A blundering police officer failed to check John Cannan’s alibi for the day Suzy Lamplugh went missing because he fell out with her mother, believing she was behind media stories linking the murderer to her daughter.
An official Met Police review of the initial enquiry showed Detective Superintendent Malcolm Hackett thought Suzy’s mother Diana Lamplugh was behind media reports linking Cannan to the 25-year-old estate agent, who disappeared in 1986.
He was so prejudiced by this view he did not put Cannan in any ID line-ups, check for his alibi on the day Suzy vanished, failed to properly interview him and told his team to eliminate him as a suspect, according to The Sun.
Suzy’s parents raised concerns about Cannan and thought he might be a potential suspect after their daughter disappeared in 1986 after showing a man called ‘Mr Kipper’ around a house in Fulham, West London.
Estate agent Miss Lamplugh, 25, (pictured) disappeared in 1986, having left her West London offices to meet a mystery client known only as Mr Kipper, whom police believe is convicted killer John Cannan (right)
Diane and Paul Lamplugh, parents of estate agent Suzy Lamplugh, died before finding out who murdered their daughter. Detective Superintendent Malcolm Hackett thought Suzy’s mother Diana Lamplugh (pictured left) was behind media reports linking Cannan to the 25-year-old estate agent
The parents of Suzy were thought to have a good relationship with team is charge of her investigation, until Det Supt Hackett took over.
The Met Police review report, written 14 years ago said: ‘This appears to have influenced Mr Hackett into never seriously considering Cannan as a person who could have abducted and murdered Suzy.’
‘This influenced Mr Hackett when he made a number of key decisions concerning John Cannan.’
Cannan was eventually questioned four months after his arrest for the murder of Shirley Banks but in March 1989 Hackett wrote there was ‘no evidence that Cannan committed any offence against Suzy Lamplugh.’
The review report adds the strategy for investigation was ‘strange’, for example when Cannan was questioned in February 1988 it was not under caution and Cannan’s alibi that he was talking to a sales assistant in Birmingham on the day Suzy disappeared was not properly evaluated.
Yesterday police continued digging for the body of the murdered estate agent in the former garden of John Cannan’s mother.
Detectives believe John Cannan is responsible for one of Britain’s most infamous unsolved murders and a team is pulling up a patio and smashing through concrete at his mother Sheila’s former home in Sutton Coldfield today.
Police have been searching the old iron corrugated garage at John Cannan’s mother Sheila’s former home in Sutton Coldfield
A police officer pulls away a waterproof cover from the area around the garage (left) that police fear Suzy’s body may have been for decades. Her brother Richard (right) has told MailOnline they are hoping for closure
Police have sealed off the home where Cannan’s mother lived until 1992 – and it is known her killer son had returned here after several of his crimes
A forensics tent has been put up in the back garden today amid claims Suzy may have been covered in concrete
The current owners of the house have allowed police officers to tear down the garage where John Cannan worked on his cars
Cannan, a convicted killer and rapist who was interviewed three times in jail, is currently serving 35 years for the murder of Shirley Banks in 1987 – but Suzy’s missing body means he has never faced trial.
Her bereft parents Paul and Diana died never knowing what happened to her. Today’s search centred on a garage amid claims Suzy’s body may have been dumped in a car-inspection pit used by Cannan and filled with concrete.
The suburban home’s current owner has also revealed that 15 years ago a police team spent six months searching the patio at the other end of the same backyard.
And Suzy’s brother Richard Lamplugh told MailOnline: ‘It has been a long time and we have had our expectations raised before but it would nice if we could finally have some closure. After all these years it would be wonderful to finally be able to bury Suzy in a place of our choosing and not have her under some house’.
Cannan was identified as a suspect in the Lamplugh murder after he was arrested for murdering Shirley Banks a year after Suzy was abducted.
Police investigating Suzy’s disappearance are believed to have gone to his mother’s home then because of his habit of returning their after committing crimes.
Mr Lamplugh said: ‘We have had a celebration of her life before, but it would be wonderful to have another one when we have found her body. That would mean after all these years we can say our own proper goodbye.
‘No one knows what they will find or if it will turn out to be another false hope. We have had 35 years of our hopes being raised and then dashed. Perhaps this time we will finally know what happened to her. That will be the closure we all want’.
Today officers including experts who helped search for Madeleine McCann in Portugal are using specialist equipment to scan and dig up concrete at his mother Sheila’s former home in Sutton Coldfield – but the Metropolitan Police will not say what prompted the new excavation work.
