, and Ronnie joined Reggie at the maximum security Parkhurst Prison, on the Isle of Wight, early in 1972. Ronnie’s deteriorating mental health forced their separation some years later, when he was transferred to Broadmoor Prison. Whilst there he married twice, despite his life-long homosexuality: in 1985 to Elaine Mildener, and in 1989 to Kate Howard.The mythology of the Kray twins continued to grow, despite their long incarceration, and a film made of their lives in 1990 netted the brothers substantial royalties.

Despite a number of campaigns to free the Kray twins, including a 10,000 signature petition sent to Downing Street in 1993, the establishment seemed determined to make an example of them, and attempts to have their sentences reduced, to reflect the actual crimes of which they had been committed, proved fruitless.Ronnie Kray died of a heart attack on 17 March 1995, the result of a chronic nicotine addiction. Reggie was temporarily released to attend his funeral, which attracted thousands of onlookers, and was visibly devastated at his loss. Family claim he never completely recovered.On 3 August 2000, Reggie Kray was diagnosed with inoperable cancer of the bladder, and given just weeks to live. Then Home Secretary, Jack Straw, approved his release on compassionate grounds and, finally free after 32 years in prison, he died on 1 October 2000.His funeral cortege attracted even more onlookers than his brother’s had, with up to one hundred thousand people lining the East London route. In accordance with his wishes, Reggie was laid to rest in the same grave as his brother, Ronnie.

We will never know the real number of victims

Rosemary West launched an appeal against her conviction in 1995.

In 1996, the Lord Chief Justice rejected it.

That year, 25 Cromwell Street was demolished. A walkway replaced it. There is no memorial or marker to the horror that took place there.

In 2000, Rose considered appealing her conviction. In 2001, she abandoned it saying she felt she would never be free, even if released. Bizarrely, in 2003, she came close to marrying a session bass player with the rock band Slade. Just days after the wedding plans were announced, however, adverse publicity meant it was all called off.

For relatives and friends of those who died and for the others that disappeared around the time and in the area of the Wests killings, the uncertainty over how their loved ones met their end is still painful:“If I could have one wish it would be for her to just tell the truth about what she does know. Whether that be she has took part in murders or she knew these young girls were going to be disposed of. Whatever, she’s doing her life sentence so why not just come out and tell the truth?  A confession would help a lot of people. People who don’t know.”-Caroline Roberts, Wests’ former nanny

And there was, also, that near decade gap in the Wests killings – between the murder of Shirley Robinson in 1978 and that of Heather in 1987. This is only supposed from the fact that no victims have been found that died during this period.

Most experts believe, however, that it is unlikely that a sexual serial killer like Fred, or Rose, could have relented for eight years.

This means it is unlikely we will ever know the true number of West victims.

Rose West is currently serving her sentences in HMP Low Newton.She will never be released.She has still not admitted her guilt.

Justice?

“I feel robbed...and stripped.”Sara Westle, Eddie’s mother“One of the things that’s kept Sara going through this tragedy is Eddie’s friends who go round and talk to her about Eddie, and help her remember the good times. And again this is absolute testament to a young man who was popular and well loved because his character was such a positive one.”Emma Kenny, PsychologistIn order that Eddie’s killing should have some meaning, Sara has since campaigned to raise the issue of male domestic violence,“She wants to turn something that’s negative into something that’s positive...and that’s just where Eddie gets his good heart and kind nature from, his mum...”Dylan Rockett, Eddie’s friend

“Eddie was a kind man who would never hurt anyone. I still can’t believe he’s gone. I want other men who are suffering at the hands of an abusive wife or girlfriend to seek help, so that nobody else loses their life like my son did.”Sara Westle is now a patron of Mankind, a charity for male victims of domestic violence:

“Domestic abuse against men is one of Britain’s last remaining taboos”Marks Brooks, chairman of Mankind 

'It was good while it was lasted.'

Savile’s headstone

In November 2012, and after just 54 days in the job, the BBC lost its Director General, George Entwistle because of another failed Newsnight investigation and because of the continuing fallout from the Savile scandal.The BBC spent over £5m on three inquiries to work out what had gone so wrong for so long. The Pollard Review looked into the ‘seriously flawed’ reasons for the dropping of the Newsnight investigation into Savile.It concluded of BBC management that leadership was ‘in short supply.’

'I think it’s helped alert the British public to the scale of child abuse not just involving celebrities but involving other corrupters, destroyers of young lives. I think that it probably means that the prosecuting authorities and the police now take complaints or evidence of abuse far more seriously.' Paul Connew, Former Editor, ‘Sunday Mirror’

In 2014, after the NHS report into how Savile used his celebrity status to ‘exploit and abuse’ people within the health system, the then Health Secretary apologised to victims saying Savile’s actions;

'...will shake our country to the core.'

By that point, there were over 500 reports of Savile abuse.The report that covered 28 hospitals including Leeds General Infirmary and Broadmoor psychiatric hospital, finally started to account for the scale of Savile’s actions. It found nine victims had told members of staff. It could not categorically confirm or deny allegations of necrophilia but the Doctor that led the inquiry said controls on access to the mortuary was ‘lax’The report released that June revealed that Savile had made jewellery out of glass eyes taken from dead bodies in a hospital mortuary.

‘Now Then, Now Then’

Savile catchphrase

The elaborate headstone that marked Savile’s final resting place in the North Yorkshire cemetery where he was buried was torn down. Most sources believe that he was indeed modern Britain’s most prolific paedophile. He now lies in an unmarked grave.

Mark WIlliams-Thomas: The man who exposed Jimmy Savile

What's it like to interview a killer?

Following Sutcliffe’s sentence Her Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary, Lawrence Byford, was charged with investigating the conduct of West Yorkshire Police during the Ripper Inquiry. His report was a devastating indictment.It transformed police investigations and resulted in the setting up of the first major inquiry computer programme.Jailed in 1981 Sutcliffe was initially sent to HMP Parkhurst on the Isle of Wight. He was attacked by another inmate. It will not be the last time this happens.Prison psychiatrists diagnose Sutcliffe as insane. He was transferred to Broadmoor secure hospital in 1984.He was visited there by West Yorkshire’s Chief Constable, Keith Hellawell. He asked about many other cases, including that of Tracy Browne.Eleven years after being jailed Sutcliffe confessed to attacking two others, one of whom was Tracy Browne

