He had lured the children into his Standard Ten vehicle, plied both with alcohol and cannabis and driven the two to the edge of Epping Forest, where he had earlier constructed a hide with willow branches. The Babes in the Wood murders are the murders of two children which occurred in a copse in Sewardstone, Essex on 31 March 1970. Although sections of the press speculated the children had died of exposure due to the climate on 31 March and 1 April, the clothing of each child strongly indicated both had been redressed after their deaths, leading both sets of parents and several police officers to strongly suspect they had not died of natural causes. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused. But there is one series of events that I thought were particularly interesting. When the boy remarked that he "[wanted] to go home", Jebson shouted, "You're going nowhere!" 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. If you are dissatisfied with the response provided you can The only point that can be made on your part is that you have owned up to what you did, which caused a small degree of comfort to their close relatives, who are here to see justice done. This will include looking at original information and any fresh lines of enquiry, making use of any advances in technology and generating new appeals. Editors' Code of Practice. Living just a short car journey, as I do, from Epping Forest and having a keen interest in the paranormal I started researching all the weird and wonderful occurrences that have happened there. She came from Bernau into the whirl of Berlin, she was not an innocent girl, certainly not, but her love for him was pure and steadfast; he was her man and she took care of him like a child. It should be noted that the attacks do bear some similarity with other phenomena. Hanlon was markedly small for a twelve year old, and appeared one or two years younger. The waters of the pool transformed into a dark, impenetrable black colour. Another poor soul to fall victim to the mystery attacker was an 18-year-old woman called Lillian Dowse, whose home was between the forest and Loughton. This site is part of Newsquest's audited local newspaper network. He had then become violent, first sexually assaulting, then strangling Blatchford as Hanlon watched in disbelief "not knowing what to do". When the searchers were later asked how they expected such dogs to react to discovering a body, one officer simply replied he did not know, whereas the other stated he expected the dog to refuse to move from the location. According to Cook's statement to investigators, his dog had entered the copse, and refused to return. Patricia Lee Parsons was battered and shot three times in the head with what was thought was a high-powered crossbow in Epping Forest. He is also known to have formed a close friendship with paedophile Sidney Cooke. POLICE say no unsolved case is ever closed. Lois Beckett. In his final report pertaining to the case, Read wrote: "Unless somebody surrenders himself or comes into custody and admits this offence, it is most unlikely that it will ever be resolved. Following Jebson's conviction, Victims of Crime Trust spokesman and former police officer Norman Brennan informed the media: "The torment and torture that the families of these victims have gone through for thirty years is beyond words.". Concern for the children's welfare was heightened by the fact that on the night of their disappearance the temperature had fallen below freezing point, and the morning of 1 April saw a snowfall across Enfield. Both children were discovered lying on their back, side by side, with Blatchford's arm found draped across Hanlon's body. Blatchford's body was exhumed from the grounds of St James's Church to undergo a second forensic examination in an effort to verify Jebson's verbal confession. In Epping Forest reports of stalking and harassment doubled from 215 in 2017 to 446 a year later, rape incidents logged leapt from 28 to 33, reported burglaries rose by 26 per cent from 453 to 575 and shoplifting reports doubled. MULTIPLE murder cases remain unsolved in south Essex after many years of investigations. The father-of-two ran a shoe and clothes shop called Numero 88, based in Princes Street. This operation was headed by Chief Superintendent Leonard Read, and at peak 600 officers were assigned full-time to the case. Change), You are commenting using your Facebook account. September 24, 2020. The informant named an associate of the Kray twins as being behind the scam. The verbatim of this section of Jebson's confession reads: "Inside the copse, my aggressive nature started to show. This shared interest had been a major factor in the children's friendship. We thank our supporters from the bottom of our hearts for their generous donations that keep anomalien.com alive. Whilst the trio was walking along our gentleman was all of a sudden hit straight in the face, by what to him felt like a rock and by all accounts he was left with a rather severe bruise. Mr Fuller had been working as a doorman at Epping Forest Country Club and had been arrested for public order offences. The woods are circa 2.400 hectare big. Both sets of parents also remained convinced their children had not died via a form of misadventure or natural causes. [55], Ronald Jebson died of kidney failure at the University Hospital of North Durham on 17 April 2015 at the age of 76, having signed an order instructing medical personnel that he not be resuscitated. Police accept Maxine was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Their bodies were covered with leaves, twigs and branches. In May 1996, convicted paedophile and child killer Ronald Jebson contacted Scotland Yard to offer information regarding the Babes in the Wood murders. [52], In 2002, Jebson was transferred from HM Prison Wakefield to HM Prison Frankland in County Durham. The final verifiable sighting of Blatchford and Hanlon occurred at approximately 