by TIM HICKS & CHRIS CLARK

~~~~~

Introduction

In March 2009, York Chef Claudia Lawrence (pictured above) disappeared while walking from home to work in the early hours of the morning. Her disappearance was later declared to be a murder and North Yorkshire Police commenced a major investigation which was ultimately unsuccessful.

The chronology of the investigation is here:

Table A: Operation Cabin and Operation Essence chronology

No-one was convicted of her murder, nor was her body recovered.

The authors believe that the investigation was bungled and they cover this in a series of four articles below:

• Post Mortem on Operation Cabin – Part 1
• Post Mortem on Operation Cabin – Part 2.
• Post Mortem on Operation Essence – Part 1
• Operation Essence – Part 2

The Other Victims

In 1988, five men were wrongly accused of murdering Cardiff prostitute Lynette White. Three of them were convicted and jailed. The real murderer was convicted in 2003, thanks to DNA evidence. Now the former Chief Constable of South Wales Police has apologised over the effect the case had on their lives, not just for the three men that were convicted, but also the two who were wrongly accused but acquitted. He stated:

“I have to recognise that the Cardiff three and the five originally arrested are victims”.

BBC report here.

During the course of the Claudia Lawrence investigation, six men were arrested. Files on four men were sent to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), which has declined to charge them with murder.

All six men have all been released from Police bail. None of them were remanded in custody or charged with any offence. Their names were all revealed on the internet and consequently, their reputations have been damaged and their lives ruined.

This article asserts they are victims of the Claudia Lawrence investigation and covers the impact the arrest had on one of these men, and the implications for civil liberties in the UK of the way the investigation into the murder of Claudia Lawrence has been conducted

Five of the arrested men have chosen not to comment on their treatment. Although their names are known to the authors, their privacy has been respected and they have not been named in this article.

Misuse of Police powers of arrest to attack the right to remain silent

There is no legal obligation to assist the police in an investigation. The right to silence is a fundamental civil right, which the police are required to respect.

The investigation focussed on the premise that there were witnesses who had evidence, but were either withholding it or were lying to the police:

By scrutinising in meticulous detail what people told the original enquiry, and then comparing that with other information that was either available at the time or which has only recently come to light, two things have become evident:

• • first, that there are people locally who knew Claudia and who have actively sought to keep that a secret – and we know who some of those people are;
  • secondly, we know that some people have deliberately lied about a number of issues concerning their association with Claudia.

There are a number of people who are of very particular interest to me. There are those who have yet to admit fully their relationship with Claudia or events in the days leading up to her disappearance. I would make a further appeal for those to come forward now and provide these explanations.

If I reach the point where we believe

• • people continue to obstruct this investigation 
  • or assist or cover up for the person or persons responsible,
    

they will be arrested. This is a very intrusive process involving interviews and searches which we will do in order to eliminate or implicate them in Claudia’s disappearance. 

In summary, Detective Superintendent Malyn states above that “those who have yet to admit fully their relationship with Claudia or events in the days leading up to her disappearance” are obstructing the investigation and assisting/covering up for the murderer(s) by withholding information. This will result in them being arrested. He characterises his statement as an appeal, but it is in fact a threat.

There is no criminal offence of not coming forward to the Police.

Yet this statement implies that if NYP concludes that someone is withholding evidence by maintaining their right to silence, he or she will be arrested and their homes and businesses searched.

It must be a concern that people have been arrested, not because there is evidence they are guilty of a crime, but because they chose to maintain their right to silence. As they are entitled to.

If this is so, then it is an abuse of Police powers.

Paul’s Story

The authors have used the public comments of one of the men arrested – Mr Paul Harris – to illustrate the impact that being arrested can have on a suspect and his family.

Mr Harris courageously spoke out about the treatment he received from NYP. He owned the Acomb Hotel in York and lives at a separate address. He knew Claudia Lawrence because she drank in his hotel occasionally but has denied ever having had a sexual relationship with her. Mr Harris was questioned about Claudia’s disappearance in 2009. He was completely co-operative and gave his DNA.

