Stephen Downing case

The Stephen Downing case involved the conviction and imprisonment in 1974 of a 17-year-old council worker, Stephen Downing, for the murder of a 32 year old legal secretary, Wendy Sewell, in the village of Bakewell in the Peak District. Following a campaign by a local newspaper, his conviction was overturned in 2002, after Downing had served 27 years in prison. The case is thought to be the longest miscarriage of justice in British legal history, [http://www.newstatesman.com/200303100020 New Statesman - The editor, the murder and the truth ] ] [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/1760754.stm] BBC News 15 January, 2002 "Downing murder conviction quashed"] [ [http://www.richardwebster.net/thenewinjustices.html The new injustices:from false confessions to false allegations ] ] and attracted worldwide media attention [ [http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2004/02_february/12/denial_murder.shtml] BBC Press Office 2/2/04] as the "Bakewell Tart" murder.

The case was featured in the 2004 BBC drama "In Denial of Murder" in which Jason Watkins played Stephen Downing and Caroline Catz played Wendy Sewell. [cite web
url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0381272/
title=In Denial of Murder (2004) (TV)
publisher=www.imdb.com
accessdate=2008-07-23
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History

Assault

Typist Wendy Sewell was attacked in Bakewell Cemetery at lunchtime on 12 September 1973. A witness, Charles Carman, saw her enter the cemetery at about 12.50 pm. She was beaten with the handle of a pickaxe around the head, [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/2804197.stm BBC NEWS | UK | Still a suspect after 30 years ] ] and sexually assaulted - her trousers, pants, plimsolls and parts of her bra had been removed.http://www.derbyshire.police.uk/sei/s/845/f1.doc.] The attack was so brutal that she died from her injuries in Chesterfield Royal Hospital two days later on 14 September, without being able to reveal who had assaulted her.

Trial

The 17-year-old cemetery groundskeeper, Stephen Downing, was the primary suspect. He told police that he had found Sewell lying on the ground, covered in blood, and that her blood got on his clothes because she shook her head. He was taken to the police station, questioned for nine hours without a solicitor present, and signed a confession, [ [http://www.innocent.org.uk/cases/stephendowning/index.html INNOCENT - Fighting miscarriages of justice ] ] even though Downing's reading age was 11.

The trial took place at Nottingham Crown Court between 13 and 15 February 1974. Downing pleaded not guilty.

A medical expert, the forensic scientist Norman Lee, gave evidence at the trial that the blood found on Downing could only have been there if he had been responsible for the assault - he asserted that it was a "Textbook example [...] which might be expected on the clothing of the assailant".

A full transcript of the trial does not exist. However, it is known that the judge, when summing up, drew attention to Downing’s own admission in the trial of having indecently assaulted Sewell as she lay injured in the cemetery. (He later denied that he made those admissions during the trial). Stephen Downing was found guilty by all members of the jury, and was convicted of murder. He was sentenced to be detained at Her Majesty's pleasure (indefinitely), with the stipulation that he should serve a minimum of ten years.

Because he did not admit to the crime he was classified as "IDOM" (In Denial of Murder) and ineligible for parole.

The first appeal

A witness was found who said she saw Downing leaving the cemetery, and at that time she also saw Wendy Sewell alive and unharmed. Downing applied for leave to appeal on the grounds he had a new witness.

On 25 October 1974 the Court of Appeal heard the grounds for appeal and reached the conclusion that the witness' evidence of seeing Wendy Sewell walking towards the back of the consecrated chapel was unreliable due to some fully grown trees obstructing her line of sight. The Court felt that her evidence was not credible and secure enough to allow an appeal against the conviction.

During the Derbyshire Police's re-investigation in 2002, this witness was re-interviewed and accompanied back to the cemetery location. She reaffirmed that the fully grown trees, which have since been felled, would have obstructed her line of sight. She also revealed the knowledge that she is, and was at the time, short sighted. The witness, who was 15 years old at the time of the murder, was unable to give an adequate reason for why she came forward with her original evidence.

Campaign

Stephen Downing continued to deny committing the murder so his family attempted to get support for another retrial. In 1994 they wrote to the local newspaper, the Matlock Mercury. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1158058.stm BBC News] ] The editor, Don Hale, took up the case and along with Downing's family ran a campaign. During the campaign Wendy Sewell's promiscuity was exploited while searching for other possible murderers, and Sewell became known as the "Bakewell tart".

