Who Trolled Amber? - Three doors down: Episode 5 - Inquiry

Episode Date: October 2, 2023

The police say they are not looking for any more victims of David Boyd but we met other women who were confronted by the killer. This episode contains descriptions of child sexual abuse.Listen to the full series today. For the premium Tortoise listening experience, curated by our journalists, download the free Tortoise audio app. For early and ad-free access to all our investigative series and daily and weekly shows, subscribe to Tortoise+ on Apple Podcasts.If you’d like to further support slow journalism and help us build a different kind of newsroom, do consider donating to Tortoise at tortoisemedia.com/support-us. Your contributions allow us to investigate, campaign and explore, and to build a newsroom that is responsible and sustainable. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

ACAST powers the world's best podcasts. Here's a show of glamour and scandal and political intrigue and a battle for the soul of a nation. Hollywood Exiles, from CBC Podcasts and the BBC World Service. Find it wherever you get your podcasts. ACAST helps creators launch, grow, and monetize their podcasts everywhere. Acast.com I was listening to some of your interview yesterday and it was reiterated again that you firmly believe that Boyd was acting alone.

I think it was important for me to say ultimately this case involved one person and that was David Boyd alone. And I think from an investigative perspective, the case is over. We began this story with what felt like the end. David Boyd, stand up. For the murder of Nicky Allen on 7 October 1992, the sentence of the court is one of life imprisonment. But this case continues. In many ways, it's just the beginning.

Boyd was known to have exposed his genitals to women and girls on several occasions. Flashing is often a sign that the offender is already committing more serious sexual offences, including against children. And through the course of reporting this podcast other victims of David Boyd have come forward. I'm Julie Bindle and this is Three Doors Down a murder, a mother and a 30-year investigation. Episode 5

Inquiry I've been mentioning for a few years about Bide. I was looking at that outsold, each one, and there I knew over the years Rwyf wedi bod yn gofyn amdano am fwy o flynedd oed. Roeddwn i'n edrych ar y ffordd y byddai'r cwbl yma, ac roeddwn i'n gwybod dros y blynedd, lle roeddwn i wedi mynd i'r cwbl yma, lle roedd Nicky wedi cael ei gyflwyno i'r ffyrdd o blant. Felly roeddwn i'n mynd i feddwl am bopeth, lle rwyf wedi bod gyda Nicky, y cwbl y mae Nicky wedi bod yn coming back to this same house and all I found out is that Caroline's husband was a paedophile and they lived in that house

and they lived three doors off my dad's door Sam tell me your name how you want to be identified on the podcast just Sam would be Sam, tell me your name, how you want to be identified on the podcast. Just Sam would be OK. Stacey Allen, Nicky's older sister, received a message after the trial of David Boyd.

It was from a woman named Sam. My God, you look about ten years younger than that. Oh, do I? Oh, thank you. You really do, actually. Sam is 37, is fair, has a softness to her voice and her eyes slightly narrow when she smiles. Well, Sina's name in the paper, I said to my mum, I said, I recognise that name from somewhere. And it was only when I started reading the article and I got to the bottom and I seen his face,

I said to my mum, I was like, oh, my God, that's him that had grabbed me when I was 13. I was absolutely horrified. It's a face you never forget, having a traumatic event like that. Sam was born and raised in the Stockton area. In 1999, the family moved to a new house near a park. So we played over there quite a lot. There was a big part of the park.

It had a tyre swing, monkey bars, climbing baits. There was like a wiggly slide, that's the only way to describe it. There was tree stumps further up. There was a cycle pathway. you could ride your bike. There was a football pitch. We'd race home from school, quickly get changed and then go straight over the park to meet our friends. It was just a normal Sunday.

We'd gone out to play with everybody. One of the friends says, why don't we play hide and seek? We were counting. There must have been about 12, between 10 and 12 of us. Everybody went off to hide. It was absolutely dead. There was not a soul in sight. We'd gone into this little bush place where we used to have a den.'d put a little carpet in there that's where we used to we used to sit up near the train line then all of a sudden this guy just appeared from from nowhere he walked over he grabbed hold of me and he grabbed hold of the girl who we were with and he asked us what what we were doing instantly i went into panic mode and I was like, oh, we're looking for our friend and his dog, thinking if I said a dog, it might scare him. He looked at me and he said to us,

don't scream. So instantly I just started screaming my head off as he moved forward. So he had a tight grip on me as if to say, I got you you're not going you're not going any anywhere it just my heart just went in my mouth I was so scared and I don't know where or how I found the energy to scream like like I did so I thought once I opened my mouth, I was that frightened. I didn't think anything was going to come out, but I just screamed at the top of my voice. And then he grabbed Sam's friend. He put his hand in a pocket and dragged it down, down under her, and he ended up touching her down there

before he then ended up running away. I'm screaming and shouting at her, telling her to hurry up and come on, and that's when we ran home. The fact that this stranger had come out of nowhere, I feared all sorts. Was I going to get into trouble off my parents? Was he going to kill me? My dad heard us scream and he come running out asking what had happened.