On the 13^th of May 2014, a 59-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of murdering Claudia Lawrence.

Then, on Wednesday the 23^rd of July 2014, NYP arrested Mr Harris at his home on suspicion of perverting the course of justice.

He was held for twelve hours at Harrogate Police Station, his wife was interrogated voluntarily. Mr Harris has denied knowing the man arrested in May. According to Mr Harris:

“They didn’t question me at all about Claudia’s disappearance.

The police have told me I was arrested because a woman came forward recently saying something that contradicted what I said in a statement taken at the time Claudia went missing.

I can’t say who it is who came forward, or what was in the statement, but what I can say is that I volunteered to give the police a statement at the time. I gave my DNA, I’ve got nothing to hide.

They searched my wife’s car and found a bracelet in it and asked if my wife wore it. She said no, my girls wear bracelets.”

Within minutes of his arrest, the media turned up at his home.

The Police closed his hotel and stationed a uniformed constable at the carpark entrance, which was full of marked police vehicles. According to this article, NYP issued a statement on Twitter “We are dealing with an ongoing incident at the Acomb Hotel, Kingsway West. Updates will follow when we can.” The statement is misleading; there was a search, not an “incident” and it specifically named Mr Harris’s business instead of just saying the incident was in Kingsway West, further directing media attention to Mr Harris.

A van marked Durham Constabulary Dog Section was parked in the carpark, the obvious implication being that it had transported a sniffer dog to detect a body. This coupled with the sight of Officers entering the premises with a pneumatic drill led the media and local people to conclude they were searching for Claudia’s body. Leading to a media frenzy.

The effect on Mr Harris and his family was devastating:

“My family are devastated. My wife and children were getting texts throughout the night asking if I did murder Claudia.

I’ve got two girls, 15 and 12 year olds, who were asking questions on Wednesday night. They said ‘my friends were saying did you murder Claudia?’ I said I was never accused of that.

The amount of trolls I received on Wednesday night was unreal.

My wife has been in tears all night.”

Mr Harris told 5 News his children were reduced to tears after he was arrested.

NYP has a large Corporate Communications Department. It would have been absolutely well aware that:

• News of an arrest would create a media frenzy.
• The Twitterrelease identifying Mr Harris’s Hotel coupled with the activity there would allow the media and local people to identify that it was being searched for Claudia’s body and that Mr Harris was the person arrested.
• That his family would suffer an immediate wave of attacks of online abuse on social media.
• This would cause his wife and children enormous distress.
• It will have damaged his reputation, business and livelihood.
• His arrest would be distressing and “intrusive” in accordance with Detective Superintendent Malyn’s threat above.

NYP could have quietly arrested Mr Harris at his home and prevented this. Instead, it chose to ignore the effect this would have on him and his family by unleashing an “intrusive” media blitzkrieg on them.

It cannot be right for the Police to arrest someone in a high profile enquiry and immediately reveal to the media his identity and the location of his business and home, with no regard to the effect of this on his family – particularly as there were children involved.

Have Police search powers been abused?

The execution of a search warrant would not usually attract compensation for any damage done by the police. So the threat of search also implicitly carries the threat of damage to the suspect’s property which will not be compensated.

When Mr Harris returned to his pub he commented:

“They have given me no inventory of what was taken, left my pub with holes in the cellar floor and no information about how it’s going to be repaired.

They dug up six inches of concrete, three foot by three foot. This was more than 20 years old, at least. If they can’t determine the difference between new and old concrete, maybe they shouldn’t be detectives. 

They’ve gone upstairs where I’ve been renovating rooms and made a mess up there, searching around. I’ve got about 12 doors which have been stripped of paint and they’ve taken two of them away. ‘Why would you take them away? They’ve been stripped so won’t have any DNA on them.”

In the case of the first man arrested, his home had already been searched once, but was searched again when he was arrested. Presumably because either the first search was not performed competently, or to put more pressure on him by performing another “intrusive” search. His mother’s home was also searched, further adding to his distress and the media frenzy.

