UK UK - Charlene Downes, 14, Blackpool England, Nov 2003

[missacorah]

14-year-old Charlene Downes is believed by Blackpool police to have been turned into kebabs and tile grout after her disappearance in November 2003. Two Muslim men - one a former social worker - have been charged with her murder or with assisting in the disposal of her body.

The combination of murder, the appalling likelihood that scores of unwitting customers actually ate Charlene, and the unasked question as to whether this was another case involving the grooming for sex and drugs of a young white girl by a Muslim sex predator gang should have made this killing national front page news.

But, with the sole exception of the Metro (Manchester version) Friday 10th March 2006 (report reproduced here) not one significant newspaper has even mentioned Charlene and her terrible fate.

Perhaps this will change when her alleged killer and his accomplice come to full trial. But the media bias is already all too clear. Cases such as the murder of Anthony Walker became national news within hours of their murder, running with ever-increasing media frenzy until - and beyond - the actual trial of his moronic drug-using killers.

 

[missacorah]

By ONLINE REPORTER
August 07, 2007



THE jury hearing the trial of a takeaway boss accused of killing a schoolgirl and joking that her body had been put into kebabs was discharged today after it failed to reach a verdict.
Iyad Albattikhi, 30, owner of Funny Boyz fast food shop in Blackpool, Lancashire, was alleged at Preston Crown Court to have strangled 14-year-old Charlene Downes after having sex with her. No trace of her body has been found since she vanished more than three years ago.

The jury also failed to reach a verdict on Albattikhi's landlord and Iranian business partner Mohammed Reveshi, 50, who was accused of helping dispose of the girl's body.
Both men denied all charges.
Charlene, from Buchanan Street in Blackpool, was "well and happy" but her home life was "chaotic".
Expelled from school, she spent her time hanging around shops on the Blackpool Promenade, and was last seen on the early evening of Saturday November 1 2003.
After kissing her mother goodbye she went off on her own - and vanished off the face of the earth.
Albattikhi, known as Eddie, was alleged to have laughed that Charlene's body had been minced up and "gone into the kebabs" after her disappearance.
The prosecution alleged either one or both defendants was having underage sex with Charlene and they would be in trouble if the police found out.
A missing persons inquiry began but police later launched a murder investigation after information "leaked out" that the girl had been "killed and chopped up".
Detectives later bugged both men's homes with secret listening devices and claimed they could be heard on the tapes discussing sex with Charlene and her murder.
Prosecution witness Det Sgt Jan Beasant spent two years and around 2,500 hours listening to the contents of the tapes.
But experts could not agree in court on what was being said, such was the poor quality.
Mr John Bromley-Davenport QC, defending Reveshi, claimed Det Sgt Beasant was totally unqualified for the task of listening to the tapes and already knew a huge amount about the case because she was an integral part of the investigation.
He said she had visited the house where the devices were planted and had spoken to tenants in the building. Both men denied even knowing the missing teenager.
After deliberating for just over 49 hours, the jury of seven men and five women told Mr Justice Henriques that it was "highly unlikely" that they would be able to reach a verdict.

On the jury's 11th day of deliberations, Mr Henriques told them: "It is with very great regret I discharge you from returning a verdict. There will be a retrial.
"I would like to thank you for the very, very conscientious way you have gone about this case."
He praised them for being "highly professional" in the midst of "continuous tensions and pressure".
Mr Henriques thanked the Downes family for the "admirable way they had conducted themselves" throughout the hearing.
He added that the retrial was likely to take place around January next year and would be at Preston Crown Court or Manchester Crown Court. Outside court, Charlene's mother, Karen, said: "We're devastated that the jury could not reach a verdict. "Justice will come one day. Our time will come next time."

http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2007360387,00.html

 

[meggilyweggily]

14-year-old Charlene Downes is believed by Blackpool police to have been turned into kebabs and tile grout after her disappearance in November 2003. Two Muslim men - one a former social worker - have been charged with her murder or with assisting in the disposal of her body.

The combination of murder, the appalling likelihood that scores of unwitting customers actually ate Charlene, and the unasked question as to whether this was another case involving the grooming for sex and drugs of a young white girl by a Muslim sex predator gang should have made this killing national front page news.

But, with the sole exception of the Metro (Manchester version) Friday 10th March 2006 (report reproduced here) not one significant newspaper has even mentioned Charlene and her terrible fate.

Perhaps this will change when her alleged killer and his accomplice come to full trial. But the media bias is already all too clear. Cases such as the murder of Anthony Walker became national news within hours of their murder, running with ever-increasing media frenzy until - and beyond - the actual trial of his moronic drug-using killers.

Are you racist or something? If Charlene was murdered by these men, it has nothing to do with their religion. Do you even know for sure that they are Muslims? Just because someone has a name like Iyad Albattikhi doesn't necessarily make them a Muslim, or non-Caucasian for that matter. Not that the alleged perpetrator's race or religion have ANYTHING to do with his crimes.

 

[Taximom]

I'm not speaking for missacorah, but the first comment is from this website:
http://www.bnp.org.uk/news_detail.php?newsId=839

 

[meggilyweggily]

The British National Party is a white supremacist group which is the British equivalent of the Nazi party. The racist statements they make have no place on the WS boards, which are supposed to be about supporting crime victims and their families, and solving cases.

