Suzanne Capper Manchester 1992

The dreadful things people are capable of doing to each other never cease to amaze. Seriously warped events take place behind the nations net curtains every day and most of us just go on with our lives without a thought.

An example of this is the utterly horrifying case of 16 year old Suzanne Capper of Moston in Manchester. She was an ordinary girl who lived with her stepfather who had the misfortune to become friends with one Clifford Pook. Pook soon introduced Suzanne to his sister Jean Powell.

      

Jean Powell lived at 97 Langworthy Road (below right) with her children and another friend and neighbour Bernadette McNeilly who had her own place at no.91 but chose to stay with Jean Powell often inviting her 16 year old boyfriend Anthony Dudson to stay over. Other frequent visitors were Powells ex husband Glyn and 26 year old Jeffrey Leigh who would join the others to share drugs.

In November McNeilly and Dudson contracted pubic lice and ridiculously put the blame on Suzanne as she had slept in one of the beds they used at number 97. On top of this McNeilly insisted that Suzanne had stolen a £50 pink coat from her so on 7th December they invited Suzanne round on the pretext that there was a man who fancied her waiting to meet her. Once there her head was shaved and she was beaten with a 3ft long stick and bundled into a cupboard where she was forced to spend the night.

The next day she was moved to 97 as her desperate cries were upsetting the children in the house. There she was viciously tied to a bed frame with cords,chains and belts and left there for six days in her own urine and faeces with a sock stuffed into her mouth.

Suzanne was scrubbed with disinfectant and a yard brush until her skin blistered, was burnt between the eyes with a cigarette and had her teeth pulled out with pliers. A lodger at 91 Dave Hill heard the terrible sounds and Jeffrey Leigh allowed him to see Suzanne as she was tied to the bed frame. He said she was quiet and had no hair. Hill told police he was too frightened to do anything to help her.

The beatings continued regularly with headphones put on and had to listen to rave music at maximum volume particularly "Hi Im Chucky wanna play?" from the movie Child's Play. Dudson would shout the words from the song before each torture session making Suzanne scream in terror.

On 14th December Suzanne was bundled into a stolen vehicle and driven to the countryside where she was thrown out almost naked, head shaved and covered with burns, cuts and sores. She was doused in petrol and set alight and left to die. Her remarkable resilience enabled her to live long enough to find help and give the police the names of the gang who had tortured her. She died soon after however, from multiple organ failure arising from 80% burns.

Left: The bed
frame where Suzanne was held
Right : Suzanne Capper

91 Langworthy Road

Michael Gilbert Luton 2010

The house where Michael was murdered (right)

This ordinary house in Marlborough Street, Luton was the scene of the shocking murder of Michael Gilbert 26 years old back in 2010. It is a story of abuse, slavery and the failure of the police and care system to protect a vulnerable man.

Michael Gilbert had a challenging childhood. At age 13 he had a mastectomy and was bullied relentlessly at school. An accusation of sexual assault was made about him by his sister and he was placed in a children's home. (The sister has since admitted that she made it up to get herself removed from the family home )

Michael started to rack up several convictions for theft and was sent to a young offenders institution where he met James Watt a violent young offender. James Watt befriended him and when they came out of the institution Michael was invited to live with the Watt family. The family consisted of Mother Jennifer Smith-Dennis and her husband Antonio and James' brothers Richard, Colin and Robert. There were also living there James' girlfriend Natasha Oldfield and Richards girlfriend Nicola Roberts. They moved around to many different rented homes as they had a reputation for anti social behaviour including shooting air rifles in the street and terrorising neighbours by peering through windows.

James Watt and Natasha Oldfield

At some point the abuse of Michael began. He was vulnerable and emotionally immature and despite being tall and well built suffered at the hands of the Watt family, especially James who took Michaels benefit money for himself and forced him to do all the cooking and cleaning. Michael suffered horrific beatings at the hands of the family and was often bruised and battered but refused to report the abuse for because as he told police during an unrelated matter "It will just be worse for me in the long run". The police were aware of the abuse as were job centre staff who saw Michael each fortnight to sign on but inexplicably Michael refused to file charges against them and continued to live with the Watts family.

The torture was often filmed on mobile phones: Michael being forced to stand in boiling water, being shot with an air rifle, having his pubic hair sprayed with air freshener and set alight, being led around the house with pliers attached to his testicles and being handcuffed to James' bed each night to stop him escaping. Michaels clothes were taken and away from him and he wore just boxers, again to prevent an escape.