This all caused further distress to both men, who it transpired were entirely innocent.

Is it possible the searches were done to deliberately inflict expense and distress?

Manipulation of the media

Mr Harris accused NYP of trying:

“to look like they’re doing something”. “There’s so much interest in this story that making arrests makes it look like they’re getting somewhere. I feel I have been made a show pony.

The police have used me, given out information [about me] and have searched my premises simply to show they are moving forward.”

Certainly, the arrests have given the media and the public the impression that the investigation was making progress.

If indeed the need to give an impression of progress to the public played any part in the decision to arrest Mr Harris, then it was an abuse of Police powers and the relationship between the Police and the media.

The Other Suspects

NYP sent files to the CPS, requesting a charging decision on four of the men. In the event the CPS declined to approve charging them.

The position of NYP appears to be that either:

• All four men acting as a gang conspired to murder Claudia Lawrence.
• Working together, all four were able to murder Claudia without leaving any forensic evidence to link them to the crime. They were then all able to resist police interrogations without confessing, implicating another member of the gang, cutting a deal to escape punishment by implicating the others, or giving away any information.
• All of the witnesses who know something about the murder have refused to come forward or have lied to the police.

This seems improbable to the authors. The alternative appears to be that as with the first two arrests, some or all of the four men are innocent of any participation in the murder of Claudia Lawrence and are also victims of the investigation.

Summary

The Claudia Lawrence murder has generated enormous public interest. Unquestionably the pressure on NYP to obtain a conviction was enormous.

However, this does not entitle the police to infringe civil liberties or the right to maintain silent, which is a basic civil right.

It must be a concern that NYP may have been:

• Using arrest as a method of punishing people for maintaining their right to silence.
• Using the threat of search and the costs of the associated search as a method of intimidating potential witnesses into giving up their right to silence.
• Arresting people to keep the case in the public eye and presenting the image of an investigation that was making solid progress in the media. When in fact it was not.

Last word

Despite the treatment he and his family have received, Mr Harris has displayed commendable dignity.

He remained concerned for Claudia Lawrence’s family and took the opportunity to assist them by including an appeal for information in his media statements. The authors would like to give him the final word:

“It is her family I feel sorry for. They are being fed false hope. Not once did the police ask me about Claudia’s disappearance. I just feel for Claudia’s family, for her poor dad – I’m a dad myself. I’ve always told the police everything I know.”

“I hope anyone out there with information who has not spoken yet will come forward – it’s not too late”.

NYP as provided with an initial draft of this article and asked for a comment, and if they would be offering an apology to Mr Harris. No response was received.

Coming Next

Where next for the Claudia Lawrence investigation?

NYE Appeal for Information

Whenever the authors run an article on a cold case, the NYE always runs an appeal for information, to try to keep the case in the public eye and generate information. The authors will finish with their usual appeal for information:

Christopher Halliwell had a slim athletic build and spoke with a slight Swindon accent. You can see and hear him in the video here.

Christopher Halliwell, pictured next to one of his known victims Miss Sian O’Callaghan.

Miss O’Callaghan was also abducted on the 19^th of March and resembles Claudia Lawrence.

Did he offer you a lift in his minicab?

Did you know of Christopher Halliwell’s Father Alan Keith Halliwell who lived in Huddersfield, York, Ampleforth or Oswaldkirk and who previously served in the RAF?

Did you see Christopher Halliwell staying in a bed-and-breakfast or hotel along the A19, in Darlington, Middlesbrough, Scarborough, York or the North York Moors area?

Did you see Christopher Halliwell:

Claudia Lawrence

• Fishing at Scarborough?
• Fishing at Whitby?
• Fishing at Scaling Dam?
• Fishing at Sand Hutton Gravel Pits?
• Fishing at York University Lake?
• In York?
• At Ampleforth?
• At Oswaldkirk?
• At the Kilburn White Horse?
• At the Nag’s Head or the Acomb Hotel?

Vicky Glass and Donna Keogh

• In Middlesbrough?
• Fishing at Scaling Dam?
• Fishing along the River Tees?
• Fishing at Scarborough?
• Fishing at Whitby?
• On the North York Moors?

Ann Heron

• In Darlington?
• Fishing along the River Tees?

These four articles together are arguably the most detailed assessment of the investigation into Claudia’s disappearance available to the public.

Claudia: What went wrong? 

by TIM HICKS & CHRIS CLARK