We told him what had happened and straight away told my mum to get on the phone to the police. Sam is quite exceptional in that she immediately told her mum and dad what had happened to her and then agreed to give a statement to the police. She was brave enough to pick Boyd out in a police ID parade despite being terrified when she saw him again. But most victims of sexual assault, particularly children, never report. Don't think they were taking it too serious at first, to be honest. They took statements and that, and that was it. We didn't hear anything else from it. Initially, the police failed to pick Boyd up for questioning.

But after pressure from Sam's mum, he was eventually arrested. He was convicted of sexual assault and sent to prison. Encountering Boyd was a life-changing experience. He was tall, skinny, big nose. I always remember his hand, on his right hand, he had three crosses just above his thumb. When he went to court, he was sentenced to 18 months, but he only done nine months. With him living in Stockton, myself living in Stockton as well, we often used to see him around in Stockton town centre. My mam used to go running after him, screaming and shouting,

you're a pervert, you're a nun. The impact of the assault has stayed with Sam. I ended up having nightmares. The way my bedroom was, there was a lamp in my bedroom. It looked like his shadow on the wall. So I had to move in the with with my twin brother. My mum had to separate the bunk beds. I was severely depressed and anxious. I went through a stage where I was slitting my wrists, I was cutting my arms because I just didn't want to feel like like I did. I went from being an outgoing bubbly girl to not wanting to go out, not wanting to do anything. I ended up becoming so depressed. It really did ruin my life. I didn't trust anybody. I wouldn't use the word survivor, but I do consider myself to be very, very lucky.

I do consider myself to be very, very lucky. I look back now and think, could I have been in Nicky's shoes back then? For 40 years, I've witnessed monumental police failures, from the Yorkshire Ripper investigation right through to David Boyd being free to harm other children for 30 years. Just when you might think that policing had significantly improved, police officers routinely fail to investigate sexual assaults and homicides of women and girls and often perpetrate such crimes themselves.

No wonder public confidence in policing is at an all-time low, No wonder public confidence in policing is at an all-time low. Something I would never have imagined when I was working to improve police practice 40 years ago. How is it that police failed to join the dots about the unsolved murder of Nicky Allen and a known child sex offender who lived three doors down from where Nicky disappeared in 1992? They're still getting things wrong, and the way they're treating me,

because I'm not the only one that's getting treated like this. I've supported a lot of families. During David Boyd's trial, Sharon was told by one of the officers that there was good news. The judge had allowed details of Boyd's previous convictions of child sex offences to be heard by the jury. Sam was one of those convictions. Sharon told me about this, clearly angry. She had responded by saying, If you had caught him 30 years ago, he wouldn't have been able to abuse all those other girls since.

He's been out doing what he wants, because you told him you weren't looking for him. The consequences of police failures in the investigations of both Boyd and of Billy Dunlop, and Ming's daughter's killer, are as far-reaching as they are dire. He'd got back with his girlfriend and he threatened to kill her. The police moved her to a safe house and he found where she was, charged with threats to kill, received a custodial sentence for that. Wasn't in prison all that long. Back out of prison, back in the area,

got him with another woman, got her pregnant, and he lived in one block of flats and she lived in another. They'd had a fallout and he was watching and he saw her come back to her flat with another man. So he went and got her a baseball bat and a barbecue skewer. But what he didn't know was her brother, this girl's brother, and his friends were coming back to the flat for a party. He didn't know that.

So he went into the flat, done with his baseball bat and barbecue skewer, and carried out an attack on the man and woman, his girlfriend. He hit the man that time with a bat on his face. He snapped the bat. He broke every facial bone in the man's face, stabbed her several times with a barbecue skewer. The reason they didn't both die was because her brother and his mates come in in the middle of this attack. Research tells us that men who get away with violence against women and girls will go on to commit further, often more heinous crimes.

But still, police ignore the risk posed by men like David Boyd and Billy Dunlop. I said, I'd like to ask the chief constable, I said, there's a murder walk on the streets of Billingham. I said, he murdered my daughter and there's a suspicion he's murdered another girl. I said, I just wonder when the police are going to get him off the streets before he kills anybody else. Anne is worried that Dunlop, who is eligible for parole soon, will come out and kill

her because she was instrumental in finally getting him convicted. I felt really, really angry and I felt as though they'd treat me like a neurotic mother and I think they just wanted me to shut up and go to sleep, but I would not. They may as well just say to me, the police, sit down and shut up and let us go home with it.

But just think for a moment. What would have happened if they had done this? Two dangerous men would have got away with murder and in all likelihood gone on to commit even more crimes against women and girls. On the steps of the court after Boyd's trial Lisa Theaker praised the police for their investigation. They had finally found him and they were not looking for any more victims. Sam's assault was one of the convictions that the police knew about.

