UK UK - Joshua Clayton, 23, homicide or ?, Tresco Island, Isles of Scilly, 13 Sept 2015

[ash_uk@somebody]

Hi @ash_uk@somebody,

Are there any pictures taken during the party at the Shed (from Instagram, Facebook etc.)?
Was it raining when Josh left the Shed?

Thanks

There were limited pics taken at the party. Nothing of value has ever been shared that could shed light for us.
I have a short video clip that shows him and others in the Shed with music blaring in the background.
That's it.

 

[ash_uk@somebody]

Well, there's a new Duke of Cornwall. Maybe this case will finally get some traction.

I doubt it... he's the new landlord to Tristan's father, Robert:

https://c8.alamy.com/comp/GP9AMC/the-duke-of-cambridge-walks-with-robert-dorrien-smith-after-visiting-GP9AMC.jpg

 

[NeroHolmes]

There were limited pics taken at the party. Nothing of value has ever been shared that could shed light for us.
I have a short video clip that shows him and others in the Shed with music blaring in the background.
That's it.

Thank you. And as far as you can tell from that short video, did you feel that Josh was enjoying and acting normally? Did you feel he was drunk?
I know that probably was too hard to tell from a short video but your feeling on that as a brother might be of importance.

Thanks

 

[ash_uk@somebody]

The video is very short, only 10s. He is in the first 3s of it, but it's dark you can't see much. He hardly looks at the camera, rather a glance as it pans around the party to another person.

Loud jungle / heavy bass music in the background. Surf boards on the ceiling, looks busy.

 

[ash_uk@somebody]

Hello. It's been a while since I posted.

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I still think focus on LT has been overlooked. I have all the evidence here and can cross check the statements and see a timeline of things.
One Example of issues in the evidence that could never be cross checked in court; LT and who he goes home with, where he goes and why. These are just snippets from the evidence:

First group cannot agree that LT is with them. I have spoken to two of them on the phone - Liam C and Matt G. They are 100% LT nowhere near them on way home, not seen. Remember Liam C is Katie R boyfriend;

LT says:
"I left the party with Katie (?) and a couple of other people I do not know. We made our way back along “Borough Track”"
"I believe one of the people walking with Katie and I may have had a torch but I cannot be certain.
I do not recall separating from this group but have been told by Katie we all separated at the shop and Post Office"

1) Katie R leaves the Shed with Lindsay W, Matt G, Liam C. She spots LT outside the shed and say's :

"As we walked out of the main doors of the Shed I saw LT who was on his own as far as I can recall"
"He was clearly very drunk"
"I suppose I felt a little sorry for him but at the same time did not want him to become a problem for other people, so I told him that we were leaving and he should follow us back"

"When all of us reached the tennis courts which are at the back of the island office we left Leroy"


Nobody else in this group see's LT on way home;

Matt G says;

" I did not notice Leroy leave"
" I do not recall seeing Josh or Leroy outside of the Shed that evening"

Liam C says:

"I last saw LT inside the shed - talking, drunk. After josh, cannot say what time really. It was in the middle of night/party."


2) Amirah H says that she went home with Matt G who is in the group above:

"with Matt G, Katie H and James N"
"I did not see Leroy or Josh amongst the people left at the party"

BUT Matt G says he went home ;

"...with Lyndsay W, Katie H and Katie R. Possibly there was Katie R's boyfriend Liam C. He worked at the New Inn as a sous chef"

Katie H says:

"I then left with Katie R, Liam C, Matt G and Lindsay W. I was told that Leroy was there but I don’t remember that"

Amirah H last sighting of LT;

"About 15 or 20 minutes after Leroy had left I went outside to go to the toilet in some bushes I think Francesca came with me. As far as I can recall there was no one else outside and I saw no incidents. I did
not hear anything. I do remember that Tristian's six seater buggy was parked on the road adjacent to the front of the shed. I did not see anyone with it. At some point after this Leroy came back. He was on his own. I think he sat down on one of the sofas and was drinking. Leroy was wearing the same clothing that I have described him as wearing earlier in the evening. I did not notice him again that night."