~~~~~

Introduction

In March 2009, York Chef Claudia Lawrence disappeared. NYP immediately realised that she had been abducted and commenced a murder investigation codenamed Operation Cabin. Unfortunately it was unsuccessful. No-one was prosecuted for her murder, nor was her body recovered.

In the autumn of 2013, the NYP Major Crime Unit (MCU) started re-investigating the disappearance of Claudia Lawrence under the codename Operation Essence. The Senior Investigating Officer (SIO) was Detective Superintendent Dai Malyn QPM (pictured above right). It ran until the 10^th of January 2017, when the investigation was wound down.

The authors believe that an impartial attempt to assess the failures of both Claudia Lawrence investigations should take place, so that lessons can be learned and the truth comes out. This is covered in a series of four articles:

• Post mortem on Operation Cabin – Part 1
• Post mortem on Operation Cabin – Part 2
• Post mortem on Operation Essence – Part 1

This article is the concluding article on the failure of Operation Essence.

Post Mortem on Operation Essence Part 2

Initially, Operation Essence made good initial progress, covered in the third article above. Detective Superintendent Malyn was a highly competent career detective, who re-established good relations with the Lawrence family, had the CrimeStoppers reward re-instated and completely re-examined the crime scene, which generated new forensic evidence and fresh public interest. However, it nevertheless failed.

The authors believe the following were factors in this:

Initial focus on deflecting blame for the failure of Operation Cabin

Tim has covered North Yorkshire Police since 2011 and in his experience it appears to be a force obsessed with its public image which will not admit to any error.

As with the Peter Jaconelli Jimmy Savile investigation, North Yorkshire Police appeared determined not to accept any responsibility for the failure of both investigations and to blame:

1) The media;

and

2) Witnesses it alleges are lying or withholding information:

This quote from an NYP statement at the start of Operation Essence is illustrative:

“Without any prior involvement in the case, my team and I have been able to look back at the events of March 2009 and the enquiries that followed it, at a different pace and with a fresh perspective. Without the pressure of daily media attention, we have spotted things that may not have seemed significant or hugely relevant at the time, and to prioritise and put greater emphasis on certain aspects of the enquiry that this new team felt were necessary and warranted.”

The statement above concedes that the original Operation Cabin investigation missed some lines of enquiry and/or misprioritised them. Confirming that there were failures in the Operation Cabin investigation. But it also implies that these failings were due to the distraction caused by intense media interest.

This is obviously unfair and appears to be an attempt to shift blame to the media for a failed investigation. NYP actively encouraged media interest and the media did its best to support the investigation.

Focus on unspecified witnesses allegedly withholding information

Operation Essence focussed on the premise that witnesses who had evidence were either withholding it or lying to the police. This appears to have permeated the investigation and was routinely mentioned in statements:

By scrutinising in meticulous detail what people told the original enquiry, and then comparing that with other information that was either available at the time or which has only recently come to light, two things have become evident:

first, that there are people locally who knew Claudia and who have actively sought to keep that a secret – and we know who some of those people are;

secondly, we know that some people have deliberately lied about a number of issues concerning their association with Claudia.

There are a number of people who are of very particular interest to me. There are those who have yet to admit fully their relationship with Claudia or events in the days leading up to her disappearance. I would make a further appeal for those to come forward now and provide these explanations.

If I reach the point where we believe 

people continue to obstruct this investigation

or assist or cover up for the person or persons responsible, 

they will be arrested.

These are very serious allegations. The CPS guidance is:

“A large number of offences cover conduct, which hinders or frustrates the administration of justice, the work of the police, prosecutors and courts”.

Yet no-one has been charged with these offences.

It seems to me to be bizarre that despite all of these people that NYP blames for its failure to solve the case because they are lying, withholding information, assisting the murderer(s) and covering up for them. No one has been charged with an offence of obstructing, hindering or frustrating the work of the police.

Could it be that:

1. Has NYP fixated on the alleged -but unproven – failure of unspecified witnesses to come forward or to tell the truth, because it cannot admit that the investigation failed because of policing failures?
2. The reason witnesses have not come forward is that,as with Christopher Halliwell’s abduction of Sian O’Callaghan and Becky Godden-Edwards, Claudia Lawrence was murdered by a very capable and practised serial killer, who was a stranger to her and her friends, who abducted her so skillfully, that there were no witnesses?

Media strategy alienating witnesses and the public

The focus on people allegedly withholding evidence, lying or otherwise obstructing the investigation made it clear that anyone who admitted knowing Claudia Lawrence or who came forward with information having not come forward in 2009 could be arrested.

