50-409: Rachel Jane Nickell (23 November 1968 – 15 July 1992) was a British woman who was stabbed to death on Wimbledon Common in south-west London on 15 July 1992. The initial police investigation of the crime resulted in the arrest in controversial circumstances of an innocent man, who was acquitted. Her killer, Robert Napper , was identified by a later police investigation and convicted in 2008. Nickell
100-543: A gift from 15th-century Lord Mayor Richard Whittington . It was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666 and rebuilt in 1674, with the court open to the weather to prevent the spread of disease. The building was re-fronted in 1734, so as to enclose the court and reduce the influence of spectators: this led to outbreaks of typhus , notably in 1750 when 60 people died, including the Lord Mayor and two judges. It
150-407: A public spectacle in the street outside until May 1868. The condemned would be led along Dead Man's Walk between the buildings, and many were buried in the walk itself. Large, rowdy crowds sometimes gathered and pelted the condemned with rotten fruit and vegetables and stones. Some sources claim that, after 28 people were crushed to death when a pie-seller's stall overturned, a tunnel was made between
200-543: A series of opportunities to take him off the streets and suggested the lives of Samantha Bisset and her four-year-old daughter, Jazmine, would also have been saved if police had acted on tip-offs, including one by Napper's mother. Rachel Cerfontyne of the IPCC said that police failed to investigate the 1989 report that he attacked a woman on Plumstead Common in London and no record of the telephone call can be found. She said, "It
250-682: A stoop. The IPCC said no police officer would face disciplinary action because they had all retired and one key senior detective had died. Criminal prosecutions were not considered. Wimbledon Common Too Many Requests If you report this error to the Wikimedia System Administrators, please include the details below. Request from 172.68.168.150 via cp1114 cp1114, Varnish XID 936586370 Upstream caches: cp1114 int Error: 429, Too Many Requests at Thu, 28 Nov 2024 08:45:24 GMT Old Bailey The Central Criminal Court of England and Wales , commonly referred to as
300-556: Is clear that throughout the investigations into the 'Green Chain' rapes and Rachel Nickell's death there was a catalogue of bad decisions and errors made by the Metropolitan Police. The police failed to sufficiently investigate after Napper's mother called police to report that he had confessed to her that he had raped a woman and, inconceivably, they eliminated Napper from inquiries into the Green Chain rapes because he
350-579: The Old Bailey after the street on which it stands, is a criminal court building in central London, one of several that house the Crown Court of England and Wales . The street outside follows the route of the ancient wall around the City of London , which was part of the fortification's bailey , hence the metonymic name. The court has been housed in a succession of buildings on the street since
400-505: The Provisional IRA exploded a car bomb in the street outside, killing one and injuring 200 people. A shard of glass is preserved as a reminder, embedded in the wall at the top of the main stairs. The hall (and its floor) was decorated with many busts and statues, chiefly of British monarchs, but also of legal figures, and those who achieved renown by campaigning for improvement in prison conditions from 1700 to 1900. This part of
450-642: The title character demolishes it to gain the public's attention, and Justice League and its director's cut , in which Wonder Woman foils a terrorist bomb plot. In Agatha Christie 's play, Witness for the Prosecution , the murder trial of Leonard Vole is held at the Old Bailey. It is also a central location in The Great Ace Attorney: Adventures and its sequel The Great Ace Attorney 2: Resolve , where many of
500-451: The City of London and of Middlesex . In addition to sessions court, the Old Bailey also held trials, similar to the travelling Courts of Assize held in other parts of England and Wales. The original medieval court is first mentioned in 1585; it was next to the older Newgate Prison , and seems to have grown out of the endowment to improve the gaol and rooms for the sheriffs, made possible by
550-493: The City of London are entitled to sit on the judges' bench during a hearing but do not participate in hearings. Where a ceremonial tradition is followed, a judge, sitting solo, will sit off-centre in case the Lord Mayor should decide to come in, in which case they would take the centre chair. The most senior permanent judge of the Central Criminal Court has the title of Recorder of London , and their deputy has
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#1732783523775600-694: The French countryside. Following an investigation, the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) released a report, dated 3 June 2010, into the actions of the Metropolitan Police Force and their handling of the murder investigation. It described a "catalogue of bad decisions and errors" by the Metropolitan Police which had resulted in Napper being free to kill Nickell. It said that officers missed
650-516: The Nickell murder investigation. An internal review estimated that the pursuit had cost the public £3 million and that vital scientific information had been missed. Stagg sued the police for damages totalling £1 million following the fourteen months he spent in custody. He has co-written and published two books about the case: Who Really Killed Rachel? (with novelist David Kessler ) and, more recently, Pariah (with journalist Ted Hynds),