Workers from private contractors Alecto could be heard using angle grinders to saw through the concrete base of the former inspection pit.
One neighbour said: ‘The police came round to tell us there was going to be some disruption and the cordon leading up the path by the house was going to be in place for some time.
‘I heard an officer saying the search of the area could take weeks. If they do find her [Suzy] it’s just a shame it came after her parents died.
‘I feel sorry for Mr and Mrs Carey because it’s their garden which is being dug up and they’re house under siege from police and the media and it really has nothing to do with them.
‘If it gives the family some final answers as to what happened to her then it’ll be worth it.’
Police officers could be seen loading chunks of masonry into skips while forensic experts scoured the area for clues.
The extraordinary development came 15 years after police first named Cannan as their ‘only suspect’ and a prisoner serving with Cannan then told police he heard Suzy was buried under the patio the suspect laid there while wearing a blood-spattered coat.
In 1992 the suburban property was sold to Phillip Carey, 52, and today he revealed officers were searching his garden from November 2003 to the spring of 2004 but only concentrated on a patio area by the back door.
He said: ‘They knew what they were looking for. It was just patio they were looking at’.
Cold case detectives returned a few months ago asking for access again and the search now centres on the garage at the rear of the garden amid claims Suzy’s body may have been dumped in a car-inspection pit and filled with concrete.
Mr Carey said: ‘We know they’re digging for a body. It was a mechanic’s inspection pit which had been filled in with concrete before we moved in’.
One neighbour said: ‘The police came round to tell us there was going to be some disruption and the cordon leading up the path by the house was going to be in place for some time. I heard an officer saying the search of the area could take weeks. If they do find her (Suzy) it’s just a shame it came after her parents died.
‘I feel sorry for Mr and Mrs Carey because it’s their garden which is being dug up and they’re house under siege from police and the media and it really has nothing to do with them. If it gives the family some final answers as to what happened to her then it’ll be worth it.’
Police have begun digging up a concrete floor of a garage at the rear of the house in Sutton Coldfield where Cannan often stayed and tinkered with his cars. Richard Lamplugh, 58, said his sister Tamsin telephoned him at his home in Aberdeen last night to tell him a new search had begun.
Current home owner Phillip Carey (left) who bought the house off Sheila Cannan in 1992 and confirmed police had searched the garden in 2003 but found nothing. Detective superintendent Jim Dickie (right), who led the investigation to find Suzy Lamplugh’s body, today defended the decision not to dig up the garden 15 years ago
Specialist officers are scanning the concrete for any signs of Suzy’s remains and hopefully solve the notorious crimes
Officers including experts who helped search for Madeleine McCann in Portugal are using specialist equipment to scan and dig up concrete at Cannan’s mother Sheila’s former home
Police are pulling up paving slabs and smashing through two different types of concrete as they hunt for human remains
He said: ‘I really do hope that this is the last time that we go through this, and then we can move on to the next stage, whatever that is. It would be so nice to know we can lay Suzy to rest. That is what we have wanted for all these years.
The father-of-two said he was not personally contacted by the Metropolitan Police about the new dig as they informed his sister Tam that a new search had begun.
‘Tam called me and we are both pleased that something new is happening, he said. ‘We would much rather be able to give Suzy a proper burial of our choosing and not leave her under some house.’
Mr Lamplugh, who works as a technician at a school in Aberdeen, said he has kept the memory of his sister alive by talking about her to his two daughters.
In 1992 the suburban property was sold to Mr Carey, and today he revealed officers were searching his garden from November 2003 to the spring of 2004 but only concentrated on an area by the back door.
He said: ‘They knew what they were looking for. It was just patio they were looking at’.
Cold case detectives returned a few months ago asking for access again.
Mr Carey said: ‘We know they’re digging for a body. It was a mechanic’s inspection pit which had been filled in with concrete before we moved in’.
Mr Carey, who works in marketing for an insurance company, said: ‘The police were looking at a corrugated iron shed at the back of the garden.
‘They’ve pulled it down and I think they’re going to start digging it up in case they find anything underneath it.
‘If nothing is found then we go on as normal but if it goes the other way and they find her remains then at least someone has got a final end to this horrendous story. We just used to keep gardening stuff in it and a sprinkler for the garden.
‘My kids used to play there and we had a trampoline in the garden next to the shed. We just have to wait until the police conclude their search. We’re all up in the air at the moment’.
He added: ‘We have been here very happily for 26 years. If they find the body would we move? That is the million dollar question we really don’t know – we have talked about it but from our point of view we are happy here’.