JACK JAILED- On 20 October 2005, ‘Wearside Jack’ finally faced justice. A former security guard, John Humble, was arrested and charged with perverting the course of justice. He had sent two letters and a tape recording that led to the hunt for the Ripper hoaxer, “Wearside Jack”. More sophisticated DNA profiling enabled experts to match his DNA from a motoring offence to saliva taken from one of the envelopes containing the hoax letter sent in 1978.In March 2006, Humble was jailed for eight years at Leeds Crown Court.The tape recording was in fact done in a red brick council semi by the 23-year-old labourer as a prank. When they took his tapes seriously John Humble twice tried to convince detectives that it was a hoax. But the more he pleaded, the more convinced they were that the tapes were genuine.RIPPER RIPPED- In 1997, Sutcliffe was stabbed in both eyes with a pen by another Broadmoor patient, Ian Kay. Emergency surgery saved the sight in the right one. He was left blinded in the left.Despite his lack of popularity amongst fellow inmates, Sutcliffe reportedly receives considerable fan mail from female admirers. Sonia, his wife, however, remarried and changed her surname.IPSWICH MURDERS- The changes in public sympathy for the plight of prostitutes and of police treatment of them were evident over the 2006 serial murders of five women. The fact that they were prostitutes was pertinent, but it didn’t mean the police were under any less pressure to find their man. And within two months, they did.Such advances in public and policing sensitivity are probably little consolation to the many, many victims of Peter Sutcliffe."I don’t have mam to see every time I want to see her...I wish she was here. Always have done.”-Neil Jackson, Son of Emily Jackson (the Ripper’s second murder victim)

In 2008, after thirty three years of living in fear, Anna Rogulski, Sutcliffe’s first surviving victim, finally found peace and died in hospital.His second surviving victim was reduced to a shadow of her former self. Her daughter had a nervous breakdown.His youngest victim, Tracy Browne, without counselling, rebuilt her life and refuses to let Sutcliffe affect her future. It seems her youth helped her.“I was still growing up when the attack happened. I was young, resilient and with a teenage-type determination to put it all behind me...I am now a survivor, not a victim.”The father of one of Sutcliffe’s last murder victims, Jayne MacDonald was not so able to put things behind him. Two years after her death, it is said he died of a broken heart.Sutcliffe set out to ‘clean’ the streets of prostitutes. Instead, he destroyed the lives of students, civil servants, housewives and mothers. And on top of that, he created an impact in many families from which they would never recover.

The family of his last victim, Jacqueline Hill tried to sue the police over their incompetent investigation of the Ripper attacks and killings.Their court case was unsuccessful.The Courts did, however, reject a 2010 appeal by Sutcliffe against his whole life tariff. They confirmed that Sutcliffe would serve a whole life tariff and never be released from imprisonment.Also that year, the murder of Joan Harrison was conclusively linked to another man. Forensics from her case had helped convince Oldfield of the authenticity of the ‘Wearside Jack’ letters and tapes.In November 2012 it was reported that the 66-year-old Sutcliffe believed he would soon be on day release. He was also said to have defended the paedophile Jimmy Savile and boasted of the number of visitors and pen pals he had.His reading of their letters is more difficult because of being stabbed and blinded in his left eye.It is also claimed that Sutcliffe is now a Jehovah’s Witness.Some bizarre urban myths have sprung up about the serial killer. Leeds University students have been known to tell a story based on the fact that he liked to eat at the Kentucky Fried Chicken in Headingley. They say the Ripper was arrested there when staff recognised him from the photo fit issued by the police. They told Sutcliffe that he was their millionth customer and must stay while they presented him with his prize. Instead, they rang the police who arrested him.Like all such myths, the grain of truth in it helps it to persist.In July 2013, John Humble, the man behind the ‘Wearside Jack’ tapes spoke publicly for the first time. He said it started “as a prank – just a bit of fun.” It was revealed that the hoax had lead to him trying to take his own life three times.It was reported in August 2016 that Sutcliffe would be moved from Broadmoor psychiatric unit after it was decided he longer needed treatment for any mental illness.

In the 1960’s three Glasgow women were murdered, the so called ‘Bible John’ killings. The crimes remain unsolved. Recently police arrested the man behind three similar murders. Does he hold the key to the mystery? Is Peter Tobin Bible John?

They were all strangled, they were all beaten and they were all menstruating. It didn’t take police long to link the murders. They had a serial killer on their hands.

The prime suspect was the last man seen alive with the third victim, Helen Puttock. He’d shared a taxi with Helen and her sister Jeannie just before Helen was murdered. Jeannie recalled him quoting from the Bible and described him as 6 foot tall with sandy hair. He also said his name was John.

Soon the papers called this mystery murderer ‘Bible John’ and the biggest manhunt in Scottish criminal history ensued. Police interviewed over 5000 men and collected 50,000 statements, but they never found their man.

The killings suddenly stopped in 1969, and it seemed like the mystery would never be solved.

But 37 years later another murder in Glasgow brought back chilling memories. The body of young Polish student Angelika Kluk was found hidden beneath church floorboards right in the middle of Bible John territory. With the help of DNA profiling her killer was found. His name – Peter Tobin.

Soon Tobin was linked to two other murders, those of Dinah McNicoll and Vicky Hamilton who’d both been missing since 1991. These killings also bore haunting similarities to the Bible John murders. Peter Tobin was in Glasgow around the time of the Bible John murders. Does he hold the key to a mystery that has spanned four decades?

David Hayman looks at this fascinating case – and reveals the arguments for and against Peter Tobin being the man behind three gruesome murders which have achieved mythical status.

David also does something that’s never been done before. A graphic artist has regressed a recent photo of Tobin to what he would have looked like in the late 60’s, the time of Bible John. Will the age regression image resemble the artist’s impression of Bible John from eye witness accounts?

Is Peter Tobin Bible John?

Aftershock

THE BOWMAN FAMILY"My heart will never mend not even over time. I cannot understand why my baby girl was taken from me in such a brutal and depraved way.”Linda BowmanBBC News Online February 2008Since the murder of her youngest daughter Linda Bowman has written several times to the authorities to grant her request to sit face-to-face with Mark Dixie. She has questions she wants answered; particularly she wants to find out where he hid her daughter’s personal effects. Keeping her memory alive the family visit Sally Anne’s grave every year on her birthday.

DNA DATABASE"It is my opinion that a national DNA register - with all its appropriate safeguards - could have identified Sally Anne's murderer within 24 hours.”Detective Superintendent Stuart CundyBBC News Online February 2008The Bowman family have campaigned for the government to introduce a compulsory DNA database which would take DNA from birth. Although highly controversial, they believe it would stop miscarriages of justice and help catch serious offenders. Had it not been for Mark Dixie being arrested for a pub fight then there’s every chance he may never have been caught.MARK DIXIE“Dixie is a coward who preys on vulnerable women and attacks them, sexually and physically. He is not well liked, especially among his fellow prisoners.”Prison Officer, HMP Long LartinCroydon Guardian, November 2009After being sentenced Mark Dixie was sent to Belmarsh prison in London. However the inmates there took an instant dislike to him and threatened to maim him. Fears for his safety had him moved to HMP Long Lartin prison in Worcestershire. Dixie remains concerned that someone could get to him, especially when it was revealed in 2009 that there is a contract of £50,000 for his death. Dixie now lives in fear of being stabbed or beaten to death. 

COLIN STAGG

In August 2008, Colin Stagg receives record compensation and recognition of the fact that he was always innocent. One of the first things he does is give £5,000 to a wounded veteran’s charity. He still lives in the same council house on the Alton estate, except now, he can afford to buy it. And he still likes to take his dog, Jessie, for a walk.

