UK UK - Wendy Sewell, 32, Bakewell, Derbyshire; 12 September 1973

[blankenship]

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.

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.​

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)

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.​

 

[blankenship]

2001 Baltimore Sun: A tangled matter of murder
2001 Mail on Sunday: Terror of woman who can identify real Bakewell killer
2002 Scotsman: Man 'admitted' Tart murder
2002 Telegraph: Man cleared over Bakewell murder made 'sex calls'
2003 Yorkshire Post: Blackened by the nickname 'Tart'
2003 New Statesman: The editor, the murder, and the truth

Murder in the Graveyard - BBC Documentary

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

 

[blankenship]

'Glaring similarities' between
notorious unsolved murders

 

[India Alpha 1]

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.

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.​

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)

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.​

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.

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.​

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)

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.​

 

[India Alpha 1]

Only a guess, but may be the guy convicted of murdering Wendy was the murderer.

Probably why he changed his story about events in the cemetery. Several times.

 

[SimsGuy67]

I keep seeing a running trend in these miscarriage in justice cases... The defendant acts younger than their age.
The defendant in this murder was 17, but had a reading age of 11.
The defendant in the murder of Lesley Molseed was 23 but had an emotional age of 12.

I'm sure there's more cases like this, but these are the only two I distinctively remember.

This makes sense, as people who act younger can be coerced into telling police what they want more easily. I'm not saying that the man convicted didn't murder her, but it's very possible he didn't.

 

[RichardKimble]

I keep seeing a running trend in these miscarriage in justice cases... The defendant acts younger than their age.
The defendant in this murder was 17, but had a reading age of 11.
The defendant in the murder of Lesley Molseed was 23 but had an emotional age of 12.

I'm sure there's more cases like this, but these are the only two I distinctively remember.

This makes sense, as people who act younger can be coerced into telling police what they want more easily. I'm not saying that the man convicted didn't murder her, but it's very possible he didn't.

Poor old Stefan Kisko in the Lesley Molseed case suffered an horrendous miscarriage of justice.

 

[SimsGuy67]

Poor old Stefan Kisko in the Lesley Molseed case suffered an horrendous miscarriage of justice.

I know... Those four girls who falsely testified against him make me angry in particular. How are you gonna ruin someone's life "for a laugh"?

 

[Bluebear15]

Only a guess, but may be the guy convicted of murdering Wendy was the murderer.

Probably why he changed his story about events in the cemetery. Several times.

I think it's very clear that he's innocent. Read the Observer link in the first post. If anyone changed his story then it was the police imo.

 

[MelmothTheLost]

I keep seeing a running trend in these miscarriage in justice cases... The defendant acts younger than their age.
The defendant in this murder was 17, but had a reading age of 11.
The defendant in the murder of Lesley Molseed was 23 but had an emotional age of 12.

I'm sure there's more cases like this, but these are the only two I distinctively remember.

This makes sense, as people who act younger can be coerced into telling police what they want more easily. I'm not saying that the man convicted didn't murder her, but it's very possible he didn't.

There was far less understanding of, and a much harsher attitude to, learning and intellectual disabilities in the UK at this time, and very little appreciation of the extent to which such individuals could be influenced and manipulated.

The way intellectually disabled people were handled by the police was not necessarily deliberately cavalier or malicious, but usually the result of a lack of understanding. It was still very normal for intellectually disabled individuals to be sent to state owned and run residential facilities at an early age so many, if not most, adults would have had very little practical experience of dealing with them.