Murder of Lynette White
Encyclopedia
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
.
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." 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. 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
.
. 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". All three men had their convictions overturned and were released.
at the crime scene. The killer was dubbed "Cellophane Man" by scientists and detectives. No match was found in the United Kingdom National DNA Database.
(SGM+) test, forensic scientists were finally able to obtain a reliable crime scene DNA profile. 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. 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.
(IPCC) announced that it would carry out a reinvestigation into the original police inquiry. 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
. Four more retired police officers were arrested in connection with their roles in the original murder investigation on 21 April 2005. 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. On 19 May 2005 three serving police officers - a Detective Constable, a Constable
and a Detective Sergeant - were arrested. 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.
. 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." 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."
(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. Two further witnesses in the original trial, Violet Perriam and Ian Massey, were also charged with perjury. 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. Four other ex-policemen were scheduled to stand trial separately in 2012.
On 28 November 2011, despite the passing of nearly 24 years, and the fact that several men were charged and found guilty on police evidence subsequently found to be inadequate, the trial judge ordered a review of evidence on the basis that there were "irregularities in the criminal disclosure process" The prosecution case collapsed. The whole procedure had been marred by a series of possibly jury-tampered exercises. South Wales Police immediately announced referral to the Independent Police Complaints Commission for further investigation.
Valentine's Day
Saint Valentine's Day, commonly shortened to Valentine's Day, is an annual commemoration held on February 14 celebrating love and affection between intimate companions. The day is named after one or more early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine, and was established by Pope Gelasius I in 496...
, 1988 in Cardiff
Cardiff
Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...
, Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
. Twenty year old White, a prostitute
Prostitution
Prostitution is the act or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is called a prostitute and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms, including a "john". Prostitution is one of...
, was stabbed over fifty times in her flat above a bookmaker
Bookmaker
A bookmaker, or bookie, is an organization or a person that takes bets on sporting and other events at agreed upon odds.- Range of events :...
's at 7 James Street, Butetown
Butetown
Butetown is a community in the south of the city of Cardiff, the capital of Wales. It was originally a model housing estate built in the early nineteenth century by John Crichton-Stuart, 2nd Marquess of Bute, for whose title the area was named...
.
Investigation
In March 1988 South Wales PoliceSouth Wales Police
South Wales Police is one of the four territorial police forces in Wales. Its headquarters are based in Bridgend.Covering Wales' capital city, Cardiff, as well as Bridgend, Merthyr Tydfil, Swansea, and the western South Wales Valleys, it is the largest police force in Wales in terms of population,...
identified as their prime suspect
Prime suspect
A prime suspect is the person who is considered by the law enforcement agency investigating a crime to be the most likely suspect.There are various reasons a person may be considered a prime suspect...
a white
White people
White people is a term which usually refers to human beings characterized, at least in part, by the light pigmentation of their skin...
male who had been seen, blood-stained and in a distressed state, outside the flat shortly after the murder. Releasing a photofit
Photofit
Photofit is a technique used by the police for building up an accurate image of someone to fit a witness' description. Photographs, rather than drawings, of individual features are used to construct an image of a suspect....
of the suspect to the press and public Detective Chief Superintendent
Chief Superintendent
Chief superintendent is a senior rank in police forces organised on the British model.- United Kingdom :In the British police, a chief superintendent is senior to a superintendent and junior to an assistant chief constable .The highest rank below Chief Officer level, chief...
John Williams said: "This man almost certainly had the blood of the deceased on him." However, in November 1988 five black
Black people
The term black people is used in systems of racial classification for humans of a dark skinned phenotype, relative to other racial groups.Different societies apply different criteria regarding who is classified as "black", and often social variables such as class, socio-economic status also plays a...
men were arrested and charged with the murder, largely based on the evidence of two other prostitutes who knew White. One of the five, who had a mental age
Mental age
Mental age is a concept in relation to intelligence, expressed as the age at which a child is performing intellectually. The mental age of the child that is tested is the same as the average age at which normal children achieve a particular score....
of 11, confessed to the killing after making 300 denials during five days of police interrogation
Interrogation
Interrogation is interviewing as commonly employed by officers of the police, military, and Intelligence agencies with the goal of extracting a confession or obtaining information. Subjects of interrogation are often the suspects, victims, or witnesses of a crime...
.
1989: First murder trial - Cardiff Three
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. The trial had originally commenced in 1989, but was interrupted due to the death of the judge. In November 1990 Tony Paris, Yusef Abdullahi and Stephen Miller - who became known as the "Cardiff Three" - were each sentenced to life imprisonmentLife imprisonment
Life imprisonment is a sentence of imprisonment for a serious crime under which the convicted person is to remain in jail for the rest of his or her life...
