GUILTY UK - Helen Bailey, 51, Royston, 11 April 2016 #11

[Alyce]

Tara's feed seems to have stopped

 

[Florrie]

I am seeing 34 years too....yes...he will die in jail.


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[Really?]

Woooooooooooooooooooot

 

[Tortoise]

[FONT=&amp]http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/cambridge-news/live-ian-stewart-sentencing-murder-12644337

11:13[/FONT]
[FONT=&amp]'Too drowzy to fight you off'

In a few hours of her murder you used your knowledge of her financial affairs and your compute expertise to change a standing order. You planned her murder will in advance and secretly administered zopiclone tablets to her so you could smother her when she was too drowsy to fight you off.


11:15
Judge Bright - 'You persisted in callous lie'

You then set about attempting to deceive the police and Helen’s family and friends that she had left you a note, needed some space and did not want you to contact her. You persisted in that callous lie for three months, repeating it to anyone and everyone. You knew Helen to be a wealthy woman but were not content to share her wealth. She had assets of more than £3 million pounds.


11:17KEY EVENT
It's life - minimum 30 years

Judge Bright: “The sentence for murder is fixed by law and is for life imprisonment. That is the sentence I impact upon you, but I also must consider the minimum term before you are released on licence.
“I am of the opinion that you serve a real danger for woman you form a relationship with. When you serve the minimum term, it will be down to others to decide whether to release you.
“The seriousness of the offence is not so high as to justify a whole life order.
“However, the appropriate starting term for a minimum term is 30 years.”


[/FONT]

 

[KarenUK]

Dominic ReynoldsVerified account‏@domreynolds 2m2 minutes ago

Dock at St Albans Crown Ct is empty - Ian Stewart has chosen not to attend his sentencing, which is imminent


Sarah Hajibagheri‏@SaraHajibagheri 1m1 minute ago

Dock at St Albans Crown Court is empty - Ian Stewart has refused to attend sentencing for murdering fiancée Helen Bailey

Having a bit of a sulk, is he?

 

[Tortoise]

[FONT=&quot]11:19[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot][h=3]"You went to considerable lengths to conceal the bodies of Helen and her dog in the hope they would eventually decompose"[/h]Judge Bright “There are two aggravating features in this case which increase the seriousness of your offence. The significant degree of planning, and the fact you went to considerable lengths to conceal the bodies of Helen and her dog in the hope they would eventually decompose and never be found You also deceived Helen’s family and friends by a calculated and callous series of lies, they had to deal with the misery of not knowing her whereabouts or her fate.
“I have read the impact statement of Helen’s brother John, in which he sets out the effect the cruel murder of his sister has had on him and his family. “His family all feel an immense outrage. As John observes, the world has lost a gifted author and the family will have to live for the rest of their lives with the deep sense of loss.”
[/FONT]

 

[Joely 123]

This all feels so awful after the brief release of the verdict, hearing these back stories. Her poor parents. I know I'm one of many who joined this forum after lurking for two or three weeks. I couldn't understand why, despite having more than enough in my life, this particular case seemed to have got in my head, constantly replaying and imagining a better ending, not believing what really happened. Yes I live near Cambridge, so it's been covered, and I have lived in the "Ham and High" area in London in my early working life, but that's not it.

It was such a revelation to find that so many other people, whether or not they actually knew Helen personally or through her works, felt the same. I know it's not quite goodbye yet-we have the sentence and April 11th (how will we do that?) but thanks for being so kind, clever and funny-all the things (and more) that Helen was and should still be. When was/is Helen's birthday?

Hi BlueMosaic - lovely post from you. Helen's Birthday is 22nd August (1964)

 

[Tortoise]

[FONT=&quot]11:20[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot][h=3]Stewart handed minimum jail term of 34 years - he will be 90 before eligible for parole[/h]Judge Bright: “Whilst we will never know whether you had an additional motive for killing a woman who loved you and wanted to be your wife, this is a murder for gain with aggravating features which make it difficult to think of a more heinous crime.
“I sentence you to a minimum term of 34 years. I acknowledge you will be 90 years of age before you become eligible for parole, but I am not inclined to reduce the minimum term in light of your age.”
[/FONT]

 

[KarenUK]

11:17
KEY EVENT
It's life - minimum 30 years

Judge Bright: “The sentence for murder is fixed by law and is for life imprisonment. That is the sentence I impact upon you, but I also must consider the minimum term before you are released on licence.

“I am of the opinion that you serve a real danger for woman you form a relationship with. When you serve the minimum term, it will be down to others to decide whether to release you.

“The seriousness of the offence is not so high as to justify a whole life order.

“However, the appropriate starting term for a minimum term is 30 years.”

Sounds like the judge has his doubts about the circumstances of Diane's death too.... Or am I reading too much in to that statement?

 

[DanceCard]

Just popped in to say I've heard 'minimum 34 years' . Back later to catch up. Work is so inconvenient :lol:

 

[Tortoise]

[FONT=&quot]11:22[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot][h=3]Sentences for other crimes handed out[/h]Judge Bright: “The sentence I pass for the other offences you were convicted of will run concurrently with the sentence of life imprisonment. Count 2 (fraud) - 18 months Count 3 (preventing a lawful burial) - three years Counts 4 (perverting the course of justice) - two years Count 5 (perverting the course of justice) - two years Count 6 (perverting the course of justice) - two years.”
[/FONT]

 

[ZaZara]

Stewart handed minimum jail term of 34 years - he will be 90 before eligible for parole
Judge Bright: “Whilst we will never know whether you had an additional motive for killing a woman who loved you and wanted to be your wife, this is a murder for gain with aggravating features which make it difficult to think of a more heinous crime.
“I sentence you to a minimum term of 34 years. I acknowledge you will be 90 years of age before you become eligible for parole, but I am not inclined to reduce the minimum term in light of your age.”

:fireworks::fireworks::fireworks::fireworks:

 

[Alyce]

but I am not inclined to reduce the minimum term in light of your age.”

absolutely love that line !

 

[Florrie]

Sounds like the judge has his doubts about the circumstances of Diane's death too.... Or am I reading too much in to that statement?

No I don't think you are.

The judge has in effect given him a whole life order...he's not in great health and I doubt he will make 90.


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[cheeseman]

Brilliant news!

 

[hunkerdown]

No I don't think you are.

The judge has in effect given him a whole life order...he's not in great health and I doubt he will make 90.


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Be lucky if he makes 57...


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[Tortoise]

[FONT=&quot]11:25KEY EVENT[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot][h=3]Judge Bright commends police[/h]Judge Bright: “Before I leave I would like to commend four police officers. The inquiry was treated as a missing persons enquiry They carried out searches of an early stage, and one of the things they searched was the cesspit in the garden which they believed to be the only one in the house.
“The search of the house and grounds was extremely thorough, the most thorough and extensive investigation I’ve ever experienced in a missing person’s enquiry Four days before the defendant was arrested he was treated as a suspect, and on July 11 he was arrested and allowed to go free on bail while further searches were carried out. It was only after those searches on July 15 that Helen’s body was found The officers that deserve to be commended for their relentless efforts to try and find Helen Bailey are: SIO DC Jerome Kent, David Sharpe, DC Jo-Anne Kerr, DC Wendy Tomlinson.
“These commendations ought to go on the officers’ record.”
[/FONT]

 

[mrjitty]

And they did have something to say Helen had come to harm. The dog told them.

And Stewart spoke about her in the past tense on 15th April.

Exactly!

On this specific aspect of the case, I would recommend Amaral's book where he talks about England's murder expert Mark Harrison and how he develops a murder proposition.

Suffice to say, in such a case where the body has not yet turned up, the police can assume it has been dumped/stashed.

The radius for the body location depends a lot on timings and access to a vehicle (see for example Suzanne Pilley)

But the key point is always the following.

If you have a murder theory and then get a cadaver dog hit - even if you don't find the body - this is a strong probabilistic indicator that your theory is correct.

The idea that your scientific hypothesis would be validated by a false dog hit is vanishingly small - especially if you have corroborating circumstantial evidence.

This straight away means (like Mark Harrison) that your problem is one of detection (locating key evidence) not one relating to your theory.

The black box in this case was always that the dog did not hit on the car - unlike the Pilley case for example.

So that meant the body needed to be close to hand

But what was the conjurors trick?

 

[Tortoise]

I think it was about 14 days not 4!

errors to the end.

 

[TheRisenBishop]

No I don't think you are.

The judge has in effect given him a whole life order...he's not in great health and I doubt he will make 90.


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In prison, and the sort he will be going to, I doubt he'll make 70!

A recent study of prisons found that a sentence of 20 years will reduce an inmate's life expectancy by a median average of 16 years.