Alan Holmes, a 53 year-old garage hand who worked at Kentish Town Police station, was tied up and left to die at his home in Camden, north London.
He was dropped off by friends at his flat in Parkway at around midnight on Christmas Day 1995 but failed to report to work over the following week.
It was only on 4 January 1996 that police officers forced entry and found him tied hand and foot to his bed, face down and fully dressed.
Although still alive, he was critically ill due to being restrained in the same position and dehydration.
Before his death, he managed to tell officers that he had been left tied up since Boxing Day – although one of his killers had returned to the flat following the attack.
Alan died on 5 January 1996 from blood clotting due to his injuries.
Alan Holmes
Police believe that his killers tortured him into handing over two Natwest bank cards and his PIN numbers before leaving him to die.
CCTV cameras recorded a total of £1,000 being withdrawn but the images have not helped to identify any of the suspects.
One original line of enquiry was that the attack was carried out by members of the homeless community.
Making an appeal for witnesses in December 2010, DCI John Oldham of the Homicide and Serious Crime Command said: “It is now 15 years since Alan was killed and those responsible have never been held to account.
“We hope that another year on, our re-appeals reach someone who may have information that will help the enquiry. I hope they now feel that they can come forward and speak to police.”
Contact detectives on 020 8785 8244 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
Four soldiers were killed by an IRA bomb at Hyde Park in central London on 20 July 1982.
Corporal Roy John Bright, 36, Lieutenant Denis Richard Anthony Daly, 23, Lance Corporal Jeffrey Vernon Young, 19, and Simon Andrew Tipper, 19, were all members of the Royal Household Cavalry, Blues and Royals.
They were riding from their barracks to Buckingham Palace when a nail bomb in a car detonated in South Carriage Drive at around 10.43am.
The explosion also killed seven horses and caused serious injuries to other soldiers, police officers and civilians.
Memorial at Hyde Park
Two hours later a second bomb hidden underneath the bandstand in Regent’s Park exploded during a performance of the music from Oliver! by the Royal Green Jackets band in front of a crowd of 120 people. Seven military bandsmen were killed.
The Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) claimed responsibility for the attacks.
In 1987 Gilbert McNamee was sentenced to 25 years for conspiracy to cause explosions including the Hyde Park attack but in 1998 his conviction was quashed on the grounds it was ‘unsafe’.
On 22 May 2013 the Metropolitan Police Service Counter Terrorism Command charged John Anthony Downey, 61 [19/1/52] of County Donegal, Eire, with murder and causing an explosion likely to endanger life relating to the Hyde Park bomb.
Downey was due to stand trial in January 2014 but the indictment was stayed on 21 February 2014 after his legal team argued the prosecution was an abuse of process.
He had been sent a ‘letter of assurance’ by the Northern Ireland Office on 20 July 2007 – the 25th anniversary of the attacks – wrongly stating that he was not wanted by any UK police force.
In fact he was listed as wanted by the Metropolitan Police for conspiracy to murder in relation to the Hyde Park bombing. The Police Service of Northern Ireland has accepted blame for the error.
Mr Justice Sweeney said in his ruling that the public interest in prosecuting Downey was outweighed by the ‘public interest in holding officials of the state to promises they have made in full understanding of what is involved in the bargain.’
The decision was reported on 25 February 2014 after the prosecution announced they would not seek to appeal.
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Joy Hewer, 52, was stabbed and sexually assaulted at her own home on 17 October 1995.
The retired primary school teacher was found dead after police and firefighters were called to a blaze at the sixth floor flat in St David’s Court, off Parkstone Road, Walthamstow, at around 11.45pm.
Joy Hewer
Ms Hewer, a devout Christian, had suffered multiple injuries including a number of stab wounds.
The murder remains unsolved.
On the 20th anniversary of the case in 205, detectives and the victim’s sister renewed appeals for help tracing her killer and a £20,000 reward was offered for information leading to a conviction.
Joy was our loving sister who was absolutely no harm to anyone. We couldn’t think of a person less likely to be attacked in this way. She’d enjoyed her work as a teacher, adored her nieces and nephews and was fantastic with children. She regularly attended church and often helped at charity events.
We’ve never forgotten the moment we were told she’d been murdered. It will never make any sense to us. Joy was someone who would go out of her way to help others. She lived a quiet and peaceful life which was totally at odds with her last terrifying moments. We need to see closure and can’t face another 20 years of unanswered questions.