. Their appeal was heard in December 1992 and ended after four days when Lord Justice Taylor
Peter Taylor, Baron Taylor of Gosforth
Peter Murray Taylor, Baron Taylor of Gosforth PC was the Lord Chief Justice of England from 1992 until his premature retirement in 1996, due to poor health which led to his death the following year.-Family:...
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
Director of Public Prosecutions
The Director of Public Prosecutions is the officer charged with the prosecution of criminal offences in several criminal jurisdictions around the world...
and the Chairman of the Royal Commission on Criminal Justice
Royal Commission on Criminal Justice
The Royal Commission on Criminal Justice, also known as the Runciman Commission, was established on 14 March 1991 by the Home Secretary. The Commission was the continuation of Sir John May's inquiry into the false convictions of the Maguire Seven and extension to other miscarriages of justice...
as an "example of what we hope we shall never hear again in this court". All three men had their convictions overturned and were released.
2000: Case reopened
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 boardBaseboard
In architecture, a baseboard is a board covering the lowest part of an interior wall...
at the crime scene. The killer was dubbed "Cellophane Man" by scientists and detectives. No match was found in the United Kingdom National DNA Database.
2002: Second murder trial
In January 2002, after the development of the Second Generation Multiplex PlusSecond Generation Multiplex Plus
Second Generation Multiplex Plus , is a DNA profiling system developed by Applied Biosystems. It is an updated version of Second Generation Multiplex...
(SGM+) test, forensic scientists were finally able to obtain a reliable crime scene DNA profile. 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. Gafoor was tried in July 2003. On 4 July 2003, at Cardiff Crown Court
Cardiff Crown Court
Cardiff Crown Court is a historic building situated in Cathays Park, Cardiff, Wales. The building is a Grade I listed building. The Crown Court is part of the Wales Circuit of Her Majesty's Courts Service.-External links:*...
, he pleaded guilty to White's murder and the judge, Mr Justice Royce
John Royce
Sir Roger John Royce , styled The Hon. Mr Justice Royce, is a British High Court judge.Born in Virginia Water, Surrey, he attended The Leys School and Trinity Hall, Cambridge. He was awarded Blue at Cambridge for field hockey, and later captained the Somerset county hockey team...
, sentenced him to life imprisonment.
2004: IPCC investigation
In November 2004 the Independent Police Complaints CommissionIndependent Police Complaints Commission
The Independent Police Complaints Commission is a non-departmental public body in England and Wales responsible for overseeing the system for handling complaints made against police forces in England and Wales.-Role:...
(IPCC) announced that it would carry out a reinvestigation into the original police inquiry. On 13 April 2005 five retired police officers were arrested in connection with offences of false imprisonment
False imprisonment
False imprisonment is a restraint of a person in a bounded area without justification or consent. False imprisonment is a common-law felony and a tort. It applies to private as well as governmental detention...
, conspiring to pervert the course of justice
Perverting the course of justice
Perverting the course of justice, in English, Canadian , and Irish law, is a criminal offence in which someone prevents justice from being served on himself or on another party...
and misconduct in public office
Malfeasance in office
Malfeasance in office, or official misconduct, is the commission of an unlawful act, done in an official capacity, which affects the performance of official duties. Malfeasance in office is often grounds for a for cause removal of an elected official by statute or recall election.An exact...
. Four more retired police officers were arrested in connection with their roles in the original murder investigation on 21 April 2005. 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. On 19 May 2005 three serving police officers - a Detective Constable, a Constable
Constable
A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions.-Etymology:...
and a Detective Sergeant - were arrested. 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.
2007: Perjury trial
In February 2007, four witnesses who gave evidence at the original murder trial were charged with perjuryPerjury
Perjury, also known as forswearing, is the willful act of swearing a false oath or affirmation to tell the truth, whether spoken or in writing, concerning matters material to a judicial proceeding. That is, the witness falsely promises to tell the truth about matters which affect the outcome of the...
. 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." 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."
2009-2011: Police corruption trial
In March 2009 the Special Crime Division of the Crown Prosecution ServiceCrown Prosecution Service
The Crown Prosecution Service, or CPS, is a non-ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom responsible for public prosecutions of people charged with criminal offences in England and Wales. Its role is similar to that of the longer-established Crown Office in Scotland, and the...
(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. Two further witnesses in the original trial, Violet Perriam and Ian Massey, were also charged with perjury. 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. Four other ex-policemen were scheduled to stand trial separately in 2012.
On 28 November 2011, despite the passing of nearly 24 years, and the fact that several men were charged and found guilty on police evidence subsequently found to be inadequate, the trial judge ordered a review of evidence on the basis that there were "irregularities in the criminal disclosure process" The prosecution case collapsed. The whole procedure had been marred by a series of possibly jury-tampered exercises. South Wales Police immediately announced referral to the Independent Police Complaints Commission for further investigation.