blankenship
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Who did kill the woman then known unkindly, because of her affairs, as the Bakewell Tart?
In perhaps the longest-running case of injustice in the UK, Stephen Downing had been jailed for the crime for over a quarter of a century before his release.
Now Don Hale, a journalist who had campaigned for Downing's release, has parsed the evidence and examined the suspects in a soon to be released book, "Murder in the Graveyard."
In perhaps the longest-running case of injustice in the UK, Stephen Downing had been jailed for the crime for over a quarter of a century before his release.
For 27 years Stephen Downing rotted in a cell for a crime he did not commit.
It was one of the most shocking miscarriages of justice in British history — a 17-year-old with a reading age of 11 forced to confess to a murder during a nine-hour police grilling without a solicitor.
Downing languished in jail for 17 years longer than his recommended sentence, simply because he maintained his innocence over the killing of 32-year-old legal secretary Wendy Sewell.
And the real murderer — who sexually assaulted and bludgeoned Wendy in a secluded cemetery in Bakewell, Derbys, during lunchtime on September 12, 1973 — has never been caught.
It was one of the most shocking miscarriages of justice in British history — a 17-year-old with a reading age of 11 forced to confess to a murder during a nine-hour police grilling without a solicitor.
Downing languished in jail for 17 years longer than his recommended sentence, simply because he maintained his innocence over the killing of 32-year-old legal secretary Wendy Sewell.
And the real murderer — who sexually assaulted and bludgeoned Wendy in a secluded cemetery in Bakewell, Derbys, during lunchtime on September 12, 1973 — has never been caught.
Now Don Hale, a journalist who had campaigned for Downing's release, has parsed the evidence and examined the suspects in a soon to be released book, "Murder in the Graveyard."
May 19, 2019
Net Closing on Killer (Sun)
Eight clues that would collar real Bakewell graveyard killer after an innocent man was jailed for 27 years
+ Longread with pictures and video
And from 2001:
Guilty secrets of town with blood on its hands (Observer)
Net Closing on Killer (Sun)
Eight clues that would collar real Bakewell graveyard killer after an innocent man was jailed for 27 years
+ Longread with pictures and video
And from 2001:
Guilty secrets of town with blood on its hands (Observer)
For 27 years, the small town of Bakewell has been living with guilt. Children born long after the horrific events of that chilly, sunny day cheerfully rattle off the tale of the young woman with questionable morals who was murdered in the graveyard on the edge of town and how a gentle, mentally disabled boy was fitted up for the crime.
But their parents speak more softly, describing how they bumped into one of the real murderers just last week at the local supermarket and how these men, with blood three decades old still on their hands, continue to laugh openly at the law and torment the families of the bereaved for kicks.
But their parents speak more softly, describing how they bumped into one of the real murderers just last week at the local supermarket and how these men, with blood three decades old still on their hands, continue to laugh openly at the law and torment the families of the bereaved for kicks.
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