Penny Barnes, Joy’s younger sister
Ms Hewer had visited the London Healing Mission in Notting Hill on the afternoon of her death and was seen leaving at around 3.30pm.
She visited a chemist near her home in Wood Street, Walthamstow, at 5.50pm.
At around 10.30pm a neighbour at St David’s Court heard loud noises or banging coming from Joy’s flat.
Then at 11.18pm an unidentified man dialled 999 from a public telephone box along Fulbourne Road, Walthamstow, to report smoke coming from Joy’s flat.
While on the phone the caller can be heard asking someone waiting for a bus what road they were standing in to assist the emergency call handler.
Firefighters broke into Joy’s flat to find her lying in the bedroom and extinguished two fires which had been deliberately set in the bedroom and lounge.
Police are trying to trace the unidentified caller and the person waiting in the bus queue.
Detectives are also trying to trace a man seen on CCTV entering St David’s Court at around 10.30pm. He is described as white, aged between 30 and 40 and wearing a light coloured jacket.
Detective Inspector Susan Stansfield, of the Met’s Special Casework Investigation Team, who is leading the investigation, said: “Joy Hewer was a kind-hearted Christian woman who was devoted to her beliefs and to her family.
“Originally raised in Hoe Street with her younger brother Steven, and younger sister Penny, she regularly attended several churches in the Walthamstow and Notting Hill areas.
“She had worked for many years as a dedicated local primary school teacher before retiring in 1990. Unmarried, she continued to stay close to her family and friends and worked for various charities.
“As a result of our investigations we are sure Joy would have been cautious about letting someone enter her flat late at night. There were no signs of a forced entry and it may be that she knew the person her entered her flat that night. Our forensic teams also found two used coffee cups within the address.
“After two decades we realise a lot of time has passed and someone who may have not been able to speak in 1995 may feel they can come forward now, 20 years on.
“Joy’s parents have sadly passed away but her brother, sister and nieces and nephews still very much hope to see someone brought to justice.
“We hope that this latest appeal will see someone with the final piece to the jigsaw to speak out.”
The case also featured on BBC’s Crimewatch programme on 14 December 2015.
Call the police incident room on 020 7230 7963, or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
At around 11am on Thursday, 6 June 1991, two women drove to the swimming pool at Gurnell Grove in Greenford, west London. After parking next to a green Jaguar XJS, they noticed someone slumped in the front seat, as if asleep. Thinking nothing more of it, they went for a swim before returning to their car just after midday. The Jaguar was still there, and so was the person in the front seat. This time they took a closer look and noticed blood in the car and a stab wound. The police were called at 12.15pm.
Penny Bell
The body in the Jaguar was Penny Bell, a 43-year-old married mother-of-two who worked as a partner in an employment agency. She had been stabbed more than 50 times as she sat in the driver’s seat of her car. On the centre console was a wallpaper sample, as if she had been looking at it or showing it to someone shortly before the attack. Nothing appeared to be missing from her handbag, which was found behind the front passenger seat.
How had Penny Bell ended up at the swimming pool car park? The police investigation established that she had left home in Denham, Buckinghamshire, at 9.40am. Shortly before leaving she had made coffee for the builders and decorators working on the house. She appeared in a hurry and told them that she had an appointment she could not miss at 9.50am.
While that was the last positive sighting of Penny Bell, other witnesses came forward to say that they had seen either the Jaguar or a woman similar to Penny that morning.
One witness reported seeing Penny meeting with the driver of a bronze saloon car in Fulmer Common Road near Black Park, Iver, at around 9.40am. Another saw a pale blue Jaguar XJS parked in Fulmer Common Road between 9.50am and 10am. And a further witness claimed to have seen similar Jaguar car driving erratically in Greenford Road that morning.
Penny Bell’s Jaguar XJS
However nobody witnessed the fatal attack.
It was a clear and sunny day on the morning that Penny was killed and it’s estimated that around 300 people are believed to have used the car park or leisure facilities, meaning that there should have been plenty of witnesses. Approximately 250 people who had used the leisure facilities between 09:00hrs and 11:00hrs were interviewed and eliminated. Over 60 drivers are known to have parked their cars in the car park during this time. No one interviewed had witnessed the attack or the killer’s escape; it’s almost as if they vanished into thin air.