However he did on occasions escape and travelled to Birmingham and Cambridge staying at hostels. Each time the Watt family tracked him down by contacting the job centre and quoting Michaels National Insurance number and then waited outside for him bundling him into the car and taking him back to Luton. Michael did not protest on these occasions and appeared to go willingly. When asked by older brother Richard why he never complained he replied "I love you lot, you are my family."

Michaels' own family rarely saw him as he tended to keep a distance. Mother Rosalie White told how Michael would visit occasionally and when he did often was bruised and battered. He would make excuses that he had been in an accident or a fight and was fine really. Nevertheless a Mothers instinct is to protect her son and she begged him to come home. James Watt was described by brother Richard as"Obsessed with finding Michael" when he escaped and stepped up the abuse when he was brought back. A pet giant lizard was encouraged to attack Michael and he slept on a mattress underneath James Watts' bed handcuffed whilst James and girlfriend Natasha Oldfield slept above, Oldfield denied that they had had sex during these times.

Oldfield invented a game show where friends could pay to assault Michael for set amounts of money : she wrote it all up in a notebook with the last entry saying "Gilbert ends up dead."

A few days before his death Michael attended the job centre. A staff member noted how he appeared to be in terrible pain, limping and covered in cuts and bruises but again excusing his state as being the result of a fight. Back at the squalid, dirty house in Marlborough Road- overrun with dogs, snakes and lizards and various people of dubious character Michael was ordered to lie on the floor whilst James Watt placed a piece of wood between his teeth and performed press ups. 21 stone Natasha Oldfield led the way by jumping with both feet on Michaels stomach using him as a kind of trampoline and the others soon joined in.

Later that day Michaels stomach began to swell severely and he was doubled up in pain, unable to walk and his bowels leaking blood and faeces. Colin Watt who had moved out several weeks before, unable to bear the abuse and violence being forced on Michael, visited the house and found him lying on the bathroom floor conscious but lying in his own excrement. No medical care was offered and during the night of 21st January 2009 Michael died alone and in agony of internal injuries on a filthy mattress under James Watts' bed .

When Michael was discovered the family panicked and Robert Watt called his brother Colin asking him to come over. He had just one thing to tell him :"We killed Michael."

The room where Michael was dismembered

The two Watt brothers James and Robert together with their girlfriends Natasha and Nichola began to dismember the body in an upstairs room wrapping the pieces in builders bags and weighing it down with flagstones from the front garden, drove to a local beauty spot nicknamed The Blue Lagoon and dumped the body parts into the lake.

Some of Michaels remains were discovered by fisherman just under four months later in May 2009. The murder was quickly traced back to the Watt family who were arrested and between them racked up a total sentence of 96 years imprisonment with the Judge quoted as saying it was one of the worst crimes he had ever come across in his entire career.

Peggy Lye Bristol 1951

Southville Bristol 1949 - Ronald Lye a railway worker marries his 21 year old bride Patricia Marsh known as Peggy. The couple move into parents Mr and Mrs Marsh' home in Lynton Road, Bedminster which is also the home of Peggy's' two sisters and brother and despite being already overcrowded Peggy gives birth to a son, Michael.

Things at home were most probably hectic and Peggy did not adjust well to being a wife and mother and by 1951 she was more likely to be found out with friends hanging about the streets of central Bristol of an evening than at home with the family. Bristols centre was as buzzing then at it is now with the Hippodrome and Colston Hall theatres, restaurants, pubs and coffee shops and the post war city dwellers enjoyed the freedom to walk around without the fear of air raids.

One Denmark Street with its back entrance to the Hippodrome had at the time a reputation locally for prostitution and "women of low moral standing". It is not known if Peggy actually worked as a prostitute but she did like men and having a good time. It was the afternoon of 22nd of September when she met a 19 year old homeless drifter named Percy Harold Sanders originating from Southall in London in the centre of Bristol. They got talking and before long Peggy was smitten with the boy with the London accent which seemed so exotic to her. Sanders needed a place to stay as he had been thrown out of his lodgings for non payment and although he had found work as a baker he did not seem to keen to go to it.

Sanders at first was more than happy to impress the gullible Peggy with his stories of his life in London and probably gave the impression of being well heeled and well connected but still spent an uncomfortable night on a park bench on the centre when Peggy left to go home after arranging a rendezvous for the next day.

