Life Means Life Page 18

  Weeks later, on New Year’s Eve 1974, Hardy went out drunk and armed with a kitchen knife to look for Beverley and her boyfriend. He saw Lesley Stewart getting out of a car in Ten Acre Lane in Harpurhey, Manchester. The driver said: ‘Goodnight, Lesley’ but in his drunken stupor, Hardy thought the driver had said ‘Goodnight, Beverley’. He grabbed the girl and asked: ‘Do you remember me, Beverley?’ Lesley replied: ‘What do you want?’ and in response Hardy lashed out at her with a knife and cut her throat. Watching her die, he realised he had killed the wrong girl, but he wrote in his statement: ‘I didn’t give a damn after what I’d been through.’

  He dragged Lesley’s body to a hollow and partially covered it with grass. Afterwards, he went home to watch a Hogmanay TV show with his mother, then returned later to the corpse and buried it completely with soil and turf near to Moston Brook High School. In the weeks afterwards, he visited the shallow grave several times to mutilate the corpse. He cut off her head and threw it in a lake, then dismembered other limbs with his hands so the victim’s identity could not be revealed. He wrote: ‘The body on the canal got dissected to destroy the evidence. Kiddies from Moston Brook School have actually seen me at the grave.’

  Hardy removed Lesley’s watch and ring and gave them to Shelagh Farrow, who washed the ring before slipping it onto her engagement finger. He had told his girlfriend the whole story: ‘I told her why I had knifed the girl. If ever a man should have been born dumb, it was me.’

  Police launched a search for Lesley’s skeleton after Hardy’s statement and found her buried where he said. Though unable to identify the body, they had no reason to question his story.

  Of Wanda Skala’s murder, Hardy wrote in his statement: ‘The murder started as a robbery, but the girl struggled. I hit her on the jaw. She collapsed and I carried her round behind some boards and left her. Then I went back, tried to strangle the girl, but couldn’t, so I picked up a brick and hit her in the face four times. I had been reading a book from the library on murders and had read about the Heath case and decided to make it look like a sex attack.’ (Neville Heath was hanged in 1946 for murdering two girls whom he sexually mutilated.) Hardy took Wanda’s handbag and her bloodstained clothing as grisly mementoes, which he kept in a secret bolt-hole tunnelled into a wall. He was an early suspect for her killing, but his girlfriend Shelagh told detectives that on the night in question, he had not been out of her sight.

  His third victim, Sharon Mossoph, disturbed him as he attempted to break into a shop while she was on her way home from her work party. Hardy promptly attacked Sharon, stabbing her with a screwdriver and strangling her. He then desecrated her body, making it look like a sex attack, and then threw it in the canal. Hardy wrote that he returned home to Shelagh Farrow, made love, then went on the run. Fearing he had left clues, he went back to Sharon’s body and slashed the area where he had bitten off her nipple to disguise his teeth imprints.

  DCI Bennion said of Hardy: ‘He’s one of the strangest, coldest men I’ve ever met. Physically, he’s like a whippet – small, but tremendously tough, and completely unemotional. He’s never ever shown any remorse or even emotion. No one really knows him. Why did he kill like this? There was no real reason.’

  Hardy, who was 31 when he committed his final murder, struck fear into others even as a small boy. His mother, Edith Hardy, admitted: ‘We always knew there was something wrong with Trevor. Even as a child he frightened me. It all stems from an accident he had when he was a child. Apparently a sliver of bone was dislodged in his head and sometimes it presses on part of his brain. It’s when that happens that he erupts.’

  His brother Colin said of Hardy’s brain condition: ‘When you get excited, or when you’ve drunk a lot of alcohol, your brain expands slightly. It is then that the bone touches the brain and so triggers the violence.’

  Hardy’s long criminal record began with a housebreaking conviction at the age of eight. The archetypal school bully, he underwent almost every category of punishment in the judicial system. Approved schools (from which he escaped 14 times), remand homes and borstals could not control him. He was convicted of robbery with violence when he was just 14. A relative said: ‘He was always thieving – and even when they put him away he would be out again and on the run within days.’ Hardy’s crimes became increasingly violent and soon he had a criminal record of 147 convictions. His only previous sex offence was in 1968, when he was sent to jail for one month for indecent exposure.

