The list of Freedom of Information requests dealt with by the Metropolitan Police can make fascinating reading. The most recent from the beginning of March concern questions about ‘road spike apparatus accidents’, statistics on pickpocketing and the number of victims of knife crime in 2010 and 2011. We have previously featured the Met’s five year …
Author archives: murdermap
Old Bailey Farewell to Stenographers
Think of the major criminal trials that have taken place in the Old Bailey since the beginning of the 20th Century: Dr Crippen, John Christie, Ruth Ellis, The Yorkshire Ripper, the Soham Murders… In each and every case the cast list has included, along with judges, journalists, clerks, barristers, and curious members of the public, …
The Unsolved Murder of Andrew Cunningham – A Sister’s Plea for Help
The sister of a father-of-five who was murdered three years ago blames The Sun newspaper for the failure to catch his killers. In December 2011, Sarah-Jane Cunningham spent the third anniversary of her brother’s death handing out police appeal notices. She was prepared for indifference. But she was genuinely shocked when some members of the …
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A Brief History of Cameras in Court
Earlier this month Sky, ITN and the BBC lobbied the government to allow cameras in court. The hope is that criminal trials could be televised as early as early as 2015. The ban on taking photographs goes back to 1925 but even before then cameras had to be smuggled into courtrooms in hats or bags. …
Gangs, Murder and the Police
The launch of the new ‘Trident Gang Crime Command’ is being backed by the mother of murdered teenager Negus McLean. Negus was 15 years old when he was stabbed to death by a gang of youths in Edmonton, north London, on April 10, 2011. The case remains unsolved thanks to a ‘wall of silence’ preventing …