| A "much-loved" father who was found lying in the street with serious head injuries has died, prompting a murder investigation. We also may change the frequency you receive our emails from us in order to keep you up to date and give you the best relevant information possible. [n 3], By late July, investigators had checked the fingerprints of each individual upon the Electoral Register. On Monday night, police arrested three brothers - Feroz, 39, Suhayl, 36, and Nadeem Suleman, 33, all from Blackburn - on suspicion of murder. [20], One of the Blackburn addresses to be checked was that of Peter Griffiths, a 22-year-old ex-serviceman who lived at 31 Birley Street,[25] and who worked as a packer on the night shift at a local flour mill. Contained within the pages of this book are the stories behind some of the most notorious murders in Lancashire's history. Police could now use science as well as their own logic and investigative skills to solve crimes. Here are 13 Lancashire and Cumbria murderers from the past, from the wife killing Lancaster surgeon who chopped up his spouse, to the Chinese holidaymaker who strangled his beloved in Borrowoford. Transgender politics isn't something we expect to see in 1948 but it transpired that Margaret Allen, who committed Rawtenstall's first murder, was known as Bill and lived as a man. Alison McBlain, 36, was struck by a car mounted the pavement on Whalley Banks,. VideoRecord numbers of guide dog volunteers after BBC story. Photograph: Lancashire Constabulary/PA Media. After 30 minutes of fruitless searching, staff contacted the local police, who arrived at 1:55am and immediately began a search of the hospital and its grounds. [17][19][23], The task-force to carry out this endeavour was led by Inspector William Barton and comprised a team of 20 officers who, armed with details from the Electoral Register, set about the districts collecting fingerprints and comparing them against those upon the Winchester bottle. Violence and sexual offences were recorded 26 times. Nigel Scott, 58, was discovered unconscious on the pavement in Clarendon Road East, Blackburn shortly after 10:00 GMT on Sunday. This devil doctor was convicted of killing his wife and maid in 1935. June was admitted to Queens Park Hospital suffering with Pneumonia on May 5. Blackburn. A decision was made to discreetly arrest him when he next left his home. blackburn, lancashire murders. [7] She was placed in Ward CH3 of the premises, being under the supervision of nurse Gwendolyn Humphreys at night. [3], The investigation into the murder of June Anne Devaney was a milestone in the history of forensic science, being the first time a mass fingerprinting exercise had been employed to solve a murder in the United Kingdom. June's murder provoked mass media coverage as papers across England followed updates of the police investigation closely throughout May of 1948. Why not follow BBC North West on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram? They had a witness, Dr Bailey, who had treated Griffith's father for Schizophrenia. Having been a drifter before the war, he returned to England as a one-legged wanderer, without a profession or a place to properly settle. Miao Chung-yi with his wife Sui Wai Shueng in 1928. Evie Adams, 23, died in October 2019 in Blackburn, Lancashire. The police who found the duo said the house looked like a "slaughterhouse." Read the full story here. A 32-year-old man from Preston has been arrested on suspicion of murder. He would hand himself in to Burnley police station admitting to the crime and telling officers: "I don't know what made me do it.". During the ride to police headquarters, and throughout his first interview, Griffiths attempted to deny any involvement,[20] although when confronted with the fact his fingerprints had been a perfect match for those discovered upon the Winchester bottle, he turned towards DCI Capstick and stated: "Well, if they are my fingerprints on the bottle, I'll tell you all about it. Jordan Monaghan, 29, is set to stand trial for the murders of Ruby and Logan Monaghan and Ms Adams. On August 11, officers visited Birley Street to take the fingerprints of one 22-year-old Peter Griffiths. [30] He had slept until approximately 9a.m.[28], Although Griffiths did not appear to show any remorse for his actions (which he blamed upon his state of intoxication) throughout the course of his confession, he did end his formal statement with a sentence indicating he wished to be hanged for his crime: "I'm sorry for both parents' sake and I hope I get what I deserve."[31]. On May 18, the Manchester Evening News reported that police had searched the ports and harbours across the north west, believing that the man could have been a sailor. The murder of June Anne Devaney is a British child murder which occurred on 15 May 1948 when a girl aged 3 years 11 months was abducted from her cot while an inpatient at Queen's Park Hospital in Blackburn, Lancashire. He moved to Lancashire in 1921 and became a watchmen. Blackburn is the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen unitary authority with the . Feroz Suleman, 39,. Nigel Scott, 58, was discovered unconscious on the pavement in. Buck's house still stands today, in two Dalton Square Lancaster and the bathtub he used to slice the two women up is now being used as a horse trough by Lancashire Constabulary. They had decided that the murderer had local knowledge of Blackburn so was a native of the area who had some intimate knowledge of the hospital and its surroundings. The doctor committed suicide before he could be brought in by the police, forever escaping justice for what he did. Police also used a bloodhound to sniff out the possible route the killer had used from the ward to the grounds and a fingerprint expert was brought in to search the ward where in they found a Winchester bottle of sterile water. 