5:30p.m. On this occasion, the two were seen walking across a nearby field. Epping is among the top 10 most dangerous small towns in Essex, and is the 46th most dangerous overall out of Essex's 315 towns . An inquest held into his death in 2016 heard his friends have refused to cooperate with the police. Moments later Nicholls, oblivious of the murders, arrived to pick his two friends up . In a hugely sad missing person case, mum-of-two Nicola Ray, 30, disappeared following a night out with friends in the early hours of May 2, 2000. His mother agreed, upon the promise he would return in one hour for dinner. Darren Pearman, 27, was knifed to death outside Epping Forest Country Club, in TOWIE mecca Chigwell, Essex, on October 3 1999. The only exception could be where there is a large cluster of a single crime category on a street, as this could but not necessarily be related to multiple incidents at one address. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Something went wrong, please try again later. By 1958, Jebson was an alcoholic and amphetamine addict. [13] Furthermore, at the time of her disappearance, Blatchford was markedly excited about the upcoming wedding of her sister Linda, in which she was to be a bridesmaid. But may be not? The executions of a couple shot dead in a lovers lane have been linked to associates of the Kray twins, we can reveal on the 30th anniversary of the unsolved murders. They both denied murder but were found guilty after trial. As one might imagine the frightened woman screamed for help, which alerted a passing man who rushed to her assistance. But to have no answers on who was responsible will wrench at people every day that goes by. We have taken the ten nearest place to Epping and ranked them according to the number of violent incidents in the 'best fit' Policing neighbourhood. These adverts enable local businesses to get in front of their target audience the local community. The attack on Frampton would be the last in the series and they then seemed to stop as suddenly as they had started, leaving behind no answers, only injuries and mysteries. But despite these efforts, they remain at large and their motives for starting the fire are unknown. The size and density of Epping Forest have made it a popular hideout for criminals and an infamous burial spot for bodies. All of a sudden something struck my hat at the back, and knocked it off. However, it seems that whoever or whatever was in the business of throwing the rocks and dealing out punches cared little for the law, as the policeman suddenly suffered a blow to the face by something unseen, leaving him with a nasty scar. Amongst many weird things that are said to occur at this pond every now and then is the ghostly rehearsal of Emma M At this hearing, the coroner, Charles Clarke, was unable to determine a cause of death for either child, or determine whether either had been the victim of any form of sexual assault. [45] Both bodies were redressed and left lying side by side, approximately one foot apart. Hanlon's mother, Beryl, answered the door. Thirty years later, Ronald Jebson, already serving a life sentence for the 1974 murder of eight year old Rosemary Papper, confessed to the murders. Essex Police have made numerous appeals for older murder cases in south Essex, including that of Andrea Daly. Ronald Jebson died of kidney failure at the University Hospital of North Durham on 17 April 2015 at the age of 76, having signed an order instructing medical personnel that he not be resuscitated. The victims, Susan Muriel Blatchford (age 11)[2] and Gary John Hanlon (age 12),[3] were lured from an unknown location close to their north London homes into a copse on the outskirts of Epping Forest, where they were raped and murdered by known paedophile Ronald Jebson. On the day of Jebson's conviction, the families of Blatchford and Hanlon congratulated retired Chief Superintendent Leonard Read and his successor, Detective Chief Inspector Declan Donnelly, for their collective insistence their children had been murdered despite the coroner's initial open verdict and their perseverance in ensuring the perpetrator's eventual confession and conviction. Greetings, explorer! His adoptive parents subsequently changed his surname to Jebson. Supt Nick Morris said: Sadly a number of areas in Essex and indeed the country are experiencing an increase in the number of violent offences which are being committed. In one of the most disturbing cases, Albert Williams, 67, was found dead in his small flat in Cedar Close, Southend, on August 8, 2015. This page was last updated at 2022-10-06 14:42 UTC. Wildlife began to die at its edges, and the ground soon became barren. Another suggestion that might be put forward is that it could be a creature such as Bigfoot making the attacks on the unsuspecting travellers and over the years there have been reports of such a creature in this area. The case remained unsolved for almost thirty years until 61-year-old Jebson, serving a life sentence for the 1974 murder of an eight-year-old girl named Rosemary Papper, confessed to their rape and murder in 1998. Are you sure you want to delete this comment? If those responsible are brought to justice, it can enable some of those affected to find a way of moving forward. and myself at various times when we were children, On 28 March 2000, Jebson appeared at Brent Magistrates' Court to be formally charged with the Babes in the Wood murders. He had then left the crime scene, taking Blatchford's underwear as a keepsake. As a subscriber, you are shown 80% less display advertising when reading our articles. According to Jebson, early in the evening of 31 March 1970, he had encountered Blatchford and Hanlon by chance as he drove home from a job interview at a firm located on Ordnance Road, Enfield. The copse was less than six walking miles from the children's homes, within sight of Sewardstone Road at Lippitts Hill, and had been searched by police officers