  Former schoolmates from St Mary’s Road Secondary School, Newton Heath, recall that Hardy would try to impress or intimidate pupils and teachers. Once, when a woman teacher slapped his face after a four-letter torrent of abuse, he retaliated by trying to grab her throat. ‘Everyone was frightened of him,’ one ex-pupil recalled. ‘He was a nasty boy who became an evil young man. His mere presence was enough to put people on edge.’ Another said: ‘Trevor was small, but incredibly strong. He was impossible to put down in a fight.’

  Despite his written confession, Hardy pleaded not guilty when he appeared before Mr Justice Caulfield at Manchester Crown Court in April 1977. Three days into his trial he admitted manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility, a plea not accepted by the Crown and the trial continued.

  During the trial, a leading psychiatrist told the court that Hardy was ‘a woman-hater who could kill again.’ He was capable of murder, ‘undoubtedly at any time, and for many years,’ said Dr Michael Tarsh, Consultant Psychiatrist to Hope and Prestwich Hospitals. The expert said the accused derived ‘aggressive sexual satisfaction’ from mutilating the bodies of his victims. He remarked on ‘the lack of care, the callousness or remorselessness in the way he [Hardy] talked about what he had done.’ This, together with other evidence, led him to the conclusion that his patient was ‘so psychopathic that his responsibility for these crimes must be seriously diminished.’

  On the ninth day of the trial, the jury had to decide whether Hardy suffered any abnormality of the mind which might have impaired responsibility for his acts. In his summing-up, the judge said: ‘The defendant drank heavily. He fought, and he has beaten up members of his family. He is very strong and is proud of his good physique. How, and why, Lesley Stewart was killed, only he himself knows. Indeed, it is only the defendant’s admission that fixes the killing on him. Did he murder her, or have the defence proved an abnormality of mind that substantially impairs his mental responsibility?’

  On 3 May 1977, Hardy was found guilty and given life for the murders of Lesley Stewart, Wanda Skala and Sharon Mossoph. The courtroom echoed with claps and cheers when the verdicts were delivered. The judge told him: ‘This is a happy place but it will be happier without you.’

  Shelagh Farrow received no punishment for covering for Hardy, much to the disgust of the victims’ families.

  In 1995, Sharon’s father, Ralph Mossoph, asked for a reassurance from Home Secretary Michael Howard that Hardy would never be allowed out of prison, after hearing of a leaked list of whole life sentence killers. He was horrified that Sharon’s killer did not appear among them and wanted to know why.

  Mr Mossoph said: ‘If such a list exists, then it should be made public so everyone knows whose names are on it. All people talk about are Hindley and Brady and people like the Ripper, but Hardy was a vicious and sadistic killer, who had a criminal record from the age of eight. It is coming up to the time when he might just be considered for parole and we need to have an assurance that he will die in jail. He is a menace to society and must never be allowed out.’

  Finally in 1997, after years of inquiries, Mr Mossoph received a letter from the Home Office, giving him the news that the killer of his 17-year-old daughter would never be released. He said at the time: ‘I feel like I’ve won the Lottery – I am just so happy. I don’t know why it has taken all this time.’

  ‘LOCAL HARD MAN’

  ‘The reasons I did it – well, I’ll be keeping to myself.’

  Vinter (to police)

  Name:
Gary Vinter

  Crime: Double murder

  Date of Conviction: 21 April 2008

  Age at Conviction: 37

  On 2 August 1995 Railtrack signalman Gary Vinter entered a cabin near his signal box at Grangetown, Middlesbrough, to ‘pass some time’ with his colleague Carl Edon. Carl, 22, who was working as a relief train repairer, ended up stabbed to death and the cabin awash with his blood.

  After the killing, Vinter, then 26, went back to his signal box to ensure everything was in order for the passage of trains on his stretch of line. Next, he drove to the police station at nearby South Bank, where he admitted the attack.

  Vinter, a well known local hardman, who stands at 6ft 7in tall, was anxious the police should contact Railtrack’s control room to inform them his signal box was unmanned. He was worried his absence might cause trains to crash. Vinter also drew police a map, directing them to the remote stretch of track where the cabin was located.