700-586: The Old Bailey hears major criminal cases from within Greater London . In exceptional cases, trials may be referred to the Old Bailey from other parts of England and Wales. As with most courts in England and Wales, trials at the Old Bailey are open to the public, although they are subject to stringent security procedures. The court originated as the sessions house of the Lord Mayor and Sheriffs of
750-742: The Recorder is a member of the Common Council because he is also a member of the Court of Aldermen . The city's sheriffs and the Lord Mayor are justices there, but their jurisdiction is now nominal. The sheriffs are resident with the senior judges in the complex. Court 1 has benches set aside for the committee of City Bridge Foundation , the owner of the building. The Old Bailey has been mentioned and featured in numerous fictional works including film, video games and literature. Notable examples include V for Vendetta and its film adaptation , in which
800-580: The Scotland Yard team interviewed convicted murderer Robert Napper for two days at Broadmoor. Napper, 40 years old at that time, had been diagnosed as having paranoid schizophrenia and Asperger syndrome and had been held at the secure institution for more than ten years. He had been convicted of the murder of Samantha Bisset and her four-year-old daughter, Jazmine, in November 1993, sixteen months after Nickell's homicide. On 28 November 2007, Napper
850-455: The building also housed the stenographers' offices until the stenographers were replaced by technology in March 2012. On 7 February 2024, around 1,500 people were forced to evacuate the building following a fire and reports of five separate explosions at the rear of the Central Criminal Court. Defendants on remand were returned to prison and juries were sent home. Until 2017, the court manager
900-406: The case from 2000. In 2002, ten years after the killing, Scotland Yard used a cold case review team, which used refined DNA techniques only recently made available. A small team of officers and retired veteran investigators analysed statements from witnesses, reassessed files on a number of potential suspects and examined the possibility that the case was linked to other crimes. Officers compared
950-543: The common, where people saw that he was covered in blood and therefore discovered his mother's body. Officers of the Metropolitan Police undertook the investigation, under pressure to find the perpetrator by press coverage and public outrage at the circumstances of the murder. Thirty-two men were questioned in connection with the killing; the investigation quickly targeted Colin Stagg, a man from Roehampton who
1000-529: The figure is not blindfolded: the courthouse brochures explain that this is because Lady Justice was originally not blindfolded, and because her "maidenly form" is supposed to guarantee her impartiality which renders the blindfold redundant. During the Blitz of the Second World War, the Old Bailey was bombed and severely damaged, but reconstruction work restored most of it in the early 1950s. In 1952,
1050-459: The grounds of diminished responsibility . Napper, who was already detained at high-security Broadmoor Hospital in Berkshire for a 1993 double murder , was ordered to be detained there indefinitely. At the time of her death, Nickell was living near Wimbledon Common with partner André Hanscombe and their two-year-old son, Alexander Louis. Nickell was 23 years old at the time of her death. On
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#17327835237751100-454: The grounds that Stagg's descriptions of the murder were not nearly as close to the reality as the police had maintained. With no other evidence to present, the prosecution withdrew its case and Stagg was acquitted. Keith Pedder, the case's lead detective, received heavy public criticism. Even after Stagg was (rightfully as it later turned out) cleared of the murder of Nickell, Pedder continued over subsequent years to promote his theory that Stagg
1150-454: The injuries suffered by Nickell with other attacks and consulted forensic scientists about improvements in DNA matching. In July 2003, reports surfaced that, after 18 months of tests on Nickell's clothes, police had found a male DNA sample which did not match her boyfriend or son. The sample at the time was insufficient to confirm an identity, but was large enough to rule out suspects. In July 2006,
1200-538: The killing. Police released a taped conversation between the police officer and him in which she claimed to enjoy hurting people, to which he mumbled, "Please explain, as I live a quiet life. If I have disappointed you, please don't dump me. Nothing like this has happened to me before". When she went on to say, "If only you had done the Wimbledon Common murder, if only you had killed her, it would be all right", he replied, "I'm terribly sorry, but I haven't". Stagg
1250-466: The latter being published on the same day as the real culprit's appearance in court to enter a plea. In January 2007, the Home Office confirmed that Stagg would receive compensation for wrongful prosecution, with the amount to be set by an independent assessor. On 13 August 2008, it was announced that the compensation was £706,000. The undercover officer involved in the attempt to obtain evidence in