4 stages of social drama turner; who are the 14 representatives of georgia; what are the two types of split braking systems; anthony pritzker house; News By Dominic Moffitt 17:00, 27 OCT 2019 Peter Griffiths who murdered and raped a three-year-old girl in 1948. A Crimean war hero and his superior were shot down and killed in cold blood, shattering the silence of Fulwood with rifle fire. Mum who shared contents of 3.09 Too Good To Go Morrisons box branded 'shameful' for buying 'out of date food', "Thats totally not acceptable, never heard anything so shameful in my life", DWP state pension contributions will 'still be considered' after looming Government deadline, Phone lines have been busy as people have taken action to top up their contributions, Preston thug strangled his own cousin before his mum punched him back, John Wilcock then threatened to kill her if she didn't retract her statement, Camera Club: Show us your best dog photos for the chance to be crowned March's winner, Share your pictures in Lancs Live's monthly photo competition, Should dogs have to be kept on leads in public spaces? Five people have been charged with the murder of a law student in a drive-by shooting in Blackburn. A 26-year-old woman, from Blackburn, and a man, aged 32, from Preston have been arrested on suspicion of murder. Transgender politics isn't something we expect to see in 1948 but it transpired that Margaret Allen, who committed Rawtenstall's first murder, was known as Bill and lived as a man. In 1948, Griffiths was a 22-year-old single man living with his parents in Birley Street, Blackburn, described as a 'working class area' by the Liverpool Echo. "FreeBMD: Births Registered: July, August, September 1944", "Freedom of Information: Records Released as a Result of Freedom of Information (FOI) Requests", "The Fingerprint Society Commemorates 60 Years Since Landmark Fingerprint Identification", "The History of the First Mass Fingerprinting Operation", "Federal Bureau of Investigation Law Enforcement Bulletin", "A Brutal Murder Begins an Unusual Investigation", "The Blackburn Child Killer and Rapist who Changed Criminal Forensics Forever", "Split Mind Defence in Child Murder Trial", "Peter Griffiths. (After hearing Griffiths' recollection of the events, Dr. Alaistair Grant privately conceded that Griffiths was of sound mind.[19]). It has a population of 117,963. 05 August 2021. The Echo said that more than a thousand people waited outside the court, clamouring just to see the sight of the tall, sallow man, dressed in a battle dress and blue overalls. He was executed by Albert Pierrepoint in January 1949. With the register exhausted the police began to investigate men who were not on the register and that, in early August, gave DCI Capstick his breakthrough. Also highly reported was anti-social behaviour at 44 and public order at 27. The woman was arrested on Tuesday evening. Cross Duckworth, the Blackburn child killer. Following closing arguments delivered by both counsels, the jury retired to consider their verdict, although they would deliberate for just 23 minutes[20] before announcing they had reached their verdict. Peter Griffiths who murdered and raped a three-year-old girl in 1948. Officers were called. They will be sentenced on Tuesday (February 28). Poison is seen as a woman's weapon, subtle, hard to detect and deadly in its beauty. Blackburn recorded 71 reports of burglary during April 2020, making its crime rate of 0.59 the worst for burglary in Lancashire that month. . [1] The child was removed to the grounds of the hospital, where she was raped, before suffering extensive blunt force trauma to her skull when her head was repeatedly swung into a sandstone wall. 2023 BBC. The only real detail from the statement was when Griffiths stated that as he had carried the child across the field to where he assaulted and murdered her saying that June had trustingly placed her arms around his neck. At 1.20am, Gwendolyne noticed that there was a draught through the hospital and noticed an open door on the ward. The murder of June Anne Devaney is a British child murder which occurred on 15 May 1948 when a girl aged 3 years 11 months was abducted from her cot while an inpatient at Queen's Park Hospital in Blackburn, Lancashire. UK news. The incident went down in legend however, inspiring a song called the ballad of Private McCaffery. On Monday night, police arrested three brothers - Feroz, 39, Suhayl, 36, and Nadeem Suleman, 33, all from Blackburn - on suspicion of murder. The jurors were told how fibres from this suit were of a perfect match to fibres found on the child's clothing, body, and on the window ledge where her murderer had evidently entered the hospital. "[28], By the time this comparison had been made, officers had taken 46,253 sets of fingerprints, and had less than 200 sets of prints left to check before the completion of their task. Read the full story here. He then proceeded to carry out the act on himself. Lee Kenyon, 35, stabbed Jim Murray, 51, in the chest after a row in Largs Road in Blackburn, Lancashire on 2 October. Kenyon was already wanted by police after stabbing a 23-year-old man by a . 