Clydach murders near Swansea 1999 miscarriage of justice

[TonyGosling]

This is organised crime within the police - just the same pattern as in 1985
The savage 1985 Swansea sex shop murder that saw two vulnerable men wrongly jailed and may never be solved
https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/swansea-sex-shop-murder- sandra-16210390
Sandra Phillips was found in a pool of blood in the Private Shop in Swansea more than three decades ago but her killer has never been caught
- By Sandra Hembery 5 MAY 2019
It was one of the most brutal murders ever to take place in Swansea.
On June 14, 1985, sex shop manager and mother-of-four Sandra Phillips was sexually assaulted, struck about the head, and eventually strangled.
Petrol was sprayed around the Private Shop in Dillwyn Street but it was not set alight.
That was how the shop was found when area manager Anthony Williams called there. He arrived just before 2pm and found it closed.
It was when he unlocked the door using spare keys and found Mrs Phillips in a pool of blood that a long-running murder inquiry began.
An old-fashioned telephone handset, believed to have been used in the attack, and Mrs Phillips’ set of keys were missing and both have never been found.
Despite exhaustive investigations over several years, and the wrongful conviction and jailing of two men, the brutal murder 34 years ago remains unsolved.
The murder of Sandra Phillips may never be solvedHours after the death journalists and passers-by gathered as police began their probe.
Among them were Wayne and Paul Darvell, two homeless brothers who lived in hostels by night and swigged on cider by day.
The brothers were pulled in as part of the police investigation. They were well-known to the police for petty crimes but, as the questioning continued, Wayne Darvell made a series of confessions.
He claimed he had been present at the murder and had seen his brother Paul carry it out, although Paul Darvell always maintained his innocence.
The Darvell brothers, Paul and WayneThe Darvell brothers, Paul and Wayne (Image: Media Wales)
The police’s case centred around Wayne’s confession – and the fact they had been seen by many people near the shop, with some reporting seeing them with a container which could have had petrol in it.
But, despite carrying out forensic tests on the brothers’ clothes, they found no traces connecting them to what had been a frenzied attack in the blood-spattered premises.
The brothers were, though, charged with murder. An eight-week trial followed and the pair were sentenced to life in prison on June 19, 1986, with a recommendation that Paul serve at least 20 years and Wayne 15.
Later an investigation by BBC’s Rough Justice programme found something was not right about Wayne’s confessions.
The scene outside the sex shop as police investigate the murderIt was the start of a major investigation (Image: Media Wales)
He had told police he would take them to the murder weapon but no weapon was found. He showed them a charity collection box he allegedly stole from the shop but it was from a different shop. And he gave details of a St Christopher medal he said he had taken from the dead woman but she didn’t have a St Christopher.
It turned out that Wayne was a serial confessor. His former teacher at a special school said he was forever confessing to things he hadn’t done.
It was more than enough to cast doubt on the convictions and after spending seven years in prison the Neath brothers were released by the Court of Appeal in 1992.

Albert Kirby, the former head of Merseyside CID who led the investigation into the death of toddler James Bulger, reviewed the case in 2002.
An appeal on the BBC’s Crimewatch programme threw up new leads and a fresh investigation started in 2004 but was closed five years later.
The South Wales Police team completed the recommendations made following the review but they said in 2009 that “all lines of inquiry and forensic opportunities have been exhausted”.
Mrs Phillips was 38 when she diedMrs Phillips was 38 when she died (Image: Media Wales)
The force apologised for the shortcomings of the original 1985 investigation but said, despite hitting a brick wall, staff remained fully committed in attempting to bring those responsible for Mrs Phillips’ murder to justice.
Detective Superintendent Paul Burke said in 2009: “It is important to stress an investigation is never completely closed and any new information which is received will be fully investigated.”
The two brothers wrongly accused of the heinous crime were later awarded £80,000 in compensation for the time spent in prison.
In March 2005 Paul Darvell, then 42, was found dead at his home in what police said was a non-suspicious death.
spokesman for South Wales Police said recently: “All historic murder cases, often referred to in the media as ‘cold cases’, are allocated to the Specialist Crime Review Unit and remain under active consideration and will be subject of re-investigation as and when new information is received or when there are advances in forensic science.