 

[Taximom]

The British National Party is a white supremacist group which is the British equivalent of the Nazi party. The racist statements they make have no place on the WS boards, which are supposed to be about supporting crime victims and their families, and solving cases.

Oh, thanks, meggilyweggily. I didn't know that.

The case is still a sick one, and I hope justice is served eventually.

 

[LisainWV]

Missacorah..... I completely skimmed over the part about them being Muslim. I don't ever pay attention to the race, religion or whatever else in a story.

I did not take your post to be racist at all, but about the atrocities committed by these men, or rather animals, and the injustice to this young lady.

Thanks for posting it.

 

[LisainWV]

PS To defend Missacorah somewhat, not that she needs me to do that, I don't think the average person has any idea what the British National Party is, what it does, or whatever. I would have posted the story in a similar fashion probably.

 

[strach304]

I agree LisainWV, I didn't know what the British National Party was either. It sounds like the equivalent of our democratic or republican label for political issues.

Meggilyweggily, MC didn't assume they were muslim from their names at all. The article clearly reported that. Personally I don't care what race or religion they are, it was the crime itself I think most readers are focused on.

When I read the story earlier today the link provided was to the story reported by The Sun not a website of the British Nat'l Party.

 

[Taximom]

I found that article on the website for the BNP from a google search. Perhaps it didn't originate there, since strach saw it on The Sun's website.

Regardless, it was a horrible crime, and that's what I focused on, the crime.

 

[meggilyweggily]

The news article missacorah linked to does NOT say the men were Muslim. The BNP website said that, and it was probably only an assumption. I think the men probably were Muslim, but (a) no one seems to know that for sure and (b) their religion has got nothing to do with Charlene's death.

There are plenty of other articles on Charlene's murder -- I googled her name and found some on the BBC, etc., and I don't see why missacorah had to post this particular one, seeing as how it is prejudiced and offensive. Either he/she agrees with it, or didn't actually read the statement beforehand and was therefore careless.

Charlene's murder was a terrible crime in and of itself and throwing in the race/religion card only cheapens this tragedy.

I think it's kind of amusing that the BNP, a white supremacist organization, is prejudiced towards Muslims. Many if not most Muslims come from the Middle East or North Africa, and inhabitants of those regions are generally considered Caucasian, though they're darker-skinned than Caucasians of European descent.

 

[meggilyweggily]

Additional articles about Charlene Downes:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/lancashire/4788436.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/lancashire/6688137.stm
http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/pages...ews.html?in_article_id=457444&in_page_id=1770
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article1968964.ece
http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30100-1278946,00.html?f=rss

So Charlene's murder wasn't covered in the mainstream media at all. Riiiight.

If you Google her, you'll see a disturbing number of blog posts, etc., by BNP members and other racists talking about her murderers.

 

[missacorah]

I have to admit I have been reading up on Charlene as I usually google her but this was simply the article posted as this particular site is the one I always look at just before Websleuths.

Im guilty of just skimming the article Im afraid to see if it had the update on the case and not being thorough. I most certainly am not guilty of racism meggilyweggily so Id appreciate you not choosing that term as a potential one to describe me in the future.

Apologies to any other members this may have offended. It was completely unintentional.

 

[missacorah]

Missacorah..... I completely skimmed over the part about them being Muslim. I don't ever pay attention to the race, religion or whatever else in a story.

I did not take your post to be racist at all, but about the atrocities committed by these men, or rather animals, and the injustice to this young lady.

Thanks for posting it.

Thanks for that. I dont pay attention to the race of people who commit crimes either. Many thanks for taking the time to post.

 

[kwatson696]

I have to admit I have been reading up on Charlene as I usually google her but this was simply the article posted as this particular site is the one I always look at just before Websleuths.

Im guilty of just skimming the article Im afraid to see if it had the update on the case and not being thorough. I most certainly am not guilty of racism meggilyweggily so Id appreciate you not choosing that term as a potential one to describe me in the future.

Apologies to any other members this may have offended. It was completely unintentional.

No offence here, I am truely interested in this case now. Thank you so much for bringing it here so we know about it..:blowkiss:

 

[missacorah]

Thats no problem. Again full apologies for any racist content from that article. It was due to me not choosing an article carefully enough.

Lets hope justice is served for Charlene and her family.

 

[Taximom]

I guess I'm really naive and guilty of skimming because when I read "Muslim" I didn't read anything into that. Perhaps it gave me a frame of reference, but other than that I was horrified by the actual crime.

Thanks for bringing Charlene's case to my attention, missacorah.

 

[BethInAK]

Ugh, what a horrible story.

 

[meggilyweggily]

I'm glad you are not really racist, missacorah. I'm sure you'll understand why I thought you might be, though.

Xenophobic attacks on the Muslim community really upset me, although I'm not a Muslim, or a Christian for that matter. It's more socially acceptable to be prejudiced against Muslims nowadays, but it it the same kind of thinking that lead to the Holocaust.

 

[missacorah]

I dont think my posting a badly chosen article is along the same lines as the Holocaust but thanks for the heads up as to how my 'carelessness' could develop!