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Murder of Wendy Sewell
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Murder of Wendy Sewell
On 12 September 1973, Wendy Sewell, a 32-year-old legal secretary from Bakewell, Peak District in Derbyshire was found beaten, sexually assaulted and murdered. In 1974, 17-year-old Stephen Downing was convicted of the murder. Following a campaign led by local newspaper editor Don Hale highlighting multiple breaches of legal rules and procedures in the police interrogation, Downing's conviction was overturned in 2002. The case is thought to be one of the longest miscarriages of justice in British legal history, and attracted international media attention.
Downing remains the prime and only suspect in the case, with police reinvestigations finding that all the alternative suspects suggested by Don Hale could be eliminated from inquiries. Downing, meanwhile, was the only suspect who could not be eliminated. He was also recorded confessing to the crime after he was released, although he refused to be re-interviewed by police. Don Hale's book was subsequently criticised for falsehoods and inaccuracies, and police considered bringing charges against him for its contents.
When the law of double jeopardy was changed in England and Wales in 2005, allowing individuals who had previously been acquitted of a crime to be re-tried in certain circumstances, Derbyshire Police applied to the Crown Prosecution Service to re-charge Downing. However, as of July 2022, Downing has not been retried.
Wendy Sewell was attacked, in Bakewell Cemetery, at lunchtime on 12 September 1973. A witness, Charles Carman, saw her enter the cemetery at about 12:50 pm. She was beaten around the head seven times with the handle of a pickaxe, which had caused severe head injuries and fractures to her skull. She had been sexually assaulted, with her trousers, pants, plimsolls and parts of her bra removed by her killer. When help arrived the woman was still conscious and she then tried to stand up, before falling and banging her head on a gravestone. She died from her injuries in Chesterfield Royal Hospital two days later.
The 17-year-old cemetery groundskeeper who found the body, Stephen Downing, was immediately suspected of committing the attack. He told police he wanted to wash blood from his hands, at which point he was arrested. He later told police that he had found Sewell lying on the ground, covered in blood, and that her blood got on his clothes because she shook her head. He was a virgin and had never had a girlfriend. Despite having learning difficulties and a mental age of 11, he was not cautioned and was questioned for hours without a lawyer present. Officers questioning Downing shook him and pulled his hair to prevent him from going to sleep, and allegedly took bets on who would get him to confess. After several hours of this treatment, Downing agreed to sign a confession. At this point Sewell had not died, and he was only charged with the lesser crime of assault. After he confessed to the assault it was revealed that Sewell had died, and Downing's charge was elevated to murder. Downing retracted his confession soon after, claiming he was at home at the time of the attack. There was no evidence to support this claim.
Downing's trial took place between 13 and 15 February 1974 at the Crown Court at Nottingham before Mr Justice Nield and a jury. He pleaded not guilty to murder, although he admitted to sexually assaulting Sewell as she lay in the cemetery. A forensic scientist Norman Lee, gave evidence that the blood found on the accused could only have been present if he had been responsible for the assault. Lee described this evidence as "a textbook example ... which might be expected on the clothing of the assailant". Downing said at the trial that he had been using the murder weapon, the pickaxe handle, to break up firewood. No full transcript of the trial exists, but it is known[citation needed] that, in summing up, the judge drew attention to Downing's admission during the trial of having indecently assaulted Sewell as she lay injured in the cemetery. He had also only begun to claim his confession to the murder was not genuine several weeks after he was originally charged. He said he had only confessed because he thought that she had not been seriously injured and would not die.
By a unanimous verdict, and after only 1 hour of deliberations, the jury found Downing guilty of murder. He was sentenced to be indefinitely detained at Her Majesty's pleasure, with a stipulation that he should serve a minimum of seventeen years.
Claiming he was in an innocent prisoner's dilemma, Downing was unable to be paroled, as he did not admit to the crime. He was classified as "In Denial of Murder" and therefore ineligible for parole under English law.
