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Rachel Nickell killer confesses....and it was not Colin Stagg

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

  • I thought Stagg was guilty at the time, just shows the power of the press.
  • It's a small point, but look at the picture of Knapp, they do look uncannily like each other, thats not an excuse and its all down to pure hard scientifice evidence in the end, but the resemblence is frightening.
  • Another 'success' for vigilante justice.
  • The sad thing about this is that this could have all been prevented if an unnamed police officer had acted upon a tip-off from Napper's mother about the rape he had confessed to 3 years earlier.



    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?
  • How was it "vigilante justice" OB and their Pyh Cop hunted Stag (no pun) they set up a sting which was total bollox and while they tried their hardest to PIN it on Stag another woman and her kid where raped, tortured and murdered. OB did it not "vigilantees"

    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.
  • edited December 2008
    maybe if Stagg wasn't known to the police as a sex pest he would not have been number one suspect. As a close family member of mine was murdered by being stabbed 106 times last year I feel quite strongly about bringing back hanging but unfortunitely it will never happen because of cases like this.
  • Al i feel the same. Its the bollox up by OB time and again onwhat would be capital cases that started me thinking we just cant top people. Although some clearly shouldnt walk amoungest us ever.
  • Thing is we know 100% who did it in my case and he has admitted it. Ok he is serving a life sentence now but that is too good for the scumbag!
  • [cite]Posted By: Goonerhater[/cite]How was it "vigilante justice" OB and their Pyh Cop hunted Stag (no pun) they set up a sting which was total bollox and while they tried their hardest to PIN it on Stag another woman and her kid where raped, tortured and murdered. OB did it not "vigilantees"

    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.
  • im against a general DNA data base. have no probs with people who have been convicted of a crime being on a DNA data base.
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  • [cite]Posted By: Al the Addick[/cite]maybe if Stagg wasn't known to the police as a sex pest he would not have been number one suspect. As a close family member of mine was murdered by being stabbed 106 times last year I feel quite strongly about bringing back hanging but unfortunitely it will never happen because of cases like this.
    Sorry to hear what happened to your family member, hope the scumbag who did it was caught.

    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.
  • [cite]Posted By: Goonerhater[/cite]im against a general DNA data base. have no probs with people who have been convicted of a crime being on a DNA data base.

    Fair enough.
  • correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't he a known flasher on Wimbledon common?

    Anyway think this thread is sinking now! glug glug
  • They wouldn't have got him for the murder of Rachel at the time. They have DNA evidence now purely because of the recent scientific advances which allow minute amounts of DNA to be 'amplified' and thus profiled.
    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.
  • [cite]Posted By: Al the Addick[/cite]correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't he a known flasher on Wimbledon common?

    Anyway think this thread is sinking now! glug glug

    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?
  • 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.

    ..........

    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.
  • Sorry, I know this is sinking but... he didn't confess in the sting. They tried to make him but he refused repeatedly, just kept saying it wasn't him. They decided to arrest him anyway.

    As for the flashing thing - honestly hadn't heard that, maybe it's correct.
  • [cite]Posted By: Valley McMoist[/cite]The sad thing about this is that this could have all been prevented if an unnamed police officer had acted upon a tip-off from Napper's mother about the rape he had confessed to 3 years earlier.



    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?

    I believe he when to Abbey Wood.
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