1300-399: The manslaughter of Rachel Nickell on the grounds of diminished responsibility . Mr Justice Griffith Williams said that Napper would be detained indefinitely at Broadmoor because he was "a very dangerous man". It is unlikely he will ever be released. At the same time, Stagg received a public apology from the Metropolitan Police for their previous involvement and prosecution of him in regard to
1350-431: The morning of 15 July 1992, she and Alexander were walking their dog on Wimbledon Common. Whilst passing through a secluded area of the common, Nickell was attacked. An assailant killed her by repeatedly stabbing and slashing her with a knife, then sexually assaulted her. The assailant fled the scene, leaving Alex physically unharmed in the vicinity. A passer-by found him clinging to his mother's blood-soaked body, repeating
1400-591: The original investigation by befriending him took early retirement from the Metropolitan Police force in 1998. With the support of the Police Federation , she sued the Metropolitan Police for damages arising from the investigation. In 2001, shortly before it was due to be heard, her case was settled out of court and she received £125,000. Her solicitor said: "The willingness of the Metropolitan Police to pay substantial damages must indicate their recognition that she sustained serious psychiatric injury". The payout
1450-469: The people is supreme " "Right lives by law and law subsists by power" "Poise the cause in justice's equal scales" "Moses gave unto the people the laws of God" "London shall have all its ancient rights" Between 1968 and 1972, a new South Block, designed by the architects Donald McMorran and George Whitby, was built to accommodate more modern courts. In 1973, the Belfast Brigade of
1500-500: The police. He later faced corruption charges, but the case was thrown out by the judge in a pre-trial hearing on the grounds of insufficient evidence. Every year on the anniversary of the killing Scotland Yard came under pressure for progress. In the late 1990s, Nickell's murder was re-investigated as part of Operation Enigma , which was a national cross-force investigation into the unsolved murders of 207 women. Under new management, detectives began to collate evidence and files related to
1550-428: The prison and St Sepulchre's church opposite the crossroads, to allow the chaplain to minister to the condemned without having to force his way through crowds; but there are no known primary sources or photographic evidence that indicate that it actually existed. The present building dates from 1902 and was officially opened by King Edward VII on 27 February 1907. It was designed by E. W. Mountford and co-occupies
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1600-482: The restored interior of the Grand or Great Hall of the Central Criminal Court was once again open. This hall (underneath the dome) is decorated with paintings commemorating the Blitz, as well as quasi-historical scenes of St Paul's Cathedral with nobles outside. Running around the entire hall are a series of axioms, some of biblical reference. They read: "The law of the wise is a fountain of life" " The welfare of
1650-593: The site of the demolished prison. Above the main entrance is inscribed the admonition: "Defend the Children of the Poor & Punish the Wrongdoer". On the dome above the court stands the court's symbolic gilt bronze statue of Lady Justice by sculptor F. W. Pomeroy (made 1905–1906). She holds a sword in her right hand and the scales of justice in her left. The statue is popularly supposed to show blind Justice , but
1700-418: The sixteenth century, when it was attached to the medieval Newgate Prison . The current main building block was completed in 1902, designed by Edward William Mountford ; its monumental architecture is recognised and protected as a Grade II* listed building . An extension, South Block, was constructed in 1972, over the former site of Newgate Prison which had been demolished in 1904. The Crown Court sitting in
1750-603: The telephone and exchanging letters containing sexual fantasies. During a meeting in Hyde Park , they spoke about the Nickell homicide; he later said that he had only played along with the topic because he wanted to pursue the romance . Profiler Paul Britton later said that he disagreed with use of the fantasy-filled letters and knew nothing of them until after they had been sent. The undercover officer won Stagg's confidence and drew out fantasies from him that psychologist Paul Britton interpreted as "violent", but he did not admit to
1800-566: The title of Common Serjeant of London . The position of "Recorder of London" is distinct from that of a recorder , which is a part-time judicial office, holders of which sit part-time as judges of the Crown Court or County Court. The recent Recorders of London have been: The court house originated as part of the City of London 's borough judicial system, and it remains so. The Recorder and the Common Serjeant are city officers, and
1850-513: The trials in the games' plot take place. Rumpole of the Bailey is a British television series created and written by the British writer and barrister John Mortimer , in which Horace Rumpole, an elderly London barrister, defends a broad variety of clients, often underdogs. In The Pirates of Penzance , upon defeating the police, the pirates declare that "No pirate band will take its stand / At
1900-477: The words "Wake up, Mummy", with a piece of paper stuck to her forehead as a bandage. In a television interview on 7 September 2021 with Lorraine Kelly , discussing the documentary Death on the Common: My Mother's Murder, Alex Hanscombe said after his mother had been attacked, he said to her three times "wake up, Mummy" before realising she was "gone" and not playing. He then walked into a clearing on