THE POLICE

No one from the police is ever disciplined or sacked as a result of the police’s failings. All charges of professional misconduct were dismissed against Paul Britton in October 2002. However, Scotland Yard dramatically change their tactics and their use of specialists, meaning that some now claim that it is the most effective way of investigating murder anywhere in the world.

THE NICKELL FAMILY

"I can still see the knife in the killer’s hand and my mother covered in blood", says Alex Hanscombe, remembering the murder 18 years later. Alex spent years suffering from nightmares. The trauma is so great, he can’t share them with the police, his psychologists or his father, Andre. To escape the media, Andre takes him to France just a few months after the murder, and then to a small village in Spain, where they settle. Andre hires a female tutor but the lack of a mother is too great and Alex often takes his anger out on Andre.

However, after an understandably troubled adolescence, Alex has settled down.Alex is given what his grandparents consider a "derisory" amount by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board for the loss of his mother. His grandparents are further hurt by their grandson’s distance as he is their last living reminder of their daughter. They have not seen him since he was eight.‘…the pain remains with you every minute of every day...We hope the man who committed the crime will spend the rest of his life in prison. That is the sentence he has given us.’ - Monica Nickell

NAPPER

Robert Napper has been remanded in Broadmoor Hospital indefinitely. He is suspected of carrying out 106 rapes, indecent assaults and other sex offences. He refuses to admit to anything for which there is no forensic evidence. His mother has disowned him and has burnt every family photo she had of him.

Life in Prison

Ramirez’s loyal band of female fans included freelance magazine editor Doreen Lioy, who had been in contact with him since his 1985 incarceration, pending his trial. She proved the most persistent of his ghoulish harem and in 1988, during the course of his trial, Ramirez proposed marriage to her.Despite his conviction, she remained convinced of his innocence and on 3 October 1996 they were married in the main visiting area of San Quentin State Prison, in the presence of Ramirez’s brother, sister and niece.Conjugal rights are not extended to death row prisoners, and the marriage remained unconsummated.Ramirez died of liver failure on death row at San Quentin State Prison on 7 June 2013, whilst awaiting execution.

Moat was rushed to hospital but he was pronounced dead on arrival. On 10th July, at 3:12am, Northumbria Police confirmed that Moat was dead. The manhunt had cost taxpayers £1.5million.

But in keeping with this strange, sad story, some came to praise the memory of Moat. The child-beating, girlfriend-assaulting, murderer was actually held up as an icon by some. One mother, Teresa Bystrom, who had never known him in life, brought her three teenage sons from the South to pay their respects at Moat’s funeral:

Teresa: “I absolutely love the man. I think he’s great."

Interviewer: “You don’t worry about the message that sends to your sons given the crimes that this man committed?”

Teresa: “No, not at all. Not at all."

Interviewer: “You think your sons should use Raoul as a role model?”

Teresa: “Yeah, actually, I do.”

In August that year, the missing father that Moat had blamed for his own failings went public. Peter Blake publicly bore the sins of his son saying: “I’m to blame for everything that happened...I know if I was there for him growing up, he would have turned out very differently. If this story should teach us anything, it’s that boys need fathers.” Unable to help his son in life, he did attend his funeral and carried his son’s coffin. Also that month was the funeral of Moat’s first victim, Christopher Brown. His family asked Samantha Stobbart to stay away.

At the beginning of 2011, Moat’s accomplices stood trial at Newcastle Crown Court. Karl Ness and Qhuram Awan were accused of being part of Moat’s conspiracy to kill policeman. They had aided Moat in securing a weapon, in searching for and locating Samantha, and in helping him getaway.

4 manhunts that gripped the media

Some killers are remembered not just for the savagery of their crimes, but for the immense, desperate effort to hunt them down…

The trial, like the manhunt, had many bizarre elements: Two people preparing to help a murder had been seen laughing and joking in Tesco’s buying supplies; Moat had supposedly shouted "Wonga" when he robbed the chip shop; they’d nearly killed another policeman but because Moat hadn’t finished his McFlurry, they let the him live.

On 15th March 2011, despite not actually pulling the trigger, Ness was found guilty of murdering Christopher Brown and the attempted murder of Samantha Stobbart. He and Qhuram Awan were found guilty of several other charges including the attempted murder of David Rathband. Awan is recommended to serve a minimum of 20 years. Ness’s minimum is 40 years.

An inquest in September 2011 found that Raoul was not mentally ill. Social media sites celebrating Moat continued to grow. They celebrated Moat as a ‘Robin Hood’ character who stood up to the police. The fact that he’d killed an innocent man who wasn’t police and had escalated his domestic violence into an armed attack on the mother of his child was not highlighted.

A year after the murders, floral tributes to Moat again appeared. Local residents were disgusted. The permanently scarred Samantha wished that more would remember Christopher. David Rathband, the PC blinded by Moat’s shotgun set up the Blue Lamp Foundation, a charity to raise money to help Emergence Service Personnel injured in the line of duty. He was fitted with prosthetic eyes and awarded ‘The Pride of Britain’ award.

His rate of recovery and his resilience amazed everyone. However, Tony Horne, co-author of Rathband's book Tango 190, said: “David had this public persona and he was happy to be in the lime light to keep the case in the memory to raise money for his charity. But behind closed doors, you know, his life was stress and trauma and people didn’t see that."

On the evening of Wednesday 29 February 2012, David Rathband was found hanged at his home. He’d committed suicide. His younger sister said she was heartbroken but not surprised. It was later revealed that the charity he set up might fail to raise the £1 million Rathband had hoped. The economic downturn was blamed.

For Christopher Brown’s mother there is no end: “I still expecting my son to ring me and tell me he’s OK. Even now, so life for me is, just existing.”

Britain’s most famous manhunts

John Heald went on the run after murdering B&B landlady Bei Carter. Here are 3 more notorious British manhunts.

Long Distance Relationship

Brady's hold over Hindley continued for a number of years beyond their trial, and at one stage they requested permission to marry, which was refused. However, in 1970 Hindley severed all contact with Brady and, still protesting her innocence, began a lifelong campaign to regain her freedom.

In 1987, Hindley again became the centre of media attention, with the public release of her full confession, in which she admitted her involvement in all five murders.The confessions confirmed police suspicions that the remains of Pauline Reade and Keith Bennett had been buried somewhere on the moors, and Pauline's body was finally located on 1 July 1987, identified by the party dress she was wearing to the dance on the last night of her life.

"You will never be free"

Bennett’s body was never found.

Her campaign for freedom was dealt its final blow when her application for parole in 1996 resulted in then Home Secretary, Michael Howard, bowing to intense public pressure and ruling that Hindley, as well as Brady, would never be released from prison. She challenged this decision in the High Court, but was unsuccessful. A further appeal to the House of Lords was similarly defeated in March 2000.

Hindley died of respiratory failure, following an earlier heart attack, on 16 November 2002.Winnie Johnson, the mother of victim Keith Bennett, whose body was never found, said:“

I have no sympathy for her even in death. The pair of them have made my heart very hard and really I just hope she goes to hell.”

