UK UK - Suzy Lamplugh, 25, Fulham, 28 Jul 1986 #8

[Konstantin]

In 1982, 26 year old Stephen Morris from Bolton was convicted of three 1981 'house for sale' rapes - in Heywood, Rochdale and Manchester. In one attack he threatened to harm young children.

Morris seems to have been a mobile offender, travelling 10-20 miles to commit his rapes. I can't find any mention of motorbikes though, and he seems a bit on the young side to be the offender from a year or two earlier.

The 1981 rapes are also around 80-95 miles from the 1979-80 series, and I haven't been able to link Morris to the Birmingham area.

Did any of the victims mention the offender's accent? A Bolton accent is very different from a Birmingham accent.

 

[Konstantin]

‘Bike contract’ means contract couriered by motorcycle. Usual process for Sturgis & other London E agents at that point in sale process in 80s & 90s.

Yes. Bike here is used as a verb in the imperative. Bike contract means send the contract over by motorbike courier.

 

[tes1984]

Did any of the victims mention the offender's accent? A Bolton accent is very different from a Birmingham accent.

The police said he was softly spoken with no identifiable accent.

 

[Konstantin]

The police said he was softly spoken with no identifiable accent.

Interesting. I doubt Morris is the B'ham rapist because of his age seeming different and his pattern of travelling. Heywood, Rochdale and Manchester would have been easily reachable from Bolton (Manchester is a big place, do we know which bit of Manchester he operated in?) by public transport if he didn't have a car. Birmingham is quite a drive away. But who knows.

If these assaults were reported in the news, they could have inspired other predators to use the house for sale method to get inside premises where there were potential victims. Call up and pretend to be a potential buyer, suss out who is in the house etc.

The SJL case is different, though, because Kipper arranged to meet her outside the Shorrolds Road property, and didn't rape her inside that house even though it was empty and had several floors. Was that his plan? He could easily have found out the property was empty. She'd have seen his face and been easily able to describe him, so it seems risky. Did the nosey neighbour next door put him off? Whatever happened to SJL, it didn't happen at Shorrolds. So the plan either was not a plan to rape or harm her at first, but a meeting for some other reason, and matters unfolded and escalated after the meeting somehow - fits with various sightings - or the arrangement to meet at Shorrolds was a fictional appointment and she went somewhere else, or it was a plan to meet her there and then get her to go elsewhere.