  When interviewed by detectives, Vinter denied murdering his colleague, claiming manslaughter on the grounds of provocation. The case went to trial the following May.

  Teesside Crown Court heard from pathologist Dr James Sunter, who said knife wounds were found over a wide area of Carl’s body, suggesting a violent struggle. He had been stabbed 13 times with two knives. When the first knife broke, a second one was used to continue the attack. The last knife was still in the body when police arrived, with the broken one laid on the floor nearby.

  Martin Bethel QC, defending Vinter, said there was no evidence of premeditation in the attack and that the killing arose out of a ‘short-lived incident’. Giving evidence, Vinter said he and Carl had had an argument and that he had laughed at Carl when he shouted at him because he had never seen him lose his temper before. He said Carl then threatened to kill him and grabbed a knife from the sink. Vinter claimed he wrestled the knife from his colleague’s hand and stabbed him in the struggle.

  For the prosecution, Guy Whitburn, QC, argued that stabbing someone so ferociously that a knife breaks, then fetching another knife to continue the attack, were the actions of a very dangerous man. The jury agreed and found him guilty of murder. On 21 May 1996, he was sentenced to life in prison.

  The judge reserved his decision on the exact length of sentence until September of that year when he recommended a minimum term of 12 years. Carl’s girlfriend, Michelle Robertson, received notification of the killer’s sentence in a letter from the Prison Service.

  Michelle, 20, and Carl had two daughters together. When she learnt of Vinter’s sentence, their eldest, Sophie, was nearly three, while Karla, who was born after her dad died and named in his memory, was about to turn one. Michelle, who lived with Edon in Middlesbrough, was angry that Vinter could kill her boyfriend in such a frenzied manner and receive ‘such a low sentence.’ She said at the time: ‘It’s not only an insult to me and his two children, but it doesn’t dignify his name. I’m also scared that he’ll be out sooner than 12 years, with good behaviour. I couldn’t cope with it being so soon.’ She added: ‘I won’t stand for it. I’m writing to the parole board, my MP and the Home Office about this.’

  Her worst fears were realised when, with favourable reports indicating he was a model prisoner, the Parole Board chose to release Vinter early and he was back on the streets in August 2005. When he was jailed for the murder of Carl Edon, Vinter was already an intimidating sight. During his 10 years in prison he became an obsessive bodybuilder, using anabolic steroids to pump up his physique. On his release, Vinter was a giant of a man with an already-bad temper made worse by steroid use.

  In a series of home visits from prison between 2003 and his release, Vinter met and courted Anne White, a pretty mum-of-four from Middlesbrough. They moved in together in the town’s Eston area and married in July 2006. But friends and family were concerned about the relationship from the start. Those fears would later prove to be well-founded.

  On New Year’s Eve 2006, Vinter was involved in a brutal fight outside the Miners Arms pub near his home in Eston. He found himself back in the dock at Teesside Crown Court in July 2007, along with fellow brawlers Thomas Hoe, 22, Geoffrey Ewart, 40, and Carl Ewart, 19. CCTV footage played to the court showed the men piling out of the pub. There followed a lengthy fight between Hoe and the Ewarts. Vinter – who the court heard had earlier been hit across the back of the head with a glass – was seen delivering a ‘mighty blow’ to Geoffrey Ewart, knocking him to the ground and bringing the fight to an end.

  Judge George Moorhouse said it was a ‘horrific scene, enough to terrify any passer-by.’ For his part in the fracas, Vinter – out on life licence – was sent back to jail for six months. Again, he was released early from prison after behaving ‘impeccably’ inside. He was back on the streets in December of that year. Two months later, in the early hours of 11 February 2008, he murdered again. This time the victim was his wife.

  When the case came to Teesside Crown Court on 21 April 2008, prosecution counsel Jamie Hill told how in the fortnight leading up to her death, Anne, 40, had told friends that she wanted to leave her violent bully of a husband, but she was afraid he would come after her. Then, five days before the murder, Vinter went berserk during a row and smashed up a TV set. He moved out, taking Anne’s passport with him.

  She did not see or hear from Vinter again until he spotted her out drinking with friends on the night she died. He stalked his wife round pubs in Eston and nearby Normanby. Fuelled by alcohol, cocaine and the anabolic steroids he took for bodybuilding, Vinter became paranoid and jealous, wrongly believing Anne was exchanging text messages with another man.