Closing in on the Don

By the early 1990s, pressure on Escobar was mounting and in 1991, he approached the Colombian government to make a deal. In exchange for their guarantee of no extradition to the US, he would willingly hand himself in, stop all drug trafficking and be jailed for a five-year period. The government accepted the deal, on Escobar’s terms, which included being permitted to build his own ‘jail’, named La Catedral, which resembled more a luxury hotel than a prison.It was a safe place to hide from potential assassins and he was regaled with an endless supply of five-star food, drugs, alcohol, prostitutes and visitors. It is alleged that he was occasionally allowed out to attend football matches and parties. Whilst in confinement, Escobar was not only living a standard of life to which he was accustomed, he even continued to run his cocaine empire, albeit telephonically.

The most audacious prison escapes of all time

Secret tunnels, helicopters and fake grenades are just some of the ways these prisoners escaped jail

Escape

Due to growing public pressure, Colombian officials made plans to move Escobar to a regular prison. On 22nd July 1992, after a year of living at La Catedral, Escobar made his escape whilst being transferred and went on the run. The United States finally felt authorised to participate in the manhunt, which they helped direct and finance.

On 26th July 1992, American Delta Force operatives joined the Medellin Search Bloc. It was a joint team of Colombian police and army, headed by police Colonel Hugo Martinez, and backed by agents from the US Drug Enforcement Administration, the CIA and later the Navy SEALS. Escobar remained a fugitive for 16 months, during which time an extraordinary number of people were murdered. He reportedly paid his hit men for each Search Bloc member they killed and over 600 police agents died during the manhunt.

In early 1993, a vigilante group formed, calling themselves Los Pepes (People Persecuted by Pablo Escobar), with the express purpose of violent revenge for all he had done. Los Pepes was given financial backing by the Cali Cartel and its numbers grew as more of Escobar’s enemies joined.Attacking Escobar’s dynasty from all angles, Los Pepes bombed his properties and targeted his source of money laundering by killing the white-collar infrastructure of the Medellin Cartel, which included Escobar’s own extended family members. There was speculation that some Search Bloc members were helping Los Pepes in their endeavours.

In February 1993, Escobar’s wife and children applied to the US Embassy in Bogota for visas to enter America but they were refused, under orders from President Cesar Gaviria. Colombia’s top federal prosecutor, General Gustavo de Greiff, disagreed with this decision and, calling himself an independent entity, entered into negotiations to help them leave Colombia in return for Escobar’s surrender. On the night of Friday, 26th November 1993, the US Embassy in Bogota received information that Escobar’s wife and children were once more planning to flee Colombia. They were successful this time and landed in Frankfurt, Germany on Sunday 28th November 1993. The Lufthansa aeroplane was forced to taxi to a remote part of an alternate runway, in order to avoid the press awaiting their arrival at the terminal. It wasn’t long after this that authorities traced a telephone call made by Escobar, which enabled them to track him to a house in Medellin

Fatal shot

On Thursday, 2nd December 1993, a day after his 44th birthday and after a manhunt that lasted 16 months, Escobar was finally found and cornered in one of his hideouts in Los Olivos. He and his bodyguards attempted to escape via the rooftops and were engaged in a protracted gunfight with Search Bloc authorities. Escobar was wounded in the leg and torso before receiving a fatal shot to the head. There has been speculation as to who fired the fatal bullet and the possibility put forward that it might have been a planned execution.

Colombia certainly did not rid itself of the scourge of its cocaine trade with the death of Escobar but it was successful in destroying the powerful Medellin Cartel. The Cali Cartel took its place until the mid 1990s, when the Colombian government either caught or killed its leaders.

Escobar’s infamy lives on and he is the subject of books, films and television documentaries. In 2006, a Truth Commission, instigated by three judges of the Colombian Supreme Court, included in its report claims that Escobar had been behind the 1985 M-19 siege of the Supreme Court. One of these claims was from ‘Popeye’, a former Escobar hit man.

On 28th October 2006, Escobar’s body was exhumed at the request of his nephew, Nicolas Escobar. It was in order to verify that it was Escobar’s body in the tomb and also to collect DNA for a paternity test claim.

Where's the body

Although it is most likely that Lucan killed himself within a short time of the events that unfolded on 7 November 1974, it was widely rumoured that he had managed to escape with the assistance of his wealthy friends, and there have been numerous sightings over the years in places as far apart as Australia and South Africa. More recently, there have been claims that his body is on the estate of the Maxwell-Scott’s, and that his car was driven to Newhaven to mislead the police, but no proof of this allegation has ever been found.Despite Lucan’s claims to have the welfare of his children at heart, his attempts to save his name have only served to cause them grief in subsequent years. The absence of a body, and lack of a death certificate, is especially complicated for the aristocracy. The financial crisis, brought on by gambling debts, was made worse by huge legal fees resulting from attempts to wind up his estate. Although he was declared officially dead in 1999, an attempt by his son to claim his father’s seat in the House of Lords was refused. He is forced to use the courtesy title, Lord Bingham.

Many of Lucan’s aristocratic set maintain that his wife was responsible for his predicament, and her continuing mental health problems have also caused estrangement between Lady Lucan and her children. Their son, George, chose to be adopted by his aunt and uncle at the age of 15, when Lady Lucan was admitted to a psychiatric facility, and Lady Lucan also claims that he stole property from her home during her absence. Camilla, Lady Lucan’s younger daughter, refused to accept that her father was dead, and did not invite her mother to her wedding.Lady Lucan has never remarried.In September 2012 George Bingham told the Daily Mirror that he believes his father took his own life not long after Sandra Rivett's death, because of the "...horrendous storm that was coming.".

Health Secretary Alan Milburn addressed the House of Commons stating: "This was not a failing on the part of one service; it was a failing on the part of every service."

The whole child protection system is overhauled. A new act of parliament is brought in and new guidance issued to social workers.

The government sets up a regulatory agency, the General Social Care Council, as well as the Social Care Institute for Excellence, designed to promote higher standards of practice. Child protection officers in the Met have had a lowly status as shown by their nicknames, ‘The Cardigan Squad’ or ‘The Baby Sitters’. Their training and relevance is now seen as vital.

Victoria’s father, Francis Climbié, says he doesn’t regard Victoria’s life as ‘lost’ because of the chance it created to change childcare for the better. He and his wife start a campaign to build a school for children in the Ivory Coast. It’s hoped that by providing education there, other parents won’t feel the need to let their children be taken away.

That dream has since become a reality and their newly built school now teaches 360 children. Victoria was finally laid to rest in her hometown in the Ivory Coast.

'Do not let Victoria's death be in vain' - Francis Climbié

Justice?

The Dowler Family

After the trial the Dowler family reach the conclusion that they paid too high a price for Bellfield’s conviction. Bob Dowler feels that the justice system weighed too heavily in favour of the criminal. The Director of Public Prosecutions says the trial had certainly raised ‘fundamental questions’ about the treatment of victims.