and search dogs on 9 April. A Gannett Company. The whistleblower said he was shocked and would name the allegedly corrupt senior officer if there was now a proper inquiry. Terry Gooderham, 39, and Maxine Arnold, 32, were found in a car on December 23, 1989, in Epping Forest, East London. Read quickly discovered Blatchfordthe youngest of four sisterswas the more confident character of the two, and although she occasionally experimented with make-up and had recently begun flirting with boys her age, was very much a tomboy and enjoyed playing football, climbing trees and playing with boys' toys such as Hornby train sets. [n 3] However, due to the extensive decomposition of both bodies, very little forensic evidence remained. Retired detective chief superintendent Albert Patrick carried out a cold case review in 2012. Translated to kilometres approximately 19 kilometres long from north to south, and 4 kilometres wide from east to west. Those ads you do see are predominantly from local businesses promoting local services. [11] By mid-April, Scotland Yard had become active in the manhunt, and the search for Blatchford and Hanlon had expanded nationwide. [35], Jebson was raised in Hatfield, Hertfordshire. Hanlon was the youngest of three siblings. The latest revelations have angered members of insurance clerk Maxine Arnolds family. Shortly after her son joined his friend outside the front door, he asked his mother for permission to join his friend for a walk. Two men - Simon Smith, of no fixed address; and Anthony Smith, of Ceylon Road, Westcliff were cleared of his murder in December 2016. I swung round but could see nothing. Over 100 lakes and ponds can be found in the forest, varying in size and age. Hanlon was described as being just 4 ft 2in (130cm) in height and was last seen wearing a brown cardigan, a fawn patterned pullover, and blue jeans. Subsequently, question is, what is Epping Forest famous for? As such, Clarke returned an open verdict in the case, ruling the missing and removed clothing may have been caused by the wild animals which had evidently extensively attacked both bodies. The men buried the 47-year-old's body in a boggy area of Epping Forest, north London, in August last year. Epping Forest is an ancient woodland at the border between London and Essex. The forest has long standing criminal associations. I'll get even!" When the searchers were later asked how they expected such dogs to react to discovering a body, one officer simply replied he did not know, whereas the other stated he expected the dog to refuse to move from the location. Triple policeman murderer Harry Roberts hid out in the forest for a short time before his arrest in 1966. [32] Initially, Jebson claimed to have witnessed the children's murder, but to have not been responsible for their deaths, which he blamed on Robert and Maureen Papperthe parents of the eight-year-old girl he had murdered 1974 and for whose murder he was serving a term of life imprisonment at HM Prison Wakefield. contact the editor here. writer derided this suggestion, claiming to know She was struck down because she happened by chance to encounter this man; such is life, its really inconceivable.Alfred Dblin (18781957), Epping Forest (uk Parliament Constituency). A relative, who asked not to be named, said: Her murder destroyed her mother, who never got over it until the day she passed away. Both mothers thanked Read for his initial efforts in attempting to keep the case active as a murder inquiry in spite of the legal obstacles he had faced, although Read emphasised to the families and media that, had Donnelly not been persistent in his efforts to obtain Jebson's confession following his own retirement, the case would likely have remained unsolved. However, I All sorts of theories have been advanced for the shooting of Maxine Arnold, 32, and Terry Gooderham, 39, as they sat in his parked Mercedes. . [52] The parents of both children subsequently appealed to the Home Secretary, Jack Straw, to impose a whole life tariff to ensure Jebson died in jail. What crime had she committed? In February 2007 a man was arrested in connection with her murder, but nothing more is known of any charges. [40][33], Sentenced to life imprisonment with a recommendation he serve a minimum of twenty years' imprisonment for Papper's murder, Jebson was incarcerated at HM Prison Wakefield. The victims, Susan Muriel Blatchford (age 11) and Gary John Hanlon (age 12), were lured from an unknown location close to their North London homes into a copse on the outskirts of Epping Forest, where they were raped and murdered by known paedophile Ronald Jebson. "[51], On the day of Jebson's conviction, the families of Blatchford and Hanlon congratulated retired Chief Superintendent Leonard Read and his successor, Detective Chief Inspector Declan Donnelly, for their collective insistence their children had been murdered despite the coroner's initial open verdict and their perseverance in ensuring the perpetrator's eventual confession and conviction. This is rarely the case in poltergeist events, as the victims are usually very close, often family. [40], Two years after Jebson had initially contacted authorities, on 24 August 1998, he contacted Edmonton Police Station from HM Prison Wakefield. EXCLUSIVE: The Mirror can reveal for the first time how the clinical slaying of Terry Gooderham and Maxine Arnold may have been covered up by corrupt cops to protect gangland figures. He told the local newspaper It was about twenty minutes to 11, I had been into Loughton and was returning home to Chingford. The final verifiable sighting of Blatchford and Hanlon occurred at approximately 5:30p.m. On this occasion, the two were seen walking across a nearby field. The woods are circa 2.400 hectare big. The category of crime that most concerns people is violent crime. Upon realising his tragedy, the boy comitted suicide at the same spot.
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