UK UK - Andrew Gosden, 14, Doncaster, South Yorks, 14 Sep 2007 #2

[vagab0nd]

I would be surprised if Andrew knew where the Kings Cross Thameslink station (where trains to Brighton could be boarded) was. It was East of Kings Cross and you had to cross roads to get there. The trains were below ground and the entrance wasn't very prominent. Most people who caught trains there were going north. They arrived by underground and so didn't go up to ground level.

Kings Cross was fairly seedy at that time. There were always a few homeless people hanging around outside the station and drugs were dealt there. There was a very seedy pub with strippers and heroin was a big problem in that area. Just North of Kings Cross was an awful area with disused gasometers etc I think it was around that time that a female Austrian tourist visiting London walked into that area. Some kids attacked her, gang raped her and then threw her into a canal.

This video of the station from 2007 makes it look like just a bog standard station. At first glance you wouldn't get a seedy vibe:

 

[Professor Moriarty]

I quite often left Kings Cross Thameslink and walked West to Euston. This meant I walked across the front of Kings Cross mainline station. Usually I was on the opposite side of the road. When I returned, I was on the same side as Kings Cross mainline station. There would always be people hanging around. I was walking with a purpose and they never bothered me, but I imagine that drug addicts would give off certain signals, hang around and make eye contact with people they thought were dealers. The dealers would do the same.

Young people, possibly homeless, living in squats etc hung around. At some stage, a sort of portacabin was installed as a mini police station. It had one way mirror windows and cctv. Dodgy people still hung around though. As far as most people going about their business were concerned, the area would just seem a bit rough. But a young person hanging around might give off different signals. Someone might "befriend" him.

In the early 1980s Argyle Square, opposite the station, with cheap hotels, was a busy red light district, busy even in daylight. That was cleaned up, partly with traffic measures to stop kerb crawling.

There used to be touts for illegal minicabs approaching people leaving the platforms in the mainline station. Now there are problems with people stealing luggage. (A number of Algerians have been arrested for this.) Jenson Button had luggage, containing valuable items, stolen just outside St. Pancas (which, of course, is next to Kings Cross).

Since Thameslink trains started using St.Pancras, I haven't had to cross Kings Cross station. The whole area is supposed to be being developed. My point is that, historically, the area has always been rough. Around the world, many big railway stations attract "rough" and homeless people. beggars and sex workers. (I recently witnessed this around Geneva railway station.) I suspect that the area behind the station is still somewhat rough.

Most people get off trains and enter the tube system within the station or get taxis from the rank. Some old hands get the bus. When I was young, living in Lincolnshire, and used the Kings Cross mainline station, my father used to warn me not to "look like a plough jockey up from the country". Andrew, leaving the front of the station, possibly looking around, might have been seen in that way.

 

[ChatteringBirds]

A lot of major train stations had and always will have dangerous characters hanging around. But that can be said for a lot of places.... large parks, food courts, anywhere people with bad intentions can sit and hang out and watch people.

I don't think it's more likely something happened at the train station than anywhere else in London.

It was broad daylight, and he wasn't just hanging around the station like a "runaway" might. I don't think it was likely he was approached right after the CCTV footage.

So what I wonder is, what scenario does anyone here think actually could have happened there at King's Cross?

If he was approached and offered most things, I think he would have declined and walked away. He didn't need food, shelter, a ride somewhere, etc. This was a city he loved and had some familiarity with and wanted to explore. He knew how to use the trains and buses.

He declined the return ticket, so he knew how to decline something that didn't interest him.

 

[Sjöberg]

I'm stating the obvious here, but IMO Andrew had a reason for coming to London on that friday and that reason would give us the context of how he acted and where he went next.

He was offered to go to London pretty recently and he did not want to. What made him want to go on that day? Why in secret, not ask? Why let parents get the The Call from school and get in trouble for skipping school?

IMO, the reason to go to London was 1) new enough and 2) would not have gotten the approval of his parents. I don't think was a museum or even a concert - at least just not by itself. To me it really sounds like he went to meet with someone he liked a lot, and that someone was probably not in London during the summer. Like either a student in London, who spent summers back at home or someone moving to London for the first time.

 

[Inspector Evans]

Just a friendly note, if you post AI results, you need to say it's from AI.

I think he might have wanted to walk along the beach for a bit. Why not? Teens have a head full of adventures, sometimes. Also if we think it's possible someone lured him to London, why not Brighton, which is known as a good day trip from London?

Would've needed a further ticket as he asked specifically for London station at Doncaster.

No one remembers him at XC although of course he could've just paid for it on a ticket machine but then that option was available at Doncaster unless it was really busy.