Much worse is to come for the Dowler family when on 4 June 2011 it’s revealed that News of the World’s Glenn Mulcaire hacked into Milly’s mobile phone while she was still missing, and may have deleted voicemail messages. At the time this had resulted in giving the family false hope that she was alive.

The family’s mobile phones were also hacked, which Surrey Police had been aware of since 2002. News International is reportedly forced to pay damages of around £3million to the family, with some of the money going to charities.

New revelations

On January 27th 2016, Surrey Police revealed that Bellfield has admitted to the crime for the first time. Milly's family said the news was "devastating for a family which has already had to endure so much".

From the new information obtained from Bellfield - who now calls himself Yusuf Rahim - about a possible accomplice, Surrey Police arrested a man in his 40s. He was then released without charge, as the police said there was no evidence to support the claim.

Justice catches up

Guilty

Bundy refused to accept his fate, and multiple appeals over the next decade resulted in stays of execution that kept him from the electric chair. In the hope that confession to other murders in the Washington State area would offer a stay in execution in Florida, he confessed to an investigator that he had committed various acts of butchery and necrophilia, and various accounts cite his victim count anywhere between 26 and 40, with others believing the total may have been much higher.It remains a matter of conjecture whether Bundy was simply exaggerating to prevent the inevitability of his execution.

The execution of Ted Bundy: ‘His body stiffened and his hands clenched'

As Bundy was led to the death chamber to be strapped to ‘Old Sparky’ on the 24th of January, 1989, he appeared to be afraid

Certainly, in the case of Kathy Devine (a young woman originally attributed as a Bundy victim), later DNA evidence found another man, William Cosgrove, guilty of her murder, who had no connection to Bundy. Bundy’s delaying tactics finally came to an end on 24 January 1989, and he was executed at 7 am, taking the secret of his actual victim count with him. His body was cremated and his ashes were spread over the same Washington State mountain area that had served as his favourite dumping ground for the bodies of his victims.

New Kids on the Block

After the Tithebarn Outrage, crime topped the political agenda. On the streets it was said some citizens took to taking Shillelagh (walking sticks that doubled as clubs) with them. But the next major fatality of the gangs wouldn’t be a native citizen. It would be a visitor.THE HIGH RIP“The crimes of the High Rip fell into three categories known as the wrongdoers’ three Rs – random violence, robbery and revenge attacks.”- Dr Michael MacilweeThe ‘heirs’ of the Cornermen terrorised everyone from shopkeepers to seamen between 1884 and 1888. The ‘High Rip’ or ‘High Rippers’ weapons of choice were knives. These, for obvious reasons, they called ‘bleeders’. Extremely violent, their main targets were lone Dockers and sailors.They sported a uniform of sorts, a tight fitting jacket and bell bottomed trousers held up by a thick leather belt. Like their predecessors, they could use their belts to lethal effect. A quiff of hair would protrude from underneath their muffler caps which were set at a ‘jaunty’ angle. Their sworn gang rivals were the Logwood Gang but there were also juvenile gangs such as the Lemon Street Gang. The gang’s new nemesis was a tough policeman known as ‘Pins’. The myth goes that he picked up a gang leader by the ankles and swung him around the surrounding gang, knocking them down like skittles.His methodology was blunt:“I grabs ‘em, I pins ‘em against the wall and I slaps ‘em a bit.”

BLAACKSTONE ST MURDER

The condemned youths walked jauntily from the bar of the dock, and disappeared with a callous smile upon their faces.’Court report of the Blackstone Street Murder, 25 February 1884The murder that gave the High Rip infamy took place in January 1884. Five young men, aged between 18 and 20, were alleged to have assaulted two Spanish seamen shortly before 10pm on a Saturday night. One sailor was able to escape but the other, Exequiel Rodriguez Nunuiez, was said to have been repeatedly beaten with belt buckles, kicked and then knifed. One of the men identified as using a knife was 18 year old Michael M’Lean.Unlike the Tithebarn Outrage, no one encouraged the assault and many witnesses came forward. One woman identified one assailant, a Patrick Duggan, as having asked to use her apron to clean his bloody hands. Another, William Dempsey asked for a brush to wipe the blood off his trousers.The defence would later draw attention to the age of the witnesses, many of who were just children.A police constable, Evans 343, took the sailor in an ambulance to hospital. He was dead on arrival. The attending doctor said that because of his death came so quickly after the beating, there were no bruises on his body. He had died before they could form.Of course, there is another explanation. There were no bruises as he was not beaten.There seemed to be no motive for the crime apart from, as court papers suggested, ‘wanton brutality’.Five men were arrested and each individual protested their innocence while naming others in the gang as guilty of the murder. During the arrests and investigation, various blood stained knives and items of clothing were found. At first, the men suggested the blood came from a nose bleed, then from sparring with each other. Finally, at the trial, it was suggested the five were acting in self defence against the Spanish sailors.The judge was very sceptical of this in his summation to the jury. He pointed out that they each had admitted to taking part in the beating, if not the killing. It took exactly an hour for the jury to return to find M’Lean and Duggan guilty of ‘wilful murder ‘. Due to the age of the accused, they requested mercy.

But the Judge assumed the black cap and said they had been found guilty of “a murder of a very savage character”. He passed a sentence of death.Duggan was reprieved and sentenced to ‘penal servitude for life’. M’Lean, aged just 18, protested his innocence one last Monday morning at Kirkdale Jail. He was then hanged. His death was mercifully quick considering the hangman later admitted to being drunk.The Police Inspector involved in the case was later demoted to Police sergeant. He had withheld vital evidence until late in the trial that the Spanish sailor had had a knife on him. His death may have been an accident in a genuine case of self-defence.The public hysteria over gangs may have helped give a death sentence to an 18 year old who if not an innocent, may have been innocent of the charge of ‘wilful murder’.Increasingly, religious and philanthropic groups sought to use charity, education, and better housing, rather than the law, to address the problem of gangs. There was a growing sense that the troublemakers were in a sense victims of their environmentSuch solutions are, however, long term. In 1888, it was reported in a Liverpool weekly papers that on a Monday night, a ‘murderous attack’ was made on a police constable by a gang of “high-rippers”. When they emerged drunk from a pub and fought among themselves over a watch, the policeman had tried to intervene. So they turned on him. The policeman survived.Fast forward to the 1950s and the gang problem caused The Daily Herald to ask of Liverpool, ‘What makes it our wickedest city?’And then in the 1980s drugs, and the millions they could earn criminals, entered the world of gangs.No longer would young men risk their lives for sixpence. Now they could make untold wealth.Men like Curtis Warren...