Mr Carey, who has a son Alex, 13, and daughter Amy, 15, said police first contacted him in 2003 when they considered digging up their patio.
He said: ‘They had looked at the patio in 2003 and it was discounted at that moment, it’s directly outside the backdoor. They traced when the patio stones were bought, who they were bought from and this is ten years afterwards.
‘I could not tell you if the shed was investigated by police in 2003. When the police turned up again a few months ago it was a bit of a surprise but obviously knowing the back story it was just a matter of going through the process either to bring the story to a conclusion, or eliminating us from the process’.
In 2003 and 2004 police concentrated on this area of paving by the back door but ruled out Suzy could be under it – they are now looking at concrete and paving right at the rear of the property
Trucks and a skip are in the alleyway to take away the rubble from the patio and garage as they scan and dig for evidence
A grid system rests at the rear of the property and equipment is being used to scan the ground for human remains with a skip there to take items away
Detective superintendent Jim Dickie, who led the investigation to find Suzy Lamplugh’s body, today defended the decision not to dig up the garden of prime suspect John Cannan’s mother.
He received a tip-off from a Sunday newspaper in 2002 that Cannan may have buried her body under the patio.
DSI Dickie was also handed prison letters by the newspaper from Cannan where he claimed he had blood on his coat when he laid his mother’s garden patio in 1987, a year after Suzy vanished.
But despite spending six months searching the property at the end of 2003, Dickie today told MailOnline: ‘In 2003 we certainly didn’t dig up the back garden.
‘We would have searched the house where Cannan’s mother lived anyway because of his prolific offending record and the fact that he spent a significant period living there.
‘But we didn’t dig up the garden because we didn’t have any specific information back then that she may be buried there.’
DS Dickie said detectives made a number of visits to the property but found no evidence to suggest Suzy was buried in the back garden.
He said that he would be surprised if detectives digging there now would find her body.
He said: ‘Police are clearly acting on new intelligence. But if there is a new piece of information, then why has the person waited until now to come forward? Why have they waited this long to provide new information?
‘While in one way I hope they will be successful, my head tells me they won’t find anything.’
At the scene today, specialist forensics scientists from the private company Alecto arrived carried equipment throughout the morning.
A blue tent was erected over what is believed to be a former garage in the rear garden of the property, the roof of which is just visible beyond the police cordon.
The Met, being supported by West Midlands Police officers, stressed that the current occupants of the property are in no way connected to the investigation.
Mr Carey said: ‘When the police turned up again my reaction was ‘oh is this a blast from the past coming back to haunt us’.’
He added that he and his wife met Cannan’s mother Shelia when she showed them the house.
He said: ‘We knew the back story of the house and knew the name Suzy Lamplugh because it was in the news at the time’.
Cannan’s mother Sheila left the property in 1992 and its current owners have given permission for police to pull down the garage, use radar to scan the grounds and dig it up.
In 2000 she spoke about the case and said: ‘He has never discussed this with me, and I have never asked him.
‘I suppose I have had it on my mind for so long. I am getting old, and you feel guilty yourself.
‘He’s mine, I can’t deny that. He ‘s my son who I brought up.
‘But I still can’t understand anything about why. That’s what disturbs you. It’s very upsetting really’.
This is the final diary entry by Suzy who wrote she was meeting Mr Kipper at 12.45pm on July 28 1986 but she never returned
In 2002 John Cannan was told he would not be prosecuted despite police claiming he was the only suspect in the case
The hunt for Mr Kipper transfixed Britain for decades and Suzy’s murder remains one of the most notorious unsolved cases in history
One neighbour said: ‘Cannan’s mum Sheila lived at the house. He was always quite strange, he often returned in his black BMW and frequently had bonfires in the back garden.’
Another neighbour, who also wished to remain anonymous, said: ‘He was always an odd man, even 30-odd years ago.
‘A few of the women were quite intimidated by him. When the garage was built, he wanted the fence put up straight away.
‘I’m not entirely shocked about the dig right now, the police have been here before.
‘It’s just shocking how there might be a body under the garage. It makes you uneasy.’
Suzy’s bereft father Paul Lamplugh, who had Parkinson’s disease, died with his three surviving children by his side in June, having spent the rest of his life searching for his daughter’s body.
He was handed an OBE along with his wife Diana, who died in 2012, after the couple set up the Suzy Lamplugh Trust in memory of their beloved child to protect other women from harm.
They have set up a forensic tent in the garden and are examining an outbuilding. They have dismantled the flimsy garage building and are poised to dig into the concrete foