UK UK- Diane Sindall, 21, florist/barmaid, enroute home, SA, bitten, & beaten to death w. crowbar, Bebington, Merseyside, 2 Aug; '86, *Reopened, new DNA*

[dotr]

• Milad Sherzad, 3 Feb 2025
• 

The alleyway where Diane's body was discovered

Killer's chilling plea after ‘confessing’ to murder of barmaid 39 YEARS ago

A CONVICTED murderer imprisoned for nearly 40 years after confessing to mutilating a barmaid has professed his innocence amid “new” DNA evidence. Peter Sullivan, then-aged 29, dubbed th…

www.thesun.co.uk

'A CONVICTED murderer imprisoned for nearly 40 years after confessing to mutilating a barmaid has professed his innocence amid "new" DNA evidence.

Peter Sullivan, then-aged 29, dubbed the "Beast of Birkenhead", was sentenced to life in prison in 1987 for the murder of florist Diane Sindall, 21, with a crowbar in Bebington, Merseyside.''

''Now, new DNA evidence has helped Sullivan's murder conviction to be referred to the Court of Appeal, following his application to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) in 2021.''

''At some point shortly after midnight, Diane was savagely beaten to death, with her half-naked, mutilated and assaulted body left discarded in an alleyway.''

''Despite having multiple fractures, her bra and t-shirt pulled up around her neck, and her jeans, shoes, underwear, and handbag all missing, Diane was still wearing her diamond engagement ring.''

The Wellington, where Diane had been working a shift before her murder

 

[dotr]

March '25 rbbm.

Peter Sullivan: New DNA could be 'pivotal moment' in 1986 murder appeal

Convicted killer Peter Sullivan hopes new DNA evidence will exonerate him after 38 years in prison.

www.bbc.com

''The recent discovery of crime-scene DNA from an unknown man could be a "pivotal moment" in an appeal by a convicted murderer who has been in prison since 1987, his lawyers have said.''

''If exonerated, the 67-year-old would likely be the victim of the UK's longest miscarriage of justice involving a living inmate.

At a short hearing at the Court of Appeal in London, the CPS said it did not dispute the results of new forensic tests that had uncovered DNA from sperm cells.''

''Police believe Miss Sindall was walking after her van had run out out of petrol.

Her body was found that afternoon in an alley off Borough Road.

Detectives at the time described her injuries as the "worst they had ever seen".
'Some of the 21-year-old's belongings were later found burnt in woodland on Bidston Hill, about five miles away.'
The force said the new sample did not match any stored on the national database used by police.
A spokesman said it had begun the process of writing to men identified in the original investigation, and inviting them to give voluntary DNA samples for elimination purposes.''

 

[dotr]

May 29, 2023 rbbm.

''By the side of a busy main road running through the centre of Birkenhead is a small shrine passed by thousands of motorists and pedestrians every day.''

''Diane was murdered on her way home from work just before midnight on Friday, August 1, 1986.Her car had run out of petrol on Borough Road as she returned from her part-time evening job as a barmaid at the Wellington Hotel in Bebington, and she was walking back along the main road in search of petrol.Diane, 21, was just 500 yards from an all-night garage when her attacker struck.Details surrounding the way the florist died were so appalling they were never released by police.It was later described in court where a jury heard how Diane, who was engaged to be married, was hit over the head with a 2ft crowbar.After dragging her body into a darkened alleyway off Birkenhead's main dual carriageway, the attacker sexually assaulted her.''

 

[ianrutledgeandfrances]

wonder who did kill her cant imagine theyve never offended since