LONEALERT September Newsletter

Suzy
Lamplugh
Tragedy
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July 28th marked 33 years since the estate agent disappeared, and despite
new police searches we’re still no closer to the truth. On the anniversary of her
death, a former detective has accused police of ignoring evidence in the case.
Police investigating the 1986 disappearance
and murder of estate agent Suzy Lamplugh dug
up a field to search for clues in one of Britain’s
most notorious unsolved crimes - but the operation
ended without any evidence being found.
The search, which started on 3 July, involved
the excavation of several areas of land in Pershore,
Worcestershire, with the assistance of
archaeologists, after police received a tip.
Detectives combed through the field near the
village of Drakes Broughton in Worcestershire
as part of the search. The field is just a few
miles from two other sites which police have
previously searched in connection with the
case.
The Metropolitan police, which are leading the
investigation into her disappearance, said her
family had been informed that the search had
been unsuccessful.
The announcement came as West Mercia
police, which has been assisting the Met,
said human bones discovered in the village
of Kempsey, approximately six miles from
Pershore, were not believed to be linked to
Lamplugh.
Supt Damian Pettit, commander for south
Worcestershire, said: “We are conducting a very
thorough investigation and have multiple lines
of inquiry to explore, one of which is into the
disappearance of a woman from Kempsey that
was launched in 1982.
“At this stage we don’t believe the remains to
be connected to the Met police’s missing person
investigation for Suzy Lamplugh.”
It was latest development in the investigation
into the death of tragic Suzy, whose disappearance
in 1986 sparked a national campaign into
improving policies and protocols for people
working alone.
The only clue into the estate agent’s disappearance
was an appointment in her work diary
recording a lunchtime appointment to show a
‘Mr Kipper’ around the house in Fulham.
That night, her white Ford Fiesta was discovered
nearby with its doors unlocked, the handbrake
off and the keys gone.
The search of the field took place eight months
after police spent two weeks digging up the
garden of a home where the mother of chief
suspect John Cannan once lived in Sutton
Coldfield, but found nothing.
Scotland Yard said it had received information
about Miss Lamplugh’s disappearance following
publicity of this previous search in November
2018. Serial rapist and killer Cannan, 65, who
is serving three life sentences for the murder
of Shirley Anne Banks in 1989 and a series of
other sex attacks, was named by police as the
prime suspect in November 2002.
Cannan was jailed in 1989, following the rape
of a woman in Reading in the same year as
Lamplugh’s disappearance, as well as the rape
and murder of Shirley Banks and the attempted
kidnapping of Julia Holman. He was questioned
in relation to Lamplugh’s murder several times,
but denies the allegations.
A Met police spokesperson said: “We remain
committed to securing justice for Suzy and her
family, and officers will continue to assess any
new information received in connection with this
case.”
On the 33rd anniversary of her disappearance,
Ex-Scotland Yard detective David Videcette
claimed The Met has an ‘over-commitment’ to
Cannan as a suspect. Mr Videcette, who has
been investigating the case himself since 2016,
says his evidence suggests Cannan was not
involved. Instead, he believes he has identified a
new suspect. Speaking in the Sunday Telegraph,
he withheld the name for legal reasons.
Videcette – who had no prior involvement in the
case – provided his evidence to the Met in June
that suggested the investigation was flawed
from the start and claimed Suzy had invented
the appointment with ‘Mr Kipper’ to cover her
tracks as she went out on a personal matter in
work time.
In his interview with the Sunday Telegraph, Mr
Videcette said: “Cannan has been convicted
of other crimes and is rightly serving out his
sentence for them. However, despite a clear
lack of evidence against him in Suzy’s case
and all the time these accusations are levelled
at him, Suzy’s real killer remains at large. In the
past ten months alone, the Met Police has wasted
hundreds of thousands of pounds on a dig in
Sutton Coldfield and another in Worcestershire,
in a relentless pursuit of evidence against Cannan.
My research suggests that the intelligence
underpinning these digs is highly questionable.
“I remain committed to working with the police,
but cannot, and will not, be silent about the
evidence forever.”
Miss Lamplugh, 25 at the time of her disappearance,
was declared dead in 1994, presumed
murdered. In the months after her disappearance,
her parents set up the Suzy Lamplugh
Trust to tackle violence and support stalking
victims. Its legacy also includes the dramatic
increase in awareness surrounding the risks
of lone working, and huge improvements into
protection for those working alone.
Her father Paul died in June last year aged 87
and her mother Diana in 2011.
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