Murder of Lynette White

The murder of Lynette White was committed on Saint Valentine's Day, 1988 in Cardiff, Wales. Twenty year old White, a prostitute, was stabbed over fifty times in her flat above a bookmaker's at 7 James Street, Butetown.^[1] In March 1988 South Wales Police identified as their prime suspect a white male who had been seen, blood-stained and in a distressed state, outside the flat shortly after the murder. Releasing a photofit of the suspect to the press and public Detective Chief Superintendent John Williams said: "This man almost certainly had the blood of the deceased on him."^[2] However, in November 1988 five black men were arrested and charged with the murder, largely based on the evidence of two other prostitutes who knew White.^[3] One of the five, who had a mental age of 11, confessed to the killing after making 300 denials during five days of police interrogation.^[1] The subsequent trial, held at Swansea Crown Court, was at the time the longest murder trial in British legal history, lasting 197 days, and led to three of the five accused being found guilty of White's murder.^[4] The trial had originally commenced in 1989, but was interrupted due to the death of the judge.^[5] In November 1990 Tony Paris, Yusef Abdullahi and Stephen Miller - who became known as the "Cardiff Three" - were each sentenced to life imprisonment.^[3][6][7] Their appeal was heard in December 1992 and ended after four days when Lord Justice Taylor listened to an audio recording of Stephen Miller's police interrogation. Lord Taylor said that the police had "bullied and hectored" Miller during a "travesty of an interview" and that "short of physical violence, it is hard to conceive of a more hostile and intimidating approach by officers to a suspect." He ordered copies of the recording to be sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Chairman of the Royal Commission on Criminal Justice as an "example of what we hope we shall never hear again in this court".^[8] All three men had their convictions overturned and were released.

In September 2000 the case was reopened and detectives discovered fresh forensic evidence, including a small trace of blood on the cellophane wrapper from a cigarette packet and a further ten traces of the same blood underneath several layers of paint on a skirting board at the crime scene.^[9] The killer was dubbed "Cellophane Man" by scientists and detectives.^[10] No match was found in the United Kingdom National DNA Database. In January 2002, after the development of the Second Generation Multiplex Plus (SGM+) test, forensic scientists were finally able to obtain a reliable crime scene DNA profile.^[11] Using the process of familial searching, a partial match was eventually made with the profile of a 14-year-old youth who was known to the police but who had not been born at the time of the murder. This led to the arrest on 28 February 2003 of Jeffrey Gafoor, an uncle of the youth.^[10][12] Gafoor was tried in July 2003. On 4 July 2003, at Cardiff Crown Court, he pleaded guilty to White's murder and the judge, Mr Justice Royce, sentenced him to life imprisonment.^[11]

In November 2004 the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) announced that it would carry out a reinvestigation into the original police inquiry.^[13] On 13 April 2005 five retired police officers were arrested in connection with offences of false imprisonment, conspiring to pervert the course of justice and misconduct in public office.^[9][14] Four more retrired police officers were arrested in connection with their roles in the original murder investigation on 21 April 2005.^[15] Along with the officers, a further 13 people were arrested in connection with evidence and information that they had provided in 1988 which had incriminated the Cardiff Three.^[16] On 19 May 2005 three serving police officers - a Detective Constable, a Constable and a Detective Sergeant - were arrested.^[17] As the investigation continued, over 30 arrests had been made by November 2005, 19 of whom were serving or retired police officers, including one Inspector.^[18][19]

In February 2007, four witnesses who gave evidence at the original murder trial were charged with perjury.^[20] In December 2008, three of the accused - Angela Psaila, Leanne Vilday and Mark Grommek - were found guilty of committing perjury and each sentenced to 18 months imprisonment. The fourth, Paul Atkins, was deemed "unfit to stand trial."^[5] Sentencing, Mr Justice Maddison said: "It's been submitted on your behalf, accepted by the prosecution, and I accept it myself... you were seriously hounded, bullied, threatened, abused and manipulated by the police during a period of several months leading up to late 1988, as a result of which you felt compelled to agree to false accounts they suggested to you." However, perjury was "an offence which strikes at the heart of the system of the administration of justice."^[21]