This approach may have deterred witnesses from coming forward with information for fear of being arrested, having their business and home searched by the police and their reputations destroyed by media coverage.

One witness with information the authors believe to be of critical importance to the investigation came forward to the NYE and specifically asked that his identity is not revealed to NYP.

So far as can be ascertained, at least six arrests were made by Operation Essence. Four men have had files sent to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) which has declined to charge them for lack of evidence. All six men have been released from police bail.

This string of arrests with no charges may have created public hostility and scepticism towards the investigation, which may also have alienated potential witnesses.

Failure to empathise with the media and the public

In May 2010, the family spokesperson Mr Martin Dales alleged that NYP had been rude and dismissive towards members of the public contacting them with information and had not engaged with the media. This accords with the author’s experience of Operation Essence since the retirement of Detective Superintendent Malyn.

Confirmation bias following premature rejection of a stranger murder

A week after Claudia’s disappearance the SIO of Operation Cabin stated he believed she had been abducted by someone known to her. Operation Essence also followed this line and focussed on Claudia Lawrence’s private life.

The authors believe this was the key error in the failure of the Claudia Lawrence investigation. The possibility of a complete stranger being the murderer was completely discounted very early on:

“Unless we get information or intelligence to suggest that Claudia came to harm as a result of an opportunity taken by someone unconnected to her, me and the team still strongly believe the answer lies locally.

This investigation has been made more difficult by the lack of CCTV in the vicinity of Claudia’s home, and data and information that we normally get from social media or phone and other passive data.

Claudia didn’t have a social media profile nor did she use a smart phone. We know also that her mobile phone didn’t leave the area before it left the phone network.

This again is a reason I don’t believe she fell victim to an attack by a stranger.

Also we have no actual scene where something untoward may have happened to her despite fresh forensic assessments of her house, car and other locations.”

The authors believe this was a major failure by Operation Essence, caused by the refusal of NYP to concede that Operation Cabin made errors. Analysing Detective Superintendent Malyn’s statement above, the authors would comment:

• In a murder investigation where there is no crime scene, body, witnesses or physical evidence of a crime, you cannot rule out any possibility, including a stranger killing.
• Although stranger murders are very rare, they nevertheless occur and this possibility should only be eliminated on the basis of evidence, not dismissed out of hand.
• The fact that Claudia did not have a social media profile or a smart phone and there is no CCTV cannot be used to eliminate a stranger killing.
• The fact that her mobile telephone did not leave the area before it was deliberately turned offdoes not eliminate the possibility that her murderer was a stranger. There is no reason why such a person could not be forensically aware. The killer could have been a local man that was unknown to Claudia, someone that was staying locally or just driving through that launched an opportunistic attack.

The authors can therefore see no rational basis for NYP to dismiss the possibility of a stranger murder.

NYP appears to have perversely maintained the line it took a week after Claudia’s disappearance, resulting in the investigation becoming contaminated by confirmation bias against the possibility of a stranger killing.

Failure to follow up leads which do not fit with the NYP view that the killer is a local man known to Claudia.

On the 8^th of March 2016, Detective Superintendent Malyn admitted that NYP had not been able to eliminate the possibility that Claudia’s murderer was a stranger:

“We can’t rule out that a complete stranger to Claudia was involved and managed to avoid CCTV cameras, being disturbed by witnesses and is unknown to the investigation team, her friends and family. Until then, we will continue to investigate the information that regularly comes into the team and look at all possibilities.

However, I still strongly favour the theory that the person – or persons – responsible for Claudia’s disappearance was someone – or several people – who were close to her. It was either very well-planned or there was a huge element of luck to have got away with it, so far at least. In my view they have probably been helped by the fact that those closely associated with Claudia have withheld key information.”

The new SIO is Detective Superintendent Wayne Fox. Earlier this year, on the twelfth anniversary of Claudia’s disappearance, he issued a statement that he believed there were people who either knew or have strong suspicions over what happened to Claudia and appealed to them to do the right thing by coming forward and speaking to him.

The NYE has published information that there have been multiple sightings of convicted serial killer Christopher Halliwell in North Yorkshire and that he was working as a mini-cab driver in the area. We know that MCU Officers monitor the NYE.