[TonyGosling]

At last the jitter-free version of this documentary for which you have all been praying

Link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIugNYZ14dg

Here is the previous version - lots of interesting comments https://youtu.be/Oo_gH4EEYIM

And the previous BBC documentary from around 2000

Link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r30APIoE3XQ

Campaigners rally for man convicted of killing four members of the same family
https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/free-dai-morris-clydach- murders-17345351
Helen Hignett
https://www.facebook.com/helen.hignett
Clydach killer David Morris is serving a whole life sentence but supporters believe he is innocent
Campaigners rallied in Swansea city centre calling for a man convicted of multiple murders to be freed.
David Morris was sentenced to four life sentences in 2002 following the horrific murders of Mandy Power, 34, her daughters Katie, 10, and Emily, eight, and her mother Doris Dawson, 80, who were all beaten to death in Clydach in June, 1999.
Morris' conviction was later quashed in 2005 and retrial was ordered after judges ruled that a conflict of interest involving a member of his legal team meant he had not received a fair trial.
However, in 2006, he was again convicted on four counts of murder.
Although failing in his attempts to get the verdicts overturned, Morris has always protested his innocence.
On Sunday morning, scores backing the campaign staged a protest in Swansea City Centre. Gathered in Castle Square carrying green and yellow balloons and ribbons, they handed out leaflets and chanted "Free Dai Morris".

The notorious Clydach murders
The Clydach murders were the most brutal multiple killings in Welsh history.
The brutal murder of three generations of a Swansea Valley family shocked the nation back in 1999 and led to one of the biggest murder investigations South Wales Police has ever seen.
Mandy Power, aged 34, her daughters Katie, 10, and Emily, eight, (all pictured) and their grandmother Doris Dawson, 80, were killed at their Kelvin Road home in Clydach.
First the killer entered his victims’ home, went upstairs and smashed a heavy fibreglass pole repeatedly into the face of 80-year-old invalid grandmother Doris Dawson.
When Mandy and her daughters arrived home, he killed them in identical, sadistic fashion.
The killer set fire to incinerate all trace of his actions.
Three years after the crimes, builder David Morris, now 55, was handed four life sentences for killing Mandy, 34, and her family.
The group's ultimate aim is to raise political awareness in the hope of forcing the case back open.
Geraint Evans, who helps to run the group, said at Sunday's rally: "There's massive support for him, not only in Swansea but across the UK.
"We are here to raise awareness in Swansea for the people who are not on social media.
"The members just keep growing and at the moment we are getting between 200 and 300 a day."
Donna Hayes, from Penlan, was at the rally to "raise awareness" of the campaign.
"I believe that Dai is innocent," the 49-year-old said.
"I don't know the family but I feel strongly that he should not be where he is.
"I'm here to raise more awareness and to hopefully see if anyone can come through with more evidence that can help to get him released."

A lesbian affair
In the days and weeks after the Clydach murders, the public became gripped with the revelations about Mandy Power's lesbian relationship with a married police officer.
It emerged that Mandy's lover was a former women police sergeant married to a male officer who was the identical twin brother of a local police inspector who was the first officer on the scene.
All three police officers were arrested and repeatedly interviewed however none were charged.
It was only three years later that David Morris (pictured) faced court and was jailed for life.
Also at the event in Swansea was Michael O’Brien, who spent more than 11 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit.
In recent weeks a social media group calling for Morris's release has gone from hundreds of members to almost 13,000.
David Jones, 65, from Penlan, said that the increase in the number of members and the turn-out on Sunday morning "shows how strong the feeling is" for Morris.
Darren Protheroe had travelled from Carmarthen to attend the rally as he has been supporting the campaign since it began.
The 41-year-old, originally from Gendros in Swansea, said that he is "hoping to see Dai Morris's case reviewed by the Criminal Cases Review Commision (CCRC)."
The group of campaigners met in Castle Square before heading to Maggie Dicks in Brynhyfryd where their previous public meeting was held.
Present at that meeting was former solicitor John Morris, who wrote the controversial 2017 book, The Clydach Murders: A Miscarriage of Justice.
"Whether you like Dai Morris or not doesn’t really matter," he had told the meeting. "Looking at the case from a totally objective point of view I can only come to the conclusion that he must be innocent.