1950-410: Was a poisoner and murderer. This led to fears that he could not receive a fair trial in his native Staffordshire . The Central Criminal Court Act 1856 was passed to enable his trial, and others with a public profile, to be held at the Old Bailey. In London cant it was called The Gate , an abbreviation of Newgate. The Old Bailey adjoined Newgate Prison until the jail's 1902 closure. Hangings were
2000-408: Was charged with Nickell's murder. He appeared at City of Westminster Magistrates' Court on 4 December 2007, where he was granted bail on condition he remained at Broadmoor psychiatric hospital until another hearing on 20 December 2007. On 24 January 2008, he pleaded not guilty to Nickell's murder and the trial started on 11 November 2008. On 18 December 2008, at the Old Bailey , Napper pleaded guilty to
2050-492: Was dismissed due to the time delay in bringing proceedings. André Hanscombe later wrote a book titled The Last Thursday in July about his life with Nickell, coping with the homicide, and life with their son afterwards. In 1996, he moved with their child to France, driven abroad, according to notes in his book, by media intrusion. He was strongly critical of some of the reporters who tracked him and his son down to his "sanctuary" in
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2100-418: Was guilty. He told an ITV Real Crime documentary in 2001: Colin Stagg has been through a version of justice, albeit truncated, and he has been found not guilty. But I wonder whether he can actually say hand on heart that he believes people will meet him in the street and believe that. I do not believe the system served anybody that particular day. After Stagg's acquittal, Pedder took early retirement from
2150-609: Was known by the title of the Secondary of the City of London , an ancient title of a City officer. His Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service manages the courts and administers the trials but the building itself is owned by the City of London Corporation , which finances the maintenance and running of the building and the staff costs out of their own resources. All judges sitting in the Old Bailey are addressed as " My Lord " or "My Lady", whether they are High Court , circuit judges or recorders . The Lord Mayor and aldermen of
2200-472: Was known to walk his dog on the Common. As there was no forensic evidence linking him to the scene, the police asked Paul Britton, a criminal psychologist , to create an offender profile of the killer. They decided that he fitted the profile and asked the psychologist to assist with designing a covert operation, code-named Operation Edzell, to see whether he would eliminate or implicate himself. This operation
2250-521: Was later criticised by the media and the trial judge as effectively a " honeytrap ". An undercover policewoman from the Metropolitan Police Special Operations Group ( SO10 ) contacted Stagg, posing as a friend of a woman with whom he used to be in contact via a lonely hearts' column. Over five months, she attempted to obtain information from him by feigning a romantic interest, meeting him, speaking to him on
2300-458: Was nevertheless arrested and charged on the basis of claims that he had described aspects of the murder scene that only the killer would have known. When the case reached the Old Bailey in September 1994, Mr Justice Ognall ruled that the police had shown "excessive zeal" and had tried to incriminate Stagg by "deceptive conduct of the grossest kind". He excluded all the entrapment evidence on
2350-458: Was over 6 feet tall. Without these errors, Robert Napper could have been off the streets before he killed Rachel Nickell and the Bissets, and before numerous women suffered violent sexual attacks at his hands". Detectives had decided to exclude anyone over 6 feet based on the description of a 5' 7" rapist; however, there were conflicting witness reports of the rapist's height, and Napper walked with
2400-540: Was rebuilt again in 1774 and a second courtroom was added in 1824. Over 100,000 criminal trials were carried out at the Old Bailey between 1674 and 1834. In 1834, it was renamed from the Assize Court for London to the Central Criminal Court. The court was envisaged as that where only criminals accused of crimes committed in the City and Middlesex were tried. However, in 1856, there was public revulsion at complaints sent to police against doctor William Palmer that he
2450-449: Was walking with her two-year-old son on Wimbledon Common when she was stabbed 49 times in the neck and torso and died at the scene. A lengthy police investigation to find the perpetrator followed, during which a suspect was wrongfully charged and later acquitted—before the case went cold . In 2002, with more advanced forensic techniques, the case was reopened. On 18 December 2008, Robert Napper pleaded guilty to Nickell's manslaughter on
2500-603: Was widely criticised by various sources, particularly as Nickell's son had been granted £22,000 (less than a fifth of the amount paid to the undercover detective) from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority . The criminal psychologist involved with the investigation was charged with professional misconduct by the British Psychological Society , but in 2002, in lieu of any substantive hearings, further action
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