Life after the dungeon

Elizabeth and her children are now living a secluded life away from the media in an undisclosed location and with new identities. It is hoped the children can have something approximating normal lives. The same is wished for their mother, Elisabeth;“I think she didn’t go mad because she had the children. I think it would be, it would’ve been almost impossible for her to survive alone, on her own. But she had a reason to live, they had the children, she taught the children, she tried to maintain an almost normal life. She made the children get up at the set time and she made breakfast for the family and she had them go to school so to speak, because she taught them. She tried to maintain a normal, almost, seemingly normal life. And I think that is what saved her.”Dr Heidi Kastner, Forensic Psychiatrist to Josef Fritzl

Elizabeth and her children are now living a secluded life away from the media in an undisclosed location and with new identities. It is hoped the children can have something approximating normal lives. The same is wished for their mother, Elisabeth;“I think she didn’t go mad because she had the children. I think it would be, it would’ve been almost impossible for her to survive alone, on her own. But she had a reason to live, they had the children, she taught the children, she tried to maintain an almost normal life. She made the children get up at the set time and she made breakfast for the family and she had them go to school so to speak, because she taught them. She tried to maintain a normal, almost, seemingly normal life. And I think that is what saved her.”Dr Heidi Kastner, Forensic Psychiatrist to Josef Fritzl

A-list murderers

Two television films were made about the Menendez murders, between their first and second trials. The first was ‘Honour Thy Father and Mother: The True Story of the Menendez Murders’ (1994), starring James Farentino (José), Jill Clayburgh (Kitty), Billy Warlock (Lyle), and David Beron (Erik). The second was ‘Menendez: A Killing in Beverly Hills’ (1994), starring Edward James Olmos (José), Beverly D’Angelo (Kitty), Damian Chapa (Lyle), and Travis Fine (Erik).The film ‘The Cable Guy’ (1996) parodied the Menendez trials and had Ben Stiller playing both brothers. There is a reference to Lyle Menendez in the film ‘Jane Austen’s Mafia!’ (1998). The play ‘Lion Hunting in North America’, by playwright Jonah Maidoff, is based on the Menendez murders.

Prison

The Menendez brothers are currently in prisons in California, Lyle is in Mule Creek State Prison whilst Erik is in the Pleasant Valley State Prison. Both brothers have married whilst in prison but are denied conjugal rights.Erik’s wife, Tammi Menendez, published a book ‘They Said We’d Never Make It – My Life with Erik Menendez’ (2005). Subsequent to the book’s publishing, Erik appeared on the Larry King Live show and confirmed that he had made a large contribution to the editing of Tammi’s book. He also said that he and Lyle had not spoken in more than 10 years. The brothers are expected to spend the remainder of their natural lives in prison, and to both die without ever consummating their marriages.

Prison

Bianchi is serving out his sentence at the Washington State Penitentiary at Walla Walla, the same prison where Gary Ridgway, the “Green River Killer” is serving his life sentence.In June 2002 Bianchi filed a suit against the Whatcom County for lost wages and emotional distress, amounting to several hundred thousand dollars, on the basis that prosecutors had withheld key evidence prior to his trial, forcing him to confess to the killings. The suit was dismissed.Angelo Buono died of heart-related symptoms, aged 67, on 21 September 2002 at the Calipatria State Prison in California.

A community in disbelief

Victims were taken to the Princess Margaret Hospital in Swindon. Although situated 15 miles from Hungerford, it was the nearest hospital with an Accident and Emergency department equipped to deal with the numerous casualties with high-velocity gunshot wounds. Routine admissions were cancelled, the X-ray department and the blood bank were put on alert, extra doctors and support staff was made available and the victims started pouring in.

At around 4 pm, the Royal Air Force hospital in nearby Wroughton contacted the Princess Margaret Hospital to inform them that they could take the next two serious and six minor casualties. The Housing Department of Newbury District Council made accommodation available for those residents of South View who found themselves homeless after the fires Ryan had started.

LIFE SAVERS

Lance Corporal Carl Harries, 21, a young off-duty soldier and veteran of the Falklands War, was on his way into town, to pick up a radiator hose, when he walked into the midst of the massacre. Not able to stand by and idly watch people suffer, he had repeatedly risked his life to help a number of victims, giving first aid where he could and solace to those having lost loved ones. Harries later received the Queen’s Commendation for Brave Conduct.

Amongst others also later commended for their bravery were ambulance-women Hazel Haslett and Linda Bright, who had been shot at by Ryan but who had continued working selflessly late into the night to help other victims.It was reported in the tabloid newspapers that following the public announcement of Ryan’s death, the people of Hungerford reacted with relieved delight. People were said to have run into the streets chanting, “The bastard’s dead, the bastard’s dead”, whilst children cycled around on their bikes, yelling “Good riddance”, and people in pubs toasted his death. Whether or not these were completely accurate accounts, they certainly encapsulated the emotion of relief foremost in people’s minds immediately after the massacre that the carnage was finally over.

Dunblane: Two decades later

The sense of disbelief and shock still reverberate across the nation, 25 years later

Ron Tarry, Hungerford’s Mayor, claimed that the locals were in shock and speaking in hushed tones and that it was the press and others who had flocked to the scene who were doing the drinking in pubs. Either way, the mourning period for an entire town was still to be endured.The Reverend David Salt received countless communications of support and offers of help poured in to the Hungerford vicarage. Flowers began arriving at the town hall, where the flag flew at half-mast. The Hungerford Family Help Unit was hastily established in makeshift offices, co-ordinated by John Smith, to help a community suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

The Round Table helped by providing funds for taxis, rents, television rentals and other services. Cash and cheques poured in from well-wishers, some even from children, and a Tragedy Fund was established, in collaboration with Lloyds TSB, Barclays and NatWest, the three banks in Hungerford.

The Queen Speaks

Her Majesty the Queen’s private secretary sent a letter of condolence from Buckingham Palace to Mayor Tarry and enclosed a personal contribution from the Queen. Prime Minister Mrs Thatcher interrupted her Cornish holiday to visit Hungerford. Close to tears, she toured the streets, met with the relatives and visited victims in hospital.

All over Berkshire, the funerals that followed the massacre were deeply poignant. Many were attended by people who had never known the deceased in life, but wished to show support for their families and the bereaved Hungerford community in general. In contrast, Dorothy Ryan’s funeral service, held at St Mary’s Church in Calne, Wiltshire, was only attended by 40 mourners. Whilst people did recognise that she was a victim, Canon John Reynolds, who conducted the service, selected not to mention her son and only made a brief reference to the Hungerford massacre.

BUT WHY?

Following the massacre, the British press was inundated with stories about Michael Ryan and speculation as to why he had committed so many acts of unprovoked violence. Dr Gregory Moffat, a childhood aggression specialist, claimed that victims of bullying are generally small, weak, lack confidence and are loners. Their inability to defend themselves against their bullies means that shame, guilt, anger, hate and the need for revenge builds inside them. This powerful mix of emotions is often later expressed in an inappropriately violent response. This seemed to fit the profile of Michael Ryan.

The Hungerford Report

The British Home Secretary, Douglas Hurd, travelled to Hungerford on Sunday, 23 August 1987. There he announced that he had commissioned a report on the massacre from the Chief Constable of Thames Valley Police, Colin Smith. The Hungerford Report confirmed that Ryan’s weapons had been legally licenced. It also transpired that there were several unfortunate incidents encumbering the response by the police and other emergency services to the events on 19 August 1987.