As a result of this campaign along with Downing's continual protestations of innocence, the case was referred to the Criminal Cases Review Commission in 1997.

Downing was released on appeal in 2001 after 27 years in prison. The following year, 2002, the Court of Appeal overturned Downing's conviction, finding it to be unsafe.

The case is thought to be the longest miscarriage of justice in British legal history, and attracted worldwide media attention.

The second appeal

During the second appeal held on 15 January 2002 the Court of Appeal accepted many of the reasons that were put forward by Hale and others for believing the conviction was unsafe. Julian Bevan, counsel for the Crown, accepted two arguments put forward by the defence. The first was that Downing's confession should not have been allowed to go before a jury. The confession was unsafe because Downing had been questioned for eight hours, during which the police shook him and pulled his hair to keep him awake; because he wasn't formally cautioned that what he said may be used in evidence against him; and because he wasn't given a solicitor. The Crown also agreed with the defence argument that more recent knowledge of blood-splattering patterns meant the prosecution's claim that the blood could only have been found on the clothes of the attacker was questionable.

The Rt Hon. Lord Justice Pill said that the Court of Appeal did not have to consider if Downing had proved that he was innocent, but if the original conviction was fair - "The question for [the Court of Appeal’s] consideration is whether the conviction is safe and not whether the accused is guilty". What the defence had proved was that there was reasonable doubt about the "reliability of the confessions made in 1973". His Lordship said: "The court cannot be sure the confessions are reliable. It follows that the conviction is unsafe. The conviction is quashed."

Aftermath

A year after the conviction was overturned, February 2003, Derbyshire police revealed the findings of their reinvestigation of the murder. They interviewed 1,600 witnesses, at an estimated cost of £500,000 - though Downing himself refused to be reinterviewed. After failing to link any other person with the murder nor able to eliminate Downing as the suspect, they declared the case closed. Even though Downing remains the prime suspect, under the "double jeopardy" rule the police did not submit the results of their inquiries to the Crown Prosecution Service, as he cannot be re-arrested and charged with the same crime without new evidence.

Police reinvestigation

Following the Court of Appeal overturning Stephen Downing's conviction, the Derbyshire Police reinvestigated the murder under the name Operation Noble. During 2002, they interviewed 1,600 witnesses, at an estimated cost of £500,000. There were 22 other possible suspects, many of whom had been suggested by Don Hale during his campaign, and in his book "Town Without Pity". All were cleared of any possibility of having murdered Wendy Sewell.

The suspects

*Mr A [Referred to as "Mr Red" in "A Town without Pity"] - friend of Wendy Sewell. Evidence shows that he was at a sheep sale in Shropshire during the time of the attack.
*Sidney Oulsnam - Don Hale suggested in "Town Without Pity" that Oulsnam had driven Mr A to the cemetery in order to meet Sewell. No sightings were able to be confirmed by the police.
*George Pearson - a local man who spoke to Wendy Sewell shortly before she died. An anonymous letter alleged that Pearson was in the cemetery at the time of the attack. It was also suggested that he spoke about the assault in the Castle Hotel, Bakewell before the ambulance had arrived, but there was no reliable identification. The police found no evidence to link Pearson to Sewell's murder.
*Mr B [Referred to as "Mr Blue" in "A Town Without Pity"] - identified by witness Mary Hadfield as being seen running up Yeld Road toward the school.
*David Sewell - husband of Wendy Sewell. Was at work during the time of the attack.
*Mr C - a friend of Wendy Sewell
*John Marshall - a local man who fathered a child with Wendy Sewell, which was born in 1968. On the day of the murder, he was at work and an alibi statement has been obtained from a member of staff.
*Mr D - lived in a house overlooking the cemetery, and knew Sewell.
*Charles Carman - saw Sewell entering the cemetery. There is no evidence linking him with the murder of Sewell.
*Frederick Hawksworth - one of two Bakewell Urban District Council workers who entered the cemetery around the time of the murder. No evidence.
*Eric Fox - one of two Bakewell Urban District Council workers who entered the cemetery around the time of the murder. No evidence.
*Mr E
*Mr F
*Mr G
*Mr H
*Mr I [Referred to as "Mr Orange" in "A Town Without Pity"] - alleged to have boasted of "finishing Wendy Sewell off" after she had been attacked. He was at work at the time of the attack and his employer has provided a statement of alibi.
*Mr J
*Mr K
*Raymond Downing - driver of the bus which Sewell took to work. No evidence linking him to the murder.
*Mr L - alleged that he had a habit of inviting himself into her house. No evidence connecting him to the murder.
*Mr M - investigated because he had killed a woman in Derbyshire as part of a sexual assault, but no connection found with the Sewell murder.
*Mr N - alleged to have had a relationship with Sewell, which he denied.

