I see the real killer of Rachel Nickell and her Turns out it was not Colin Stagg after all, what a surprise eh?
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article2051490.ece
I remember this case really well because my girlfriend at the time lived near Wimbledon Common and the press went into a massive feeding frenzy over Colin Stagg and basically had the poor bastard hung, drawn and quartered before he even faced a judge.
When the judge threw the case out, because the police had tried to entrap Stagg via a bizarre undercover operation into admitting his guilt, he was acquitted and the tabloids went after him even harder trying to make out he was the killer but had only been let off because of a legal loophole.
Stagg lived in constant fear for his life for 16 years, occasionally vilified in the press as a weirdo and pervert whenever the case was discussed, and has basically had his life ruined by the incompetence of the police and the disgraceful conduct of the tabloid press, especially The Sun, The Mirror and, surprise, The Daily Mail.
Stagg ended up getting 700,000 quid compensation in 2006 but how can you be compensated for having your name and personhood completely destroyed and forever associated with a violent murder and sexual assault?
I remember thinking at the time he was arrested that the whole thing stunk to high heaven and that it was looking like a fit-up and it looks like it was the case, the old bill were desperate to pin it on someone and he, a sad lonely bloke fitted the bill nicely.
I think we should all be very, very careful in these emotive high-profile cases to avoid these kinds of witch-hunts which get out of control and end up with innocent lives being destroyed.
Hilariously, in that Sun article above, the great journal asks, "How did Napper (the real killer) evade justice?" How indeed.
Rant over.
Comments
Plumstead and Eltham Attacks
Reading this report, it was all pretty close to home and it sends a shiver down my spine. Looks like he was a local boy. I wonder what school he went to and what he was like at school?
read the book Jigsaw Man its written by the guy who did the original profile.
close to home ? how about the scum bag who has raped olver 30 old men and women in South London ? he is still out there. Through DNA they can even tell you what caribean island he is from, but he is still out there -- somewhere.
I may of got this wrong GH and I appologise if I have but weren't you one of the people that was against a DNA database?
Had this guy been on such a database, he would have been picked up by now.
In Stagg's case though, he wasn't known to the police at all, he had no record as a "sex pest", and was wholly innocent. Just happened to fit the "profile" of the attacker because he was a loner.
Fair enough.
Anyway think this thread is sinking now! glug glug
I said vigilante justice in respect to the gutter press and some UK citizens. The pressure on the police was horrendous. The tabloids then had a field day on Stagg digging up every bit of dirt they could, grossly exaggerating it, plus making a lot up. Stagg's psychological profile fitted, and one witness picked him out from the ID parade and stated that he was in the area at the time of the murder, whereas Stagg said he'd been there an hour earlier. The police were convinced it was Stagg, so was the press, so they went full out to get him. This not only ruined Stagg's already sad life, but critically allowed the real killer to remain free. The police, press and some sections of public opinion went full out for a man who was in fact innocent. That, as I understand it anyway, was vigilante justice. If the baying crowds could have got hold of Stagg, they would have literally ripped him to shreds. It is high time that murder investigations were conducted without any publicity at all and reporting only be allowed when the case goes to court.
I don't know if he was a flasher or not, GH has read the book and may be able to tell you that, but there is a world of difference between exposing yourself and raping and murdering someone.
I agree with the GH on the DNA database, there is no way that a law abiding person should have to submit to one but I agree that all violent/sexual criminals should.
For me, the worrying thing about the Nickell case is the way that Stagg was pursued and found guilty by the press and public before he had faced court purely on the basis of him being a bit of a weirdo.
Very similar to Barry George who was royally fitted up for the Jill Dando murder on crazily thin forensic evidence and the fact that he was, let's face it, a weird looking fecker.
How many more have the old bill fitted up that we don't know about?
..........
I thought it was more that he bore a resemblance to the photo-fit of the suspect. He didn't help his case though by "confessing" in the police sting, so I can see why the police went after him. Unfortunately their method to trap him relied on his gullibility and had he been found guilty then the conviction would have been tainted.
As for the flashing thing - honestly hadn't heard that, maybe it's correct.
I believe he when to Abbey Wood.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/3850193/Rachel-Nickell-Robert-Napper-may-have-killed-teenager-15-years-ago.html