Peggy would walk the distance back to the centre of Bristol the next day bumping into friends on the way and telling them excitably all about her new beau from London who was going to whisk her away and give her a luxurious and exciting life. The reality of the situation was sadly much less happy. Peggy met her weary and dishevelled Percy, hungry and feeling rough on the afternoon of 23rd September and inexplicably they decided to walk to his place of work in Bishopston to tell his boss he was not coming into work that day. The reception was not good but despite Percy's darkening mood Peggy remained elated and excitable chatting away about the future . At some point a ring was produced stamped 18 carat gold and Percy declared they were now engaged though no one thought to mention Peggy's husband Ronald at her child Michael at home.

The couple strode through the town arm in arm stopping to chat to acquaintances they met on their way and Peggy flashing the "18 carat gold " engagement ring that was slowly beginning to turn her finger green!

Towards the evening Percy was tired from virtually no sleep in the past couple of days and Peggy suggested a place she knew about where he could go in Denmark Street. A new office block allowed access to the stairwell and they went there so Percy could lie down, However a security guard appeared and threw them out, so they started walking towards Bedminster where Peggy and her family lived. A couple of witnesses spotted the pair talking to two soldiers off duty and a drunken elderly man whom Peggy grabbed hold of and started to march him off with Percy standing nearby watching. Whether she was trying to raise a bit of cash or not is not known but the old man walked off after a brief argument and they were alone once more and heading for a derelict air raid wardens hut on some waste ground just off Marksbury Road.

The place where Peggy was murdered today

The next morning arrived and a 10 year old boy was picking up stones making his way through the waste ground when he spotted what he thought was a child lying motionless with blood on its face. He rushed back to tell his mum who sent up the alarm and neighbours rushed to see what had happened. Someone identified the body as Peggy Lye from Lynton Road and the police were called. No One knew what had happened to her.

The police began questioning locals and it was soon established that Peggy had been seen in the company of a young man, two soldiers and an elderly man. Percy Sanders must have had enough and he handed himself in admitting he while they were in the hut they had argued Peggy tried to knee him in the groin.Percy had lost his temper and struck Peggy causing her to fall to the ground and hit her head and he had then strangled her with her own headscarf before making his way back to Bristol town centre.

He was remanded in custody and brought before Bristol Assizes pleading guilty to manslaughter. He said that he had been extremely tired and hungry and Peggy had started a fight which was the last straw. Everything went black and she was dead. He was given a five year sentence for manslaughter and so ended the tragic tale of Peggy Lye.

I visitied the site of the murder, now a park and playground back in 2012 on a quiet, grey week day around mid morning and took a walk through to see if I could get any impressions. There is no sign of a shelter now but felt drawn to spot not far from the entrance gate where a bench sits now. No one was around and I was alone and I stopped to pay my respects to Peggy.

I immediately saw the scene inside the air raid hut: Peggy lying on the ground and being shaken over and over in a desperate attempt to get her to wake up. She didnt  want to show me what happened on the night of her death as a dark curtain came down around it but it became clear that she did not hold any grudge or anger towards her killer and was more concerned about those who found her and their horror and grief.. I felt that she had some learning difficulties as we call it now, and was a lively girl who had just wanted her life to be different. Bless you Peggy, I hope you have found peace at last.:)

Henry Roberts Anglesey 1995

Henry Roberts was the first known victim of serial killer Peter Moore. He had lived his 56 years as a reclusive figure although well known the the village he had lived all his life. He had been made redundant from his job on the railways and would often get a taxi up to the nearest town and eat out or to his local pub for company and a few drinks. His home was remote and in bad repair but he remained happy with his lot.

One evening in September 1995 he had the misfortune of answering a knock at the door to a figure dressed all in black with a peaked cap. Peter Moore had come for his first victim and  he may have seen Henry before, walking along the road where Moore travelled home each night. Unbeknownst to Moore they both shares a common interest- Nazi memorabilia.

Henry Roberts was stabbed 47 times

Moore attacked Henry Roberts with a combat knife, pulling his trousers down to his ankles and stabbing him a total of 47 times. Henry had begged for his life crying "Im not Jewish!" but was left to die in the front yard of his cottage Moore entering and helping himself to a Nazi flag he found.

A local noticed that he had not been up to the pub for a couple of days and volunteered to pop into Henry's cottage and check on him and findinding a grisly scene. Peter Moore killed another three men before he was caught in November 1995.