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Murder of Wendy Sewell
On 12 September 1973, Wendy Sewell, a 32-year-old legal secretary from Bakewell, Peak District in Derbyshire was found beaten, sexually assaulted and murdered. In 1974, 17-year-old Stephen Downing was convicted of the murder. Following a campaign led by local newspaper editor Don Hale highlighting multiple breaches of legal rules and procedures in the police interrogation, Downing's conviction was overturned in 2002. The case is thought to be one of the longest miscarriages of justice in British legal history, and attracted international media attention.
Downing remains the prime and only suspect in the case, with police reinvestigations finding that all the alternative suspects suggested by Don Hale could be eliminated from inquiries. Downing, meanwhile, was the only suspect who could not be eliminated. He was also recorded confessing to the crime after he was released, although he refused to be re-interviewed by police. Don Hale's book was subsequently criticised for falsehoods and inaccuracies, and police considered bringing charges against him for its contents.
When the law of double jeopardy was changed in England and Wales in 2005, allowing individuals who had previously been acquitted of a crime to be re-tried in certain circumstances, Derbyshire Police applied to the Crown Prosecution Service to re-charge Downing. However, as of July 2022, Downing has not been retried.
Wendy Sewell was attacked, in Bakewell Cemetery, at lunchtime on 12 September 1973. A witness, Charles Carman, saw her enter the cemetery at about 12:50 pm. She was beaten around the head seven times with the handle of a pickaxe, which had caused severe head injuries and fractures to her skull. She had been sexually assaulted, with her trousers, pants, plimsolls and parts of her bra removed by her killer. When help arrived the woman was still conscious and she then tried to stand up, before falling and banging her head on a gravestone. She died from her injuries in Chesterfield Royal Hospital two days later.
The 17-year-old cemetery groundskeeper who found the body, Stephen Downing, was immediately suspected of committing the attack. He told police he wanted to wash blood from his hands, at which point he was arrested. He later told police that he had found Sewell lying on the ground, covered in blood, and that her blood got on his clothes because she shook her head. He was a virgin and had never had a girlfriend. Despite having learning difficulties and a mental age of 11, he was not cautioned and was questioned for hours without a lawyer present. Officers questioning Downing shook him and pulled his hair to prevent him from going to sleep, and allegedly took bets on who would get him to confess. After several hours of this treatment, Downing agreed to sign a confession. At this point Sewell had not died, and he was only charged with the lesser crime of assault. After he confessed to the assault it was revealed that Sewell had died, and Downing's charge was elevated to murder. Downing retracted his confession soon after, claiming he was at home at the time of the attack. There was no evidence to support this claim.
Downing's trial took place between 13 and 15 February 1974 at the Crown Court at Nottingham before Mr Justice Nield and a jury. He pleaded not guilty to murder, although he admitted to sexually assaulting Sewell as she lay in the cemetery. A forensic scientist Norman Lee, gave evidence that the blood found on the accused could only have been present if he had been responsible for the assault. Lee described this evidence as "a textbook example ... which might be expected on the clothing of the assailant". Downing said at the trial that he had been using the murder weapon, the pickaxe handle, to break up firewood. No full transcript of the trial exists, but it is known[citation needed] that, in summing up, the judge drew attention to Downing's admission during the trial of having indecently assaulted Sewell as she lay injured in the cemetery. He had also only begun to claim his confession to the murder was not genuine several weeks after he was originally charged. He said he had only confessed because he thought that she had not been seriously injured and would not die.
By a unanimous verdict, and after only 1 hour of deliberations, the jury found Downing guilty of murder. He was sentenced to be indefinitely detained at Her Majesty's pleasure, with a stipulation that he should serve a minimum of seventeen years.
Claiming he was in an innocent prisoner's dilemma, Downing was unable to be paroled, as he did not admit to the crime. He was classified as "In Denial of Murder" and therefore ineligible for parole under English law.