Paedophile killer 'was murdered': Post-mortem examination confirms child rapist was strangled in jail cell

10-20-1993 United Kingdom:

LESLIE BAILEY, a convicted paedophile killer, was murdered in his cell at Whitemoor Prison despite being kept in a wing apart from other prisoners, it was confirmed yesterday.

An inquest in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, was told that post-mortem examinations had established Bailey was strangled with a ligature, which was found near his body, on 7 October. Police originally said they were not ruling out the possibility he had killed himself.

Detective Superintendent Bob Wordsworth, who is leading the inquiry, said afterwards: 'I can confirm that, as far as we are concerned, we are now treating the matter as a murder inquiry. This is based on medical evidence and other examinations by Dr Nat Carey, a Home Office pathologist.

'We will be concentrating within the prison. We have had superb co- operation from the governor and his staff as well as co-operation from the inmates. I hope we will be successful.' Mr Wordsworth said that although there were reports that Bailey had received threats, there was no evidence that he was generally hated within the prison.

Yesterday's inquest was adjourned after hearing evidence of identity from a prison officer, and of the cause of death.

Bailey was one of about 100 'Rule 43' prisoners at Whitemoor, segregated from other inmates because they could be subjected to violence. Rule 43 prisoners - so called because of the prison rules which provide for their segregation - include child murderers and abusers, paedophiles, other sex offenders and, in some prisons, informers.

Bailey's body was discovered during a 'free association' period when inmates were allowed to move around the wing and visit each other in their cells. The wing is entirely separate from the rest of the prison, which is a modern, high security establishment housing mainly Category A inmates.

Police will now continue to question all the inmates who were on the wing at the time of the murder but are likely to come up against a wall of silence which will make it difficult to establish the truth. There have been four other murders in prisons in England and Wales in the last five years.

Bailey was serving a life sentence after being convicted in 1989 of the manslaughter of a male prostitute Jason Swift, 14, and admitting the murder of Barry Lewis, aged six. Both boys were kidnapped and subjected to gang rapes by a group of east London paedophiles, who police believe may have been involved in several more child murders.

In October last year, Bailey was given two additional life sentences after pleading guilty to the manslaughter in June 1984 of Mark Tildesley, from Wokingham, Berkshire. The boy's body has never been found. The three other men convicted with Bailey are being held in Albany Prison on the Isle of Wight. One of them, Sidney Cook, 66, was assaulted in his cell last week. Security at the jail is believed to have been increased. ..Source.. by TERRY KIRBY , Crime Correspondent

Prison staff should have protected paedophile who was disemboweled by inmates

10-4-2011 United Kingdom:

Paedophile Mitchell Harrison met a macabre and grisly end after being disemboweled in a prison attack by fellow inmates.

Look away if you’re squeamish, but the serial sex attacker was butchered with makeshift weapons, thought to be razor blades melted into toothbrush handles, after allegedly boasting about his sick crimes

Our gut instinct may well scream that a man who brags about raping a 13 year-old girl may have deserved such a bloody and hideous death. That this was justice in its most primitive sense.

However, this is England, 2011, a so-called civilized society where the rule of law still governs. And though it may be hard to swallow, what’s morally right and legally acceptable can be mutually exclusive.

The authorities at Frankland Prison in County Durham should face a full criminal investigation and Harrison’s family have a right to claim compensation for his unlawful death .

Every prisoner is entitled to full state protection, however horrible their crimes – indeed the greater the horror the more they need protecting.

How on earth can such a violent atrocity ever occur in one of Her Majesty’s prisons? Especially when this place has previous – Soham killer Ian Huntley had his throat slashed in the same jail only last year.

Defendants like this are prime targets for in-house vigilantism. Have the authorities learnt nothing?

Last year I supported Ian Huntley’s right to sue for £100,000 when he was attacked.

And that’s why I support Harrison’s family in suing the prison for every penny it can get.

Breaking the law is a costly business.

This mistake will probably cost the hard-pressed tax payer millions.

Only the other day the High Court ruled that banned extremist Sheikh Raed Salah could claim compensation for unlawful detention by immigration officers because they failed to explain to him ‘in a language he could understand’ precisely why he was being detained – a technical breach of the rules. The pro-Palestinian hardliner, described in the Commons as a ‘virulent anti-Semite’ is banned from this country.

His entry was illegal. But nevertheless now he is here, is entitled to being protected by the law of the land.

It’s essential that those responsible for those protecting us uphold that law. Otherwise we have to pick up the tab.