Detective Sergeant Susan Stansfield, from the Met’s Special Casework Investigation Team
To add to the mystery, three days earlier Penny had withdrawn £8,500 in cash from her joint personal account while visiting her bank in Kilburn High Road, at around 2.30pm on 3 June 1991. The money, all in used £50 notes, was handed to her in a brown manila envelope. Penny appears not to have mentioned this withdrawal to anyone or even made a reference to it in her spending records.
Detectives were unable to establish who Penny was meeting on the morning of her death or establish why the money was withdrawn and what happened to it.
One further lead emerged in 2019, when a new witness told police they had seen a man in his underwear walking across the footbridge crossing the A40 Western Avenue in Greenford at around 10.50am. This man appeared wet, as if he had just washed. He was wearing blue stripped boxer shorts, a white t-shirt, had a chunky chain link thick bracelet and was carrying a rucksack.
DS Stansfield described this as “very significant information that might help us catch Penny’s killer”, and added: “Did you also see something odd at the time that you now might think is connected? Or did you also see this man in his underwear and think nothing of it? If so, we need to speak to you as soon as possible.”
A £20,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and prosecution of the killer remains on offer.
DS Stansfield said: “We are still, to this day, trying to bring closure to her family who remain hopeful that justice will be served. To help us investigate Penny’s death, I am once again asking for anyone who might know who killed this mother of two to come forward and speak to a member of my team. A lot can change over 30 years. A partner, family member or friend from the time of the attack may have been too scared to report their information to us in 1991, but circumstances and relationships change and I would implore anyone who knows who committed this crime to call us.”
“We are grateful for the work of the Metropolitan Police and their determination to help solve this case. Thirty years marks an extremely painful milestone but with the help of Crimewatch and their viewers, we could be one step away from finding the perpetrator who still walks among us. Any information would be life-changing for us as a family and a result would mean we could finally find closure.
Lauren Bell, Penny’s daughter, speaking in 2021
Call police on 0208 7858267 or the independent charity Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.
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On Thursday, 20 June 20 1946, actress Margery Gardner, 42, met a handsome 29 year-old pilot named Neville Heath.
Neville Heath
Heath passed himself as a decorated Second World War veteran but his relatively short life was marked by dishonesty and deception.
A former private schoolboy, he had joined the RAF only to be dismissed in September 1937 for going absent without leave. Heath then turned to fraud and passed himself off as a Lord and a Lieutenant-Colonel before being sent to Borstal in 1938 for theft and forgery.
When war broke out he was sent to the Middle East but again went missing and joined the South African Air Force, rising to the rank of Captain, only to be court-martialled for wearing medals he had never earned. After his wife divorced him on the grounds of desertion, he returned to Britain.
Margery Gardner did not know it at the time, but only a few days earlier he had proposed marriage to a woman in Worthing. She accepted his invitation back to his room at Pembridge Court Hotel at 34 Pembridge Gardens in Notting Hill, west London. It was the last time she was seen alive.
Margery Gardner
The next day her body was found by a chambermaid in room number four. She was lying naked on the bed, her wrists and ankles tied, with 17 lash marks on her back. Both her nipples had been bitten off and her genitals mutilated with a poker. Margery had died by suffocation.
Heath, who had booked the room under the name Lieutenant-Colonel Heath, then travelled to Worthing to see his supposed fiancee, only to quickly flee to Bournemouth when his name appeared in the paper in connection with the brutal murder in London.
This time he booked a room at a hotel under another alias, ‘Group Captain Rupert Brooke.’
On 3 July 1946 he invited 21 year-old Doreen Marshall to dinner before offering to walk her home. She was never seen alive again.
Her body was only discovered five days later lying naked in bushes on Branksome Chine. Her wrists and ankles had been tied, her genitals mutilated and one nipple had been bitten off before her throat was slashed.
By this time Heath had already been arrested. He had turned up at the local police station to look at a photograph of the missing Doreen Marshall but was recognised as the suspect in the murder of Margery Gardner.
When detectives looked through his belongings they found a metal-tipped whip and a bloodstained hat and scarf linked to Gardner. He had also pawned a ring and a fob watch belonging to Doreen Marshall.
Heath was put on trial at the Old Bailey on 24 September 1946, and pleaded not guilty due to insanity. The jury found him guilty of murder after two prison doctors concluded he was a sadist, a sexual pervert and a psychopath.
He was sentenced to death and hanged at Pentonville jail on 16 October.
Note: Archive news footage showing Heath being taken to and from court can be seen here.
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