In March 2009 the Special Crime Division of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) announced that there was "sufficient evidence" to prosecute three serving officers and ten former officers involved in the original investigation with conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.^[5] Two further witnesses in the original trial, Violet Perriam and Ian Massey, were also charged with perjury.^[22][23] In July 2011 the trial - the largest police corruption trial in British criminal history - of Perriam, Massey, Chief Superintendent Thomas Page, Chief Inspectors Graham Mouncher and Richard Powell, and five other detectives, Michael Daniels, Paul Jennings, Paul Stephen, Peter Greenwood and John Seaford, commenced at Swansea Crown Court.^[24] Four other ex-policemen were scheduled to stand trial separately in 2012.^[25]

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Mullin, John (22 December 1992). "Cardiff Three police will not face action". The Guardian (Manchester). 
2. ^ Mills, Heather (15 January 1996). "Prostitute's murder trial 'based on faulty tests'". The Independent (London): p. 6. 
3. ^ ^{a b} "Killing led to miscarriage of justice". BBC News. 4 July 2003. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/3038672.stm. Retrieved 12 July 2011. 
4. ^ Campbell, Duncan (8 Dec 1992). "Murder case police 'not engaged in search for truth'". The Guardian (Manchester). 
5. ^ ^{a b c} "CPS advises charges over Lynette White trials". Crown Prosecution Service. 3 March 2009. http://www.cps.gov.uk/news/press_releases/110_09/. Retrieved 13 July 2011. 
6. ^ "Security guard admits 1988 prostitute murder". The Guardian (London). 4 July 2003. http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2003/jul/04/ukcrime1. Retrieved 12 July 2011. 
7. ^ "Fresh probe on woman killed at flat". Birmingham Mail (Birmingham): p. 7. 9 September 2000. 
8. ^ Lewis, Greg (8 January 2002). "Whistle-blower who was ignored". South Wales Echo (Cardiff): p. 10. 
9. ^ ^{a b} Hammond, Anna; Young, Alison; Stead, Mark; James, David (13 April 2005). "Lynette Murder: Ex-Cops Arrested". South Wales Echo (Cardiff): pp. 1–5. 
10. ^ ^{a b} "Life for Lynette White murder". BBC News. 4 July 2003. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/3044282.stm. Retrieved 12 July 2011. 
11. ^ ^{a b} Woffinden, Bob (5 July 2003). "Real killer jailed in case of Cardiff 3: Legal history is made as man pleads guilty to murder of prostitute for which three others were jailed". The Guardian (London): p. 9. 
12. ^ Savill, Richard (5 July 2003). "Nephew's DNA traps killer 15 years later". The Daily Telegraph (London): p. 9. 
13. ^ Maunder, Paul (19 November 2004). "New look at Lynette evidence". South Wales Echo (Cardiff): p. 6. 
14. ^ "Police arrested". The Times (London): p. 2. 14 April 2005. 
15. ^ Hammond, Anna (21 April 2005). "Lynette: Four More Arrests". South Wales Echo (Cardiff): p. 1. 
16. ^ Bennetto, Jason (25 April 2005). "Police officers among 22 held over quashed murder convictions". The Independent (London): p. 18. 
17. ^ Hammond, Anna (19 May 2005). "Three More Cop Arrests In Lynette Police Probe". South Wales Echo (Cardiff): p. 6. 
18. ^ "30 people arrested in inquiry". South Wales Echo (Cardiff): p. 5. 18 March 2006. 
19. ^ Stead, Mark (27 May 2006). "Psychiatric help for 19 arrested police officers". South Wales Echo (Cardiff): p. 2. 
20. ^ Hammond, Anna (28 February 2007). "Lynette charges". South Wales Echo (Cardiff): p. 1. 
21. ^ Beacham, Rhiannon (20 December 2008). South Wales Echo (Cardiff): p. 1. 
22. ^ Gill, Charlotte (4 March 2009). "13 police are accused of framing vice murder trio". Daily Mail (London): p. 26. 
23. ^ "Miscarriage case sees 14 in court". Western Mail (Cardiff): p. 15. 25 April 2009. 
24. ^ Blake, Matt (7 July 2011). "Police in court over framing of Cardiff Three". The Independent (London). http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/police-in-court-over-framing-of-cardiff-three-2308189.html. Retrieved 12 July 2011. 
25. ^ Camber, Rebecca (7 July 2011). "Eight police stand trial for 'framing men in vice girl murder'". Daily Mail (London): p. 11. 

Persondata
Name	White, Lynette
Alternative names
Short description	Welsh sex worker who was murdered in Cardiff, South Wales
Date of birth
Place of birth
Date of death	14 February 1988
Place of death	Wales, UK