And until State protectors do their job properly, we’ll keep on paying. Now, where’s the morality in that? ..Source.. by Nick Freeman

Man denies Mountjoy Prison murder

4-28-2009 Ireland:

A 25-year-old man has pleaded not guilty to the murder of fellow prisoner Gary Douche in Mountjoy Prison.

Stephen Egan of Belcamp Crescent, Coolock, Dublin, denied the murder of Mr Douche in a holding cell on 1 August 2006.

The jury will have to decide whether he is guilty of murder, or guilty of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

Mr Egan told gardaí he attacked Mr Douche in a ten-minute frenzy.

He punched him three times in the jaw, kicked him three times in the head area and stamped on him.

Mr Douche and five other men were held overnight in the cell with Mr Egan.

The next morning, prison officers discovered Mr Douche's badly beaten body. His face had been smeared with excrement.

He was taken to the Mater Hospital but died as a result of blunt force trauma to the head and neck.

At the Central Criminal Court today, Prosecution counsel Anthony Sammon told the jury that Mr Egan had a long history of psychiatric problems.

He said the jury would have little to decide in this case and their main focus would be the state of mind of the accused at the time of the attack.

Seven admissions were read to the court by defence counsel John Aylmar. In these, Mr Egan admitted the unlawful killing.

In statements to gardaí, the accused said he had 'heard things in his head' and attacked Gary Douche because in his mind he was a rapist and had done things to his mother and sister.

Defence counsel John Aylmar said the accused admitted that his claims that the deceased man was a sexual offender were illusionary and borne out of psychotic illness.

It is the State's case that Mr Egan was suffering from a mental disorder that diminished his responsibility for the attack on Mr Douche.

Evidence about his mental state will be given by a forensic psychiatrist tomorrow. ..News Source.. by RTE News

UK- HE CAN'T HURT ANYONE ELSE

5-24-2008 United Kingdom:

The killer of a Cheltenham woman has been found dead in his prison cell.Shirley Cotton-Betteridge's family now say justice has been done.

The barmaid was 22 years old when psychopath Paul McMilan stabbed her more than 40 times.

McMilan was sentenced to life in Broadmoor psychiatric prison in 2002.

But on Thursday morning he was found unconscious in his cell, dying minutes later.

Speaking from his home in Whaddon, Shirley's stepfather, Graham Morgan, described it as "brilliant news".

He said: "I was sat in my van when I got the call.

"My first gut feeling was 'they are going to release him'. So when they said he was dead, I thought it was great. At least now he won't hurt anyone else."

Graham became stepfather to Shirley and her sisters Anna, Christie and Lucy when Shirley was four years old.

Cheltenham-born Shirley went to St Benedict's School and trained as a hairdresser at Gloscat, working in His Knibbs.

"People just don't realise what we've been through and are still going through," Graham said.

"Not a night goes by when I don't talk to Shirley.

"We don't speak about her much, because we don't want to upset each other.

"Sometimes I see a girl in the street who looks just like her, and I want to go up to her and speak to her as if it's Shirley but I don't.

"You couldn't have asked for a better daughter.

"She was the typical girl next door, you could have a laugh with her and nobody had a bad word to say about her."

Shirley was working as a barmaid when McMilan, who she knew from work, followed her into the office of the Figureheadamp; Firkin pub in Bristol on August 29, 2001.

He punched and kicked her to the ground before stabbing her to death.

Builder Graham didn't work for nearly a year after her death, and still visits Shirley's grave every Sunday to take flowers and make sure it is spotless.

Graham said he and Shirley's mother, Anita Nelder, were still angry at the justice system for releasing McMilan early from a previous sentence, leaving him free to kill.

He was convicted of indecently assaulting a girl when he was 17 and sentenced to three years behind bars in 1999, but he was released on August 30, 2000 after serving 16 months.

After release he failed to attend a sex offenders' course, meetings with his probation officer and a mental health assessment before killing Shirley.

Graham said: "They let Shirley down and then they let us down.

"If it wasn't for them, she would still be here.

"We would probably have had grandkids by now. They have taken everything from us."

But he reserved most of his anger for McMilan, saying he could never forgive him for what he had done.

"I wish the death penalty had still been around for the likes of him," said the distraught dad.

"Paul McMilan has never, ever given a reason for what he did, and that's what really hurts.

"I promised Shirley I wouldn't let this happen to any other girl and now I feel like I've kept my promise."

Shirley's sister Laura, 25, said she hoped people would learn from her death. She told the Echo: "I'm sad for his parents but happy about him because he's not going to do it again.

"If he hadn't been released in the first place two lives would have been saved." ..more.. by RIC SUMNER