However, contrary to the assurances above, we have had no response to this information from NYP. It appears to have been ignored.

Detective Superintendent Wayne Fox

Failing to follow up on information generated by local media or to pursue all lines of enquiry.

This is a major failure:

1. It demonstrates the investigation is not able to work with the media.
2. It is entirely possible that Halliwell murdered Claudia Lawrence. In which case NYP has a duty to consider him impartially as a suspect.
3. Halliwell used his occupation as a minicab driver to murder women. Witnesses have alleged he was in North Yorkshire working as a minicab driver. He could be involved in other disappearances of women unconnected to the murder of Claudia Lawrence.

Yet NYP has not interviewed him in prison.

Failure of the Force Intelligence Bureau to liaise with other forces

Halliwell routinely used prostitutes. One of his victims was a prostitute he picked up in Swindon’s red-light district. There are no red-light districts in North Yorkshire, so it is possible he could have travelled from North Yorkshire to visit red-light districts in neighbouring Force areas and attacked women there. The murders of Donna Keogh and Vicky Glass in Cleveland may be attacks by Halliwell.

Halliwell’s modus operandi was to abduct his victims in one force area and to conceal their bodies in a neighbouring force area.

Therefore the information that Halliwell has been sighted in North Yorkshire should have been fully investigated, then passed on to the Cleveland, West Yorkshire and Humberside forces by the NYP Force Intelligence Bureau (FIB).

This has not happened and indicates a silo mentality within NYP.

Influence of Police politics on the investigation

Should NYP investigate Christopher Halliwell as a suspect, it casts doubt on the guilt of the six men it has arrested, indicates that the investigation was misdirected from the start and that a serial killer may have been operating in North Yorkshire, despite NYP’s repeated denials.

This would be a disaster for the force’s reputation and may be why it has resisted investigating him as a suspect.

The NYE had exactly the same response of bureaucratic intransigence from NYP during their investigations of the “Nude in the Nettles” murder of “Hope” in 1979, who was probably murdered by Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe, Peter Jaconelli and Jimmy Savile.

Failure to respond properly to the National Crime Agency alert when Christopher Halliwell was arrested

Shortly after Halliwell’s arrest in 2011, the National Crime Agency circulated all forces with information about Halliwell and ordering them to consider if he was responsible for any unsolved murders in its force area.

The authors fear that the initial determination that Claudia had been murdered by someone known to her would led NYP to immediately rule Halliwell out as a suspect.

North Yorkshire Police were provided with an initial draft of this article and asked for a comment. No response was received from them.

Coming next

“Claudia Lawrence: The other victims”

NYE Appeal for Information

Whenever the authors run an article on a cold case, the NYE always runs an appeal for information, to try to keep the case in the public eye and generate information. The authors will finish with their usual appeal for information:

Christopher Halliwell had a slim athletic build and spoke with a slight Swindon accent. You can see and hear him in the video here.

Christopher Halliwell pictured next to one of his known victims Miss Sian O’Callaghan.

Miss O’Callaghan was also abducted on the 19^th of March and resembles Claudia Lawrence.

• Did he offer you a lift in his mini-cab?
• Did you know of Christopher Halliwell’s Father Alan Keith Halliwell who lived in Huddersfield, York, Ampleforth or Oswaldkirk and who previously served in the RAF?
• Did you see Christopher Halliwell staying in a bed and breakfast or hotel along the A19, in Darlington, Middlesbrough, Scarborough, York or the North York Moors area?
• Did you see Christopher Halliwell

Claudia Lawrence

• Fishing at Scarborough?
• Fishing at Whitby?
• Fishing at Scaling Dam?
• Fishing at Sand Hutton Gravel Pits?
• Fishing at York University Lake?
• In York?
• At Ampleforth?
• At Oswaldkirke?
• At the Kilburn White Horse?
• At the Nag’s Head or the Acomb Hotel?

Vicky Glass and Donna Keogh

• In Middlesbrough?
• Fishing at Scaling Dam?
• Fishing along the River Tees?
• Fishing at Scarborough?
• Fishing at Whitby?
• On the North York Moors?

Ann Heron

• In Darlington?
• Fishing along the River Tees?