3) A different party now discusses seeing LT on way home;

Hannah T says;

"I believe I left with just Charlie G and Harlie TH"

"After a short time on Borough Road we caught up with LT, Duffy B, Marija R and Dave J"

"there were heated words between Leroy and Charlie G and Harlie TH"
" I did not see any physical contact between them"
" Charlie G, Harlie TH and I separated from the others again turning off Borough Road to our left".... "I do not know where LT Lived. When we arrived back at Timothy's corner I am fairly sure it was just Charlie G, Harlie TH and I"

"On my witness questionnaire (D84) there is an entry saying 'Leroy went to shop...went up on foot'. I did not fill out the questionnaire myself and cannot think what this means. I do not recall Leroy being near the shop. However as I have said I was very drunk"

Charlie G says:

"With me when I left was Hanna T and Harlie TH and we all left on foot"
" we caught up with this group I saw that it was made up of Maarja R"…."a female friend of hers, who I do not know her name"…. "and LT"

He goes on to say;

"I could see that LT had his arm around Maarja's shoulder and it was apparent that she was really intoxicated"

"in order to make sure that nothing untoward happened with Maarja that we should tell LT to leave her alone. Initially we asked him to leave in strong words and then basically told him to 'F- Off in a firm way, which he did without any further incident. There was no physical contact between any of us during this. I cannot recall where along the route this happened, and LT left on his own, but I do recall that it was in a heavily wooded part of the muddy, but well defined path we were on at the time. I do not recall exactly in which direction LT walked when he left us"

"After Leroy left, the rest of us carried on and a little while later we came across Dave J"

Harlie TH says;

"and I left and walked back with a group of about 3 people"

"I do not remember leaving the party but have since been told I walked with Duffy B and Charlie G. There may have been some other people there as well. I think we may have gone back to Charlie’s house because they told me I was upset and crying but I don’t remember why. I don’t remember this at all. I think I must have walked home with Duffy – but only because she lives near me and I don’t think she would have left me to walk home alone in the state I was in"

"I had apparently had an argument with a male called Leroy outside the party as we were leaving. I don’t remember the altercation with Leroy"


Duffy says;

""I left the Shed with Harlie TH, Charlie G, Hannah T, Amy F. There were others leaving to walk home as well but we were together and all walking back towards the Old Grimsby end of the island – near the Ruin Café"

"As we were leaving there was an incident between a few of us and LT – who was trying to follow us"
"I had been pushing a bike before this but I left it to help Harlie TH and I think that LT then took my bike and rode off towards where he was staying. This happened just away from the Shed about 50 yards or so away. "
"When we were leaving we told him to just go home and to leave"

____

LT does have crazy statements that go from not knowing who Josh is, to being concise about what happened to him at the inquest.

What you are 100% nail on head with is most people will not talk or engage about this. Especially those who were meant to be his best friends on the island and even one who was his child-hood friend from Taunton.

I have been to the inquest and seen LT in the same room for several hours over several days and watched him give the evidence at court. I have all the different statements and transcripts and have even seen the video of his interview. I still stand that this man was not questioned, forensically tested or later cross examined and he most certainly should have been.

I have tons of evidence like I say. I am happy to drip feed stuff here. It's been nearly 10 years now, let's get to the facts of the case and see if somebody comes forward.

I find all your information really interesting about the island and the way the company runs it. There are things I can confirm - example, they request your MAC Address of your devices to use their WiFi. This does seem odd and I work in IT, but even as a consumer, nowhere do you have to give your unique device ID for the network in order to use it.

I will go back one day soon. It will be interesting to see if they welcome me.

FYI - TDS was involved in another case that went to inquest. You can google it, you should find it. He appeared at that inquest. It was the same pathologist and there were issues with the findings in a second opinion I think (?).

But back to the case in hand, we don't wan to go off on tangents. A lot of your insight does not relate to the time Josh was on the Island. Others have pushed information to me privately too, things about the management and if members were at the party or not and potential adultery / coming out of closet stories.

So like I say, I will happily post and share what I can based around the facts we drill out of the case.

<modsnip - referenced post was removed>

 

[ash_uk@somebody]

Heads up if you're interested in this story. A documentary was made last year by Warner Bros / Discovery and released in the UK on 28 Dec 24 & US on 14 Jan 25.

discovery+

A three part series that has interviews with some of the witnesses, the sergeant on St Mary's at the time, the family and experts in the fields of pathology, policing and oceanography.


You might find it on other popular streaming services online. Otherwise you'll need to have a subscription to Sky, HBO or Discovery directly via Prime or their app.


I think the series was put together very well and given the restrictions placed on media (for legal) they have done the best they can to show the issues with key individuals and a narrative that leaves the viewer intrigued.