Don Hale

Don Hale was born in July 1952. He was a professional footballer for Bury FC and Blackburn Rovers for 6 years, [ [http://www.mysteryone.com/DonHaleInterview.htm Don Hale Interview ] ] before injury forced him into retirement. He joined the BBC, also writing for several newspapers and magazines, initially on sport, then general features and news before taking over as editor of the local newspaper, [ [http://www.twbooks.co.uk/authors/donhale.html Don Hale ] ] the Matlock Mercury in 1985.http://www.competition-commission.org.uk/rep_pub/reports/2002/fulltext/463a5.7.pdf]

A campaign by Downing's friends and family for a retrial came to the attention of Don Hale in 1994. Though initially sceptical he joined the campaign and lobbied the home secretary of the time, Michael Howard. The paper's owner, the Johnston Press, wasn't supportive of Hale's interest in the campaign, and he only had a small staff of three journalists which made research difficult. However, according to a commision inquiry into Johnson Press, "There had not been any instances, [...] where Mr Hale had actually dropped or changed a story as a result of pressure from management."

After the Mercury ran the first of Hale's stories in January 1994 he received warnings, and believed his life was in threat when on three separate occasions he was involved in near miss traffic incidents, including a sports car trying to run him down outside the local cinema.

Don Hale's campaign caught the attention of press and public alike.

He was made an Officer of the British Empire, [ [http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2004/02_february/12/denial_murder_mckay.shtml BBC - Press Office - In Denial of Murder background ] ] was voted Journalist of the Year by What the Papers Say - an award normally given for journalists from the national media, and was also voted The Observer's Man of the Year. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1158058.stm BBC News | UK | Don Hale: Campaigning editor ] ]

In 2002 he published his account of the case - "Town Without Pity".

tephen Downing

Stephen Downing was born in 1957. He worked for the local council as a gardener. He worked in the Bakewell cemetery where Wendy Sewell was murdered. He was 17 years old with a reading age of an 11 year old, when he was tried and found guilty of the murder of Wendy Sewell. He served 27 years in jail. He had to change prison eight times due to being assaulted by fellow prisoners as a sex offender. [ [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20001115/ai_n14345863 Stephen Downing says he didn't do it. Nobody listened. Now, after 27 | Independent, The (London) | Find Articles at BNET ] ] He was released from Littlehey prison in Cambridgeshire in 2001. [ [http://www.innocent.org.uk/cases/stephendowning/index.html#ananova7201 INNOCENT - Fighting miscarriages of justice ] ] He initially found employment as a trainee chef in a Bakewell restaurant, using the training he had been given whilst in prison. Though he later reported that he couldn't find anyone to employ him. [ [http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2008/03/26/after-spending-27-years-in-prison-stephen-downing-is-obsessed-by-being-a-copper-89520-20363288/ After spending 27 years in prison Stephen Downing is obsessed by being a copper - mirror.co.uk ] ]

He received compensation of £750,000 because he was not informed he was under arrest nor that he had the right to a solicitor. [ [http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-410759/500-000-payout-Bakewell-Tart-murder-suspect.html £500,000 payout for 'Bakewell Tart' murder suspect | Mail Online ] ] He received the money in two payments - an interim payment of £250,000 followed by a final payment of £500,000.

References

Notes

Bibliography

*"Town Without Pity", Don Hale, Century (4 April 2002), ISBN 071261530X

External links

* [http://www.derbyshire.police.uk/news/26.html The official statement made by Derbyshire Police]
* [http://www.mysteryone.com/DonHaleInterview.htm An interview with Don Hale] , the man who worked tirelessly for Stephen's release
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1779555.stm BBC ~ Who did kill Wendy Sewell?]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1164507.stm BBC ~ Downing's contempt for 'real' killers]
* [http://www.innocent.org.uk/cases/stephendowning/index.html Innocent.org.uk]