The local Hungerford police station was in the process of being renovated and had only two telephone lines working on that day. In addition to this, the local telephone exchange could not handle the amount of 999 calls that were being made, as Ryan wreaked havoc across the suburbs and people desperately tried phoning for help. In a further twist of fate, the local police helicopter was in for repair but police mechanics eventually made it ready for flight and it was deployed at around the time Ryan shot his mother. Adding to the sound of gunfire in the area was the fact that the Thames Valley firearms squad were in training, about 40 miles away.

The Hungerford Report led to the Firearms (Amendment) Act 1988, which banned the ownership of semi-automatic centre-fire rifles and restricted the use of shotguns with a magazine capacity of more than two rounds.

Rampage killers : shooters without remorse

Looking back at the two most shocking gun massacres in British history

Memorial Service

On 8 October 1987, a memorial and rededication service was held for the town of Hungerford. Mayor Tarry claimed it to be the day on which life in the town could begin once more. The open-air service outside the town hall was attended by over 60 percent of the population of Hungerford and the principal sermon preached by Right Honourable Robert Runcie, Archbishop of Canterbury.Apart from the numerous local and international newspaper articles written about the Hungerford Massacre and Michael Ryan, there were also several books. These include ‘Lonewolf: True Stories of Spree Killers’ (May 2002) by Pan Pantziarka and ‘The Encyclopedia of Mass Murder’ by Brian Lane and Wilfred Gregg (1993). Ryan has also been documented on internet sites devoted to mass murder. Some more minor details of that fateful day in 1987 vary in the different accounts but all agree that it will remain in memory as one of the worst gun crimes in British history.Sir Charles Pollard, Chief Constable of Thames Valley Police from 1991 – 2001, commented, “The realisation that this could happen in fun-loving England, where we don’t have guns and the police aren’t armed… it changed policing and it changed society forever.”

Taylor's life of crime

Police had warned that whilst Taylor had no criminal record before being charged with Tiernan’s abduction and murder, he could feasibly have killed before. In the investigation following Taylor’s arrest, police had embarked on painstaking review of unsolved cases of sexual attacks in the area.By October 2002 Taylor was being questioned in connection with these 1980s assaults. The first occurred on 18 October 1988 when Taylor, armed with a mask and knife, attacked a 32-year-old woman as she walked across some waste ground near Houghley Gill, Leeds. He forced her to commit a sexual act on him and then raped her.The second was on 1 March 1989 when a masked Taylor, armed with a knife, broke into a 21-year-old woman’s Bramley home. It was lunchtime and her baby was in another room at the time. He forced her into her bedroom, undressed her, blindfolded and gagged her, forced her to perform a sexual act on him and then raped her.

On 3 April 2003, Taylor pleaded guilty to the two rapes before the Honourable Norman Jones QC, the Recorder of Leeds, who sentenced him to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for a minimum of 30 years. The sentence was to be reduced by eight months 26 days, which Taylor had already spent in prison.True North Productions made a television documentary about John Taylor, ‘Killer in the Woods’ (2003) produced and directed by Jess Fowle.

Legacy of the "Zodiac"

For over 35 years, the morbid fascination over the unsolved Zodiac killings have inspired a whole host of films, books, television shows and songs.The first of the films was Tom Hanson’s low-budget ‘The Zodiac Killer’, released in April 1971. Two movies loosely based on the Zodiac killings were ‘Dirty Harry’ (1971), starring Clint Eastwood and filmed in San Francisco; and ‘The Exorcist III’ (1990), based on William Peter Blatty’s novel ‘Legion’ (1983), starring Brad Dourif as the ‘Gemini Killer’.The first book, written by Cliff Smith Jr, was ‘The Zodiac Killer: Still At Large’ (1977), followed by Jerry Weissman’s ‘The Zodiac Killer’, published in 1979. Robert Graysmith’s book ‘Zodiac’ (1986) was the basis for the HBO television film ‘The Limbic Region’ (1996). Graysmith later wrote ‘Zodiac Unmasked: The Identity of America’s Most Elusive Serial Killer’ (2003).‘Case Reopened: The Zodiac with Lawrence Block’ (1999) was a documentary video in which Block hosted a factual overview of the case, including interviews with Robert Graysmith and the webmaster of zodiackiller.com, Tom Voigt.

The Zodiac killer featured in an American television series ‘Ultimate 10’ (1999), alongside the Black Dahlia, the Green River Killer and Jack the Ripper, as well as in a History Channel television documentary ‘Perfect Crimes?’ (1999), which outlined four of the century’s most famous crimes, both solved and unsolved. The documentary television series ‘Cold Case Files’ (1999), examines the Zodiac crimes in episode 51.A film company in Vallejo produced a short film based on the Lake Herman Road murders, ‘Disguised Killer’ (2000). In 2005, three Zodiac films were released: ‘The Zodiac Killer’ directed by Charles Adelman; ‘The Zodiac’ directed by Alexander Bulkley, about a real-life detective in Vallejo, obsessed with investigating the Zodiac case; and ‘Zodiac Killer’ directed by Ulli Lommel, a digitally recorded film set in Los Angeles in 2002, about a cat-and-mouse game between the real Zodiac and a copycat killer.With renewed interest in the Zodiac killer, America’s Most Wanted television series screened a full feature episode on the Zodiac Killer, on 25 February 2007. The most recent film, ‘Zodiac’ was released in March 2007. Directed by David Fincher, it is based on Robert Graysmith’s two Zodiac books and stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Robert Downey Jr, and Mark Ruffolo.On 3 March 2007, it was reported that a greeting card with a 1990 postmark, addressed to the San Francisco Chronicle, was discovered in the newspaper’s files by an editorial assistant. The envelope also contained a photocopy of two US postal keys on a chain. A forensic document expert declared the handwriting on the envelope was not that of the Zodiac.The police recognise that there can be between 20 and 30 serial killers operating in the United States at any given moment. Killers are often able to blend in to society, especially in large cities, as they appear so ordinary.

Danger online

This was the first case in British law courts of one person inciting another to kill them. Thankfully Mark was not successful in his murderous mission.Following their time in court, both boys were able to reflect more seriously on what they had done. John claimed, “It was probably just a phase I was going through”, and we can only hope that he was right and that both boys have learned a serious lesson through their misdeeds.It is a sad and strange story but a good indicator of how, via the internet, people can be led to believe things that are not true. Combining the fertile imagination of a young mind with a lack of worldly experience can so easily turn a bright, exciting fantasy into something dark and dangerous.

The aftermath

"Please Mam, put my tiny mind at ease, tell judge and jury on your knees. They will listen to your cry of ‘please’. The guilty one is you, not me. I am sorry it has to be this way. We’ll both cry and you will go away. Tell them you are guilty, please. So then Mam, I’ll be free.Your daughter, May."Mary Bell, in a letter to her mother after the court finds her guilty of manslaughter.Mary Bell spent a total of 12 years at various institutions, including Red Bank Special Unit, where she was the only female offender, before she was released in 1980 at the age of 23. Whilst incarcerated she continually denied being guilty of the killings of Martin and Brian.