Ash

 

[GingerCrimeAnalysis]

What happened to Josh's Bike, and the items that were found scattered away from the bike? Were those items returned to the family or do the police still have possession of them? Because I'm not sure quite how it works there but in the US if a criminal investigation is not open the evidence is usually given back to the family or is thrown away or is stored in some capacity. After watching the documentary and looking for the answer to this question online I can't find a solid answer.

 

[ash_uk@somebody]

What happened to Josh's Bike, and the items that were found scattered away from the bike? Were those items returned to the family or do the police still have possession of them? Because I'm not sure quite how it works there but in the US if a criminal investigation is not open the evidence is usually given back to the family or is thrown away or is stored in some capacity. After watching the documentary and looking for the answer to this question online I can't find a solid answer.

The bicycle is not 100% confirmed to even be Josh’s. The mountain bikes are communal, people usually grab any that are around and they are shared as such.

The cigarette pack and battery charger was left at the bar by Sgt Taylor. Somebody took them shortly after. Never to be seen again.

The bike was placed back the same, but understood to have been recovered thereafter.

I don’t believe the bicycle is real. I feel it’s a decoy. I have ridden my mountain bike for many years on rugged terrain, injured myself plenty of times at high speed and damaged my MTB.

The damage done to the bike feels superficial / planted.

Thanks for showing interest in this case.

 

[JamesBigglesworth]

Hi, I’m new to posting on this site but I’ve been following this case over the years. It first came to my attention whilst doing some research for an upcoming family holiday to Tresco in 2023.

Firstly, the case touches me, I feel genuine sadness for the family of Joshua, for their loss, for not having that closure of knowing what really happened, for the frustrations they've experienced, for not getting the answers they deserve. Even after all these years. It must be heartbreaking.

It does appear there is more to this case than the official line, especially when one takes into account who actually owns the island and his position within society and his high society connections. Tresco being a family-owned island that survives on (predominantly well-off elderly) tourists and (predominantly young adult) imported seasonal workers. Tresco is therefore run like a business and thrives on its unique marketability - a Caribbean-like paradise within the UK. That's also an important aspect here. One can see then, from a damage limitation pov, how the official line is the best outcome for the business and reputation of Tresco, from this potentially damaging incident. So taking that into account and the numerous unanswered questions and discrepancies that still persist from that evening, there's more than a hint of a cover-up here. Therefore I don’t blame Joshua's family at all for not accepting that this case is closed. In their position, I'd be doing exactly the same.

I can’t add much to this case but what I can comment on is the bike and specifically the position the saddle was found in. When first seeing the picture of the bike, what jumped out at me straight away before anything else, such as the type or model of the bike, was the really odd position of the saddle.
I am a cyclist. I’ve ridden bikes; BMX, mountain bikes, gravel/ cross bikes, and road bikes since a small boy and I have watched pro cycling since 1998. I’ve experienced bike crashes personally and seen many bike crashes on TV. In all those years, I have never seen a saddle being twisted around like that in a bike fall / accident/ crash. Even in the very high speed to sudden stop (we are talking 30mph to 0mph) high energy, multi-rider, bikes-flipping-all-over-the-place crashes one sees in the Tour de France, crashes where bike frames are put under enormous stress and force, I have never once seen a saddle twisted around like the saddle that was found on that bike.
The only way for a saddle to end up turned around like that is if someone purposely does it, either by undoing the seat clap or by repeatedly hitting, very hard, the front of the saddle with the palm of the hand. It is not a part of a bicycle that significantly shifts position unless intentionally moved by or with (Hex key or spanner undoing the seat post clamp / quick release lever, released) a very very specifically directed force.

So, I have to agree, I think the saddle position / bike was planted evidence. That saddle position is a big giveaway imo. It is therefore my belief that the saddle was intentionally twisted around and positioned like that to make it appear as if the bike (and thus the rider) was involved in an accident. Whoever adjusted the saddle thought this would be an easy but effective way of showing the bike & rider having that accident. However, to me what it shows is someone who has a lack of bike / cycling knowledge as, as I've mentioned, it is virtually impossible for a bike saddle (that's correctly tightened in position) to end up turned around like that in an accident / fall.

I'm not an expert or a professional rider / bike mechanic, just an amateur cyclist with some experience, and this is my opinion on the bike and its saddle.

I do wish the family well in getting a positive outcome and some sort of closure from this case.