  Trouble flared at the Miners Arms – the pub where Vinter had the New Year’s Eve brawl – when he argued with Anne and her 16-year-old daughter Paige. The argument spilled outside and Vinter ordered Anne into the back seat of his friend’s car, where onlookers saw him screaming at his cowering wife. The two men with Vinter, Phillip James and Andrew Drury, both 22, grew nervous of the muscle-bound older man, of whom they had previously been ‘in awe’. Before they dropped the pair off at Vinter’s mother’s home in Normanby, Anne said to them: ‘You don’t know what you’re getting yourselves into, being with him.’

  Alerted by Anne’s friends, police began looking for the couple. But when they called Anne on her mobile, she said she was out drinking in town and having fun, apparently in a bid to appease her maniacal husband. The court heard that later that night Vinter called the police, trying to convince them she was safe and well at home. Less than half an hour later, she was dead.

  After killing his wife, a breathless Vinter phoned for the young men who had earlier dropped them both off to come and collect him from his mother’s. When they arrived, the agitated, sweating hulk climbed into the back seat and yelled: ‘Go, go!’ Minutes later, Vinter – his hands and T-shirt covered in his wife’s blood – used Anne’s mobile to ring the police and report her murder. He said: ‘Right, my name’s Gary Vinter. I’m solely responsible for the death of my wife. There’s nobody else involved, just me. I killed my wife. That’s all I’m prepared to say.’

  Vinter’s mother, who had been asleep upstairs during the killing, found her daughter-in-law’s body on her kitchen floor. In a chilling echo of his first murder 13 years earlier, two knives – one of them broken in half – were laid next to her. Anne, who weighed less than half Vinter’s 20 stone, had been strangled and then stabbed four times, with a single wound to her heart.

  When police found Vinter at around 2am, they had to subdue him with baton rounds. Finally handcuffed, he said: ‘I’m a convicted murderer. Nobody’s going to take a blind bit of notice of what I’ve got to say. I’ll be pleading guilty at the earliest opportunity; I will not be running a trial.’

  Later interviewed, he said that he and his wife were trying to patch up their differences, but other people had interfered, making him lose his temper. He told detectives that he ‘felt bad about it’ but said he could not help himself, that he was ‘beyond angry’ and that
he ‘knew it was going to happen.’ He added: ‘The reasons I did it – well, I’ll be keeping to myself.’ He directed his lawyer, Brian Russell, to offer no mitigation whatsoever on his behalf.

  Vinter, wearing a tight white T-shirt that showed off his pumped-up physique, smirked when Judge Peter Fox, QC, the Recorder of Middlesbrough, told him: ‘Regrettably you are incapable of self-control. Your extreme violence to others cannot be viewed as other than continuing for as far as can be seen. You therefore fall into that relatively small category of people who should be deprived permanently of their liberty in a civilised society. It is a whole life sentence.’

  The public gallery, filled with friends and family of both his murder victims, rose to its feet as Vinter was led away, with shouts of ‘Rot in hell!’

  Once Vinter was caged, Anne’s father Jim White, 71, wondered why he was allowed back out of prison after the pub brawl. He said: ‘When a man’s got life and gets parole after 10 years, surely if he breaks that parole, he goes back and finishes the life sentence?

  ‘All we want to know is why he didn’t finish his sentence when he went in. He was only out two months when he murdered her. It’s unbelievable. It’s broke us all, the whole family. She was our only girl and she’s gone.’

  Anne’s mother Peggy, 62, said: ‘He’s never given any reason, nothing. She was a beautiful woman. She did everything for him. She was terrified of him.’

  Val Edon, the mother of Vinter’s first victim, said: ‘When we heard he had killed again, it traumatised us. If he hadn’t been let out, it wouldn’t have happened. Ten years was not a life sentence – it is the ones left behind who are serving a life sentence.’

  Mrs Edon told reporters that it was ‘marvellous news’ that her son’s killer would die in prison. She said: ‘He is not going to get out again. I feel so sorry for the other family that they have had to go through what we have been through; we know exactly how they are feeling at this present time. It takes an awful long time to recover. Your life is never the same again; you never get over it. My son had two small children.’