Peter Moores house is now a gym

John Penfield Middlesex 1995

Ian Kay was imprisoned in 1986 for a serious attack on a shop worker and after serving eight years he was given leave to kill again. His victim was 21 year old John Penfold a staff member at Woolworths in Teddington Middlesex. Kay attempted to hold up the till where Mr Penfold was working. Bravely Mr Penfold fought his attacker but was fatally stabbed. Kay, who took two 50p pieces off the top of the till said "He was a have a go hero and got what he deserved."

Today Tesco has replaced the Woolworth branch where John Penfold was murdered.

Ian Kay again hit the news for an attack on Peter Sutcliffe in Broadmoor. He was serving a 22 year sentence at the time.

Jimmy Prout North Shields 2016

Its hard to imagine why a fully grown man was being beaten, held prisoner and finally murdered in an ordinary housing estate in Newcastle.

 Jimmy Prout was a happy-go-lucky chap and a father of two when he moved in the shared house in St Stephens Way North Shields. He soon made friends but of the wrong kind- Zahid Zaman,Ann Corbett,Myra Wood and Kay Rayworth were neighbours with unusual relationships. Zaman,known as Zed and despite being in a wheelchair controlled the group, at first meeting Ann Corbett on Facebook around 2010 and within a few years she was working as a carer for Zaman and also as a cleaner. Zaman held on to her carers allowance and wages, she said. 

In her account Zaman was the ringleader with a violent temper demanding Ann perform perverted sex acts with dogs and drink his urine. Jimmy fell out with Zaman over an accusation of stolen tools and was subjected to a hammer attack which knocked out Jimmy's front teeth. Jimmy began to record his injuries on facebook including an horrific injury to his shoulder, black eyes and scratches. A cctv video shows Ann Corbett pushing Jimmy along the road to number 35 where he was subjected to torture by the gang which included having his scrotum cut open and the testicle removed and made him eat it. He was beaten to death and his body was dragged to a piece of waste ground and set fire too.

The house where Jimmy Prout lived before he was murdered in number 35

                                               Jimmy sustained horrific injuries before he was murdered

Shelley Morgan Bristol 1984

This murder of a mother of two in 1984 is particularly heart wrenching and remains unsolved.

Shelley Morgan was an American living in Bristol with her son and daughter and married to a Welshman. At the time of her disappearance the husband was in Wales making repairs to a holiday home they owned and Shelley, 34 years old was a full time mum and a talented and upcoming artist who had recently gained some commission work for her paintings of views in and around Bristol.

It was the morning of June 11th when she packed a bag with a camera and sketchbook and dropped the children at the school bus nearby their home at Dunkerry Road Windmill Hill. From here she took a bus to the bus station in central Bristol and was seen checking timetables. Her destination was the Clifton Suspension Bridge to photograph and sketch the famous landmark for a piece she was working on. According to a BBC TV Crimewatch reconstruction she collected a registered letter from her husband containing money from a Bedminster post office on the way.

Shelley was a striking figure with long blonde hair, glasses and colourful clothing. Someone had thought they saw her get of the bus at the entrance to Ashton Court estate near the Suspension Bridge and talk to a driver of a blue transit van parked behind the bus, but from here there are no further sightings.

Shelley was missing for 7 months before being found by school children in here in Long Lane, Backwell nr Bristol. She had been stabbed 17 times in the back.

It is a very secluded and lonely place that ends in a dead end. 

With few clues we can only guess at what happened that day. Theorists point to the killer possibly being Christopher Halliwell a Swindon taxi driver who had knowledge of such secluded areas. My feeling is that Shelley got off the bus at Blackmoors Road and then was confused about where she should go for the best view of the bridge. She asks a man in a taxi or van the best way to get there and he suggests that he knows somewhere where there are excellent views and offers to show her. She would have been more likely to trust a taxi driver.

 He drives through wooded areas away from the direction of Bristol with Shelley getting more and more concerned and asking where he was taking her. He reassures her that they are almost there but suddenly brings the car to a halt and produces a knife demanding she get out and walk deeper into the woods. Her bag containing her camera, sketch book and letter from her husband were never found so she may have left them in the vehicle. Did he burn them or discard them somewhere?

 He marches her through trees and demands she take off her clothes. While she is wearing just her tights and shoes he sexually assaults her and she makes a run for it. She may have lost her glasses at this point and cannot see where she is going but in blind panic screams for help. The killer catches up with her and murders her with the knife. Covering her body with foliage her turns his vehicle round at the entrance to the field shown in the picture and leaves the scene.

We can only hope one day someone confesses to this horrible crime for the sake of Shelley's poor children who had to suffer loosing their loving mum.