New forensic techniques has been key in this investigation in identifying David Boyd. And the residents of Sunderland have also played their part in ensuring justice for Nicky and her family. I asked her about it in our face-to-face interview. Are you expecting other victims to come forward? So we have looked extensively around any other offending in Northumbria's area, Cleveland's area, Durham area to see whether there is anything potentially that we could link to him and we haven't found anything. Because it would be highly unusual, wouldn't it,

for a child killer to stop offending and to just retire from offending? On the day that Boyd was sentenced Sharon's lawyer Harriet Wistridge made a statement on the steps of the court in which she asked for any other victims of Boyd to contact either the police or her directly. Acast powers the world's best podcasts. Here's a show that we recommend. Hi, I'm Una Chaplin, and I'm the host of a new podcast called Hollywood Exiles.

podcast called Hollywood Exiles. It tells the story of how my grandfather, Charlie Chaplin, and many others were caught up in a campaign to root out communism in Hollywood. It's a story of glamour and scandal and political intrigue and a battle for the soul of the nation. Hollywood Exiles from CBC Podcasts and the BBC World Service. Find it wherever you get your podcasts. ACAST helps creators launch, grow and monetize their podcasts everywhere. ACAST.com A few weeks following Boyd's trial, I was contacted by a woman. She doesn't want us to use her real name, so we will call her Vanessa. Her words are read by an actor.

I felt him before I saw him. His leg was pushed up against my back and I was bending over slightly to get the ice pops out. Then I felt his hand grab my bottom hard, sort of like pinching it. I just stood there in shock and he was still grabbing me. His hand just stayed there. I didn't know how long I stood there for, but at some stage he moved and got hold of me around the waist. He moved his hand up and down as though he was trying to get into the waistband of my skirt.

He pushed himself against me, and I wondered what would happen if he pulled down my skirt. And then all of a sudden he left. I think because the woman who ran the shop came down to get something out of the freezer and he might have been frightened and she'd seen what he was doing. I was bruised around my bottom and my leg. I don't think anybody saw what happened. I didn't get the ice pop. I just left the

shop and went and sat on a bench or a wall or something for ages before I went home. I've never forgotten what happened to me or what he looked like. It was the man that I saw on the telly who was on trial for the murder of that little girl. Looking back I don't think I've ever been the same since. I used to be quite carefree as a child, but I started to hate going to school, and especially walking back. I don't feel sorry for myself, it's that little girl I feel sorry for, and anyone else he might have hurt. Since I saw his face on the telly, that's what keeps me awake at night.

Speaking to Vanessa, I felt so angry at how the police had messed this up again. I've been campaigning to improve policing on men's violence towards women and girls for more than 40 years. And I've never been as disheartened as I am right now. Despite the fact that laws have been changed, public awareness about these issues are at an all-time high, but confidence in policing such crimes is at an all-time low. The abuse of power of one man and one institution has left women across the country asking how it happened. Not least, the women Wayne Cousins directly targeted. For more than two decades, David Carrick,

a serial rapist, hid behind his police uniform, telling women nobody would believe them because he was an officer. But today, after spending years imprisoning and controlling his victims, it was Carrick in police custody. It is a landmark ruling and vindication for two of the victims of the black cab rapist John Warboys. They had argued that their treatment by police, who didn't believe them, caused them mental harm. Today, judges at the Supreme Court agreed they were failed, ruling that police can be held liable for

serious failings. From where I am, it feels like we are going backwards. At the heart of these cases, highlighted by Anne Ming and Sharon Henderson, are two extraordinary women. But it's not just about them. It's also about how policing in Britain is broken. You are the hero, today and every day. Today wouldn't have happened.

Shame on the police for everything they've done. And let's hope that they get properly held to account for all of their failings in the past. He is going down the steps for 29 years as a sole result of your unfailing determination to get justice for Nikki. You have paid her the greatest honour, the greatest honour to your beautiful daughter because you have relentlessly, unfailingly sought justice. They may as well just say it to me, the police. Sit down and shut up and let us go on with it. Because I know they're not doing the jobs wrong

and there's that much injustice in Nikki's case. We'll not sit down. a le rwsgaron am yr eid. Oherwydd rwy'n gwybod nad ydyn nhw'n gwneud y swyddi yn iawn ac mae'r llaw o ddifrif yn ei achos. Dwi ddim yn gwneud y swydd. Ond mae rhai teuluoedd yn sgwytio i siarad. Oherwydd maen nhw'n cael eu treulio i'w weld fel os oeddwn i'n dweud siwr i ddim yn gwneud y swydd

ac nid yw'r danedd yn gwneud hynny. I can't speak. This series was reported by me, Julie Bindle. It was written by me and Joanna Humphreys. The producer was Joanna Humphreys. The narrative editor was Gary Marshall. The sound design and original theme is by Tom Kinsella. The executive producer was Jasper Corbett. Thanks for listening.

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