After her release she was given a new identity and granted anonymity. In May 2003 Bell and her daughter won a case at the High Court which gave them both anonymity for life.The Mary Bell case was the first of its kind. Investigations into her early life, carried out after she was convicted, have been presented as arguments for the reason that she committed the terrible crimes that she did. Psychology experts now believe that the sexual behaviour she witnessed and was forced to take part in as a very young child may have harmed Mary’s mental development, making her unable to feel the same emotions as other children her age.

Finally the truth and justice for Evans

Following Christie’s trial, an inquiry was held to test Timothy Evans’ guilt. It determined, after an investigation of only eleven days, that Evans had indeed killed his wife and daughter. Two years later, an attempt was made to launch another enquiry. Extensive evidence was produced to suggest that the first enquiry had been rushed, and skewed to support the official version and avoid questioning the methods by which police had extracted Evans’ confession. Finally, an inquiry conducted in 1965 concluded that Evans had strangled his wife but not his daughter, and he was granted a posthumous pardon in 1966, years after being tried and hanged for the murder of both. Christie never confessed to killing baby Geraldine, despite having admitted all the other murders whilst in prison in the weeks before his execution, so it seems unlikely that the guilt of Timothy Evans will ever be definitively established.

We used to call it hunting, we did it as a bit of a joke

In 2000, Duffy appeared at the Old Bailey as a witness against Mulcahy and gave detailed and graphic evidence over 14 days. It was the first time a highest-category prisoner had ever given evidence against an accomplice.Mulcahy emerged as the chief perpetrator of the crimes and the first to decide that sexual stimulation was no longer enough of a thrill, so turning to murder. He was said by a former employee at a cab firm he worked at to despise women. "He liked women to be at the kitchen sink where they should be, or in bed", said Lola Barry, a controller at the cab firm.She said Mulcahy had once crept up behind her in the office, "He actually got me round the neck, saying 'How does that feel - are you scared?'”Mr Mark Dennis, prosecuting, told Mulcahy's trial, "As they fed their new-found predilections they treated their victims as objects rather than persons." It was "only a comparatively small step" between the violence of the rapes and the murders - and Mulcahy was the first to take it. "He was the instigator and prime mover in the murders, and the one for whom the sexual abuse had become insufficient to satisfy", said Mr Dennis.Duffy, in the witness box catalogued their heinous campaign of rape and murder describing how the two friends would go out on 'hunting parties' in the 1980s searching for women. Duffy, used his knowledge of the rail network to target his victims and drag them into concealed areas where they could be attacked.“We would have balaclavas and knives", Duffy claimed. "We used to call it hunting. We did it as a bit of a joke. A bit of a game."

Mulcahy protested his innocence but on 5 February 2001, was given three life sentences for murdering three women. He also received 24-year jail terms on each of seven counts of rape and 18 years each for five conspiracies to rape, to run concurrently.The police believed that the two men were probably responsible for more deaths and sexual attacks and reinvestigated the 1980 murder of Jenny Ronaldson, 19, who was sexually assaulted, strangled and thrown in the Thames.Apart from the level of ferocity associated with this case, the Duffy/Mulcahy casebook is one of the most significant criminal cases for its first use in Britain of 'Psychological Offender Profiling'.

More victims?

"And as he contemplates a life behind bars, I can assure him (Sweeney) that this investigation will continue as we seek to identify and trace other potential victims in the UK, Netherlands and elsewhere in Europe, who may have suffered a similar fate to that of Melissa and Paula."Detective Chief Inspector Howard Groves, Metropolitan Police statement, 5 April 2011In addition to the devastation of the families of Melissa Halstead and Paula Fields, police suspect there are other victims who have yet to be identified.Within the artwork used to link Sweeney to the murder of the two women over three decades and in two countries, police believe there are images of other girlfriends of Sweeney who could also be victims of his.

Two of these women went missing during a six-year spell that Sweeney spent on the run from the police — a period during which he murdered Miss Fields.The first is a Brazilian woman, called Irani, who frequented pubs and restaurants in Highbury and Holloway Road in north London in 1996 or 1997. Officers believe she worked in kitchens as a cleaner.The second woman is thought to be a Colombian, called Maria, who was living and working in, or just frequenting, pubs and restaurants in the Finsbury Park and Holloway Road in 1997 and 1998.A third woman officers are trying to trace is a British woman, called Sue, from Derbyshire. She lived in the North London area and was believed to be aged in her late-20s or early-30s in the late 1970s or early 1980s. Officers believe she was attending a nursing college and went to Switzerland to work.

Panic across London

Jack the Ripper’s targeting and hatred of prostitutes wasn’t an aberration, but was instead symptomatic of the society in which he lived. The middle and upper classes believed prostitutes were symbols of both decadence and disease.  Then this view was certainly shared by the middle and upper-class opinions of the time. It was a society that saw prostitutes and the working class in general as a ‘degenerate’ community that needed its sexual activity curtailed and contained.At the time of the Ripper killings a Government backed initiative, The Contagious Diseases Act, was put in motion, precipitating a ‘morality’ campaign aimed at the working classes. Brothels and lodging houses of ‘ill repute’ were closed down and many ‘working’ women found themselves homeless and on the streets. For a predator like Jack The Ripper, the political and social climate had made it all the more easier for him to stalk his victims.The crimes quickly stirred up racial tensions, particularly in a place like the East End where many immigrants such as Jews and Russians lived and worked. Suspicion fell on anyone who wasn’t English, as the general belief was that the heinous killings must be the handiwork of a foreign national.Even the mentally ill were fingered. This followed from the belief that no sane Englishman could carry out such brutal acts. As a result many men who came forward confessing to be the killer ended up being detained in asylums.

Suspicion also fell on anyone employed as slaughterhouse workers, butchers, boot makers, doctors and surgical students; in fact almost anyone who worked with knives. What the actual killer had stirred up, as a by-product of his brutal slayings, was a bubbling cauldron of xenophobia and mistrust between the classes.When the body of Catherine Eddowes was discovered near Mitre Square, the police discovered graffiti on the wall that appeared to be linked to the crime. Written in chalk was the message: "The Juwes are not the men to be blamed for nothing".It was not understood whether this cryptic message had been written by the Ripper himself or that it happened to be sheer coincidence that Eddowes’ body was found by the message written at an earlier date. There was also the possibility that a local citizen had come across the body and written the message to stir up racial tensions.However, fearing that such a message would incite religious hatred and possibly ignite a riot, Sir Charles Warren, Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, decided to erase all trace of the message by rubbing it out. His actions although prudent were still extraordinary considering that this was a crime scene with forensic validity.Some officers believed that the message should have at least been photographed first.The mystery of the identity of Jack The Ripper will possibly continue for many decades until perhaps some incontestable evidence involving DNA can prove an irrefutable link.