7 East Lancashire unsolved murders. Wearing a grey T-shirt and a mask over his face . It took Lancashire Constabulary officers months to find a suspect in Griffiths and they did so after taking thousands of fingerprints from Blackburn men and matching them to a print left on a medicine bottle. All were checked, and all were eliminated from the inquiry. [10] The internal injuries were consistent with the child having been raped,[16] and the multiple, extensive fractures and blunt trauma to her skull had been inflicted from the child being repeatedly swung into the boundary wall while her rapist and murderer had held her by her legs, ankles, or feet. Despite long-running police investigations, several brutal murders - some of which span back to the 1960s . His executioner was Albert Pierrepoint. He had left his shoes outside the ward, and entered the premises, hearing a nurse "humming to herself and banging things, as if she were washing up or something". Hiram Thompson murdered his wife in cold blood, kicking her to death before slitting her throat with a razor, just to make sure the deed was done. She had two brothers: Albert six and Joseph two, together making the perfect, happy family who all lived together on Princess Street in Blackburn. Don't miss out - sign up for our free daily newsletter today. Read More Related Articles. [19], During the trial, Griffiths described how he had entered the hospital while intoxicated, and had then picked up the Winchester sterile water bottle, which he stated to the Court he had intended to use as a weapon if he was challenged. The horrific crime which took the life of young June Ann Devaney in the Spring of 1948 lead to a mass manhunt across Lancashire, with the public shocked and fascinated by the murder of such a young child. Evie Adams, 23, died in 'unexplained circumstances' on October 27, 2019, at an address in Blackburn, Lancashire. : . Father-of-four Sajed Choudry, 42, sustained horrific injuries, including slash wounds to his ears and his skull being hacked open, when he was attacked near his home in Blackburn, Lancashire. Birth records show that Griffiths was born in March 1926 in Blackburn. Police collected this suit, only for the police forensics laboratory to discover that it bore bloodstains in several locations on both the jacket and trousers. Often referred. His lawyer pleaded insanity on the part of Wren but, like so many cases at the time, this was ignored. Holt had shot his beloved and his plea of insanity at the trial was not held up by the judges. Blackburn United under-17s gearing up for Scottish Cup semi-final Daily Record 16:02 28-Feb-23. Detectives are appealing for any witnesses or anyone with CCTV or dashcam footage to come forward, saying it could be crucial to the investigation. DeSantis won't say he's running. Det Supt Andy Cribbin of Lancashire Police said . Four men have been jailed for life for murdering a couple when they set fire to the wrong house in what was intended to be a so-called honour killing. The most common crimes in Blackburn are violence and sexual offences, with 5,620 offences during 2021, giving a crime rate of 46. Alongside her was tall sandstone boundary, about 300 feet from the ward. He never admitted to the first murder. S. even men have been jailed for life for the murder of a law student who was mistakenly gunned down in a botched drive-by shooting. The child in the adjacent cot was June who Gwendolyne noticed was fast asleep. After searching the hospital for half an hour, Gwendolyne called the police. Mr Justice Oliver placed the black cap on his head and stated: "Peter Griffiths, this jury has found you guilty of a crime of the most brutal ferocity. Griffiths appeared to be a home bird, staying in the town for his entire life. The men were convicted of murder at Preston . [2], To solve the crime, police obtained the fingerprints of every male aged 16 and over who had been in the vicinity of Blackburn on the night of 14-15 May and compared them to those left at the crime scene by the perpetrator. We use your sign-up to provide content in the ways you've consented to and improve our understanding of you. Her murderer, 22-year-old Peter Griffiths, was arrested three months after the crime and was subsequently tried and convicted of June Anne's murder. Detective Chief Inspector John Capstick[11], The discovery of the child's body and the injuries she had suffered immediately sparked a major murder investigation. The doctor committed suicide before he could be brought in by the police. Unable to take the rejection he slipped into Frances' house and slit her throat with a razor blade. Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right. In huge debt, Bill murdered the woman for her money. A gunman, driver and business owner, who were part of a group who planned and executed a shooting which killed Aya Hachem, 19, from Blackburn are amongst seven people who have been jailed for more than 200 years today (Thursday, August 5 th) for their involvement in her murder.. News. July 30, 2007. Lee Kenyon, 35, stabbed Jim Murray, 51, in the chest after a row in Largs Road in. His name was not on the election register and so his prints had not previously been taken. Dr Nield swore that Griffiths was now showing early signs of contracting the same condition which had caused him to descend into a "maniacal frenzy.". She was found guilty but her elderly second husband, Alfred Merrifield, who seemed to be completely complicit in the crime, escaped without punishment. A man who would have been frustrated by the glacial speeds of demobilisation, by being unable to do things men of his age could and possibly not at ease with moving back into his parents home. 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