 

[vagab0nd]

Would've needed a further ticket as he asked specifically for London station at Doncaster.

No one remembers him at XC although of course he could've just paid for it on a ticket machine but then that option was available at Doncaster unless it was really busy.

Remember that he was deaf in one ear so maybe he didn't hear the ticket lady and just went with no just to get her to stop talking or to get out of the situation?

Also, I've read metal posts from 2007 that state for the Sikth farewell concert people were not allowed in the venue without ID. This still happens today. I was ID at Brixton Academy in 2015 and like three weeks ago at another venue in London. Andrew had no ID on him so he couldn't have gotten in anyways. Firstly, no evidence he had a ticket to any concert and secondly all bands performing that day in London handed over footage to police and he was not spotted in any of them. You can't just sneak into a concert that asks for ID and where you don't have a ticket.

This is a wild guess, but could a scalper have maybe tried to hurt him if he went around asking for tickets? Unlikely, but I don't know.

 

[vagab0nd]

I'm stating the obvious here, but IMO Andrew had a reason for coming to London on that friday and that reason would give us the context of how he acted and where he went next.

He was offered to go to London pretty recently and he did not want to. What made him want to go on that day? Why in secret, not ask? Why let parents get the The Call from school and get in trouble for skipping school?

IMO, the reason to go to London was 1) new enough and 2) would not have gotten the approval of his parents. I don't think was a museum or even a concert - at least just not by itself. To me it really sounds like he went to meet with someone he liked a lot, and that someone was probably not in London during the summer. Like either a student in London, who spent summers back at home or someone moving to London for the first time.

I'm in agreement with you.

Two things I feel certain of is that he didn't attend a concert. There was no footage of him anywhere. HIM and Sikth both cooperated with the investigation which is something that people fail to remember when talking about this case on YouTube. I also strongly feel he didn't go missing on purpose because he talked to his parents about the Madeleine McCann case when it first hit the news and he seemed genuinely upset about the whole thing. Him and his partners were both in agreement that it was a parent's worst nightmare and he really believed it to be awful. If he knew and had understanding the pain of a missing child would bring to his family or any family, why bring it on purpose? This makes me believe he didn't plan to cause pain to his family. He never planned to be gone long term and now I think there's no way he killed himself. At first I was like maybe he was hiding struggle and pain, but I have a lot of doubts now. I think something genuinely sinister happened to him, but I have no idea how or why. We need to know why he went to London to figure it out. If only smartwatches were a thing because then I assume GPS would easily be trackable.

 

[vagab0nd]

A lot of major train stations had and always will have dangerous characters hanging around. But that can be said for a lot of places.... large parks, food courts, anywhere people with bad intentions can sit and hang out and watch people.

I don't think it's more likely something happened at the train station than anywhere else in London.

It was broad daylight, and he wasn't just hanging around the station like a "runaway" might. I don't think it was likely he was approached right after the CCTV footage.

So what I wonder is, what scenario does anyone here think actually could have happened there at King's Cross?

If he was approached and offered most things, I think he would have declined and walked away. He didn't need food, shelter, a ride somewhere, etc. This was a city he loved and had some familiarity with and wanted to explore. He knew how to use the trains and buses.

He declined the return ticket, so he knew how to decline something that didn't interest him.

I think when you’re 14, you simply don’t think that way. At that age, you aren't constantly looking for the 'evil' in the world. I remember going to New York City on a school trip when I was 12; it never once occurred to me to wander off, nor did I ever feel like someone might be watching us from a window with bad intentions.

Even as an adult, safety isn't always at the forefront of my mind. While I know danger exists, I refuse to let it consume my daily life. I live with the mindset that if something were to happen, there are digital trails—like my Garmin watch data or my online diary—that could help. You can’t spend every second worrying about 'what if.'

I suspect Andrew felt the same. He likely envisioned a 'Ferris Bueller' type of day—an innocent adventure where he’d explore the city and be back at his desk before his parents got home, with no one the wiser. Maybe that’s just a bit of 'childlike wonder' that I haven't outgrown either, but I don't think he was looking for trouble; he was just looking for a day of freedom.

 

[ChatteringBirds]

Would've needed a further ticket as he asked specifically for London station at Doncaster.

Any idea what a ticket to Brighton might have cost to buy in London? Maybe he just got a ticket to London to explore there but spontaneously decided to do the day trip to Brighton, planning to be back in London for the night train back to Doncaster?

Maybe that’s just a bit of 'childlike wonder' that I haven't outgrown either, but I don't think he was looking for trouble; he was just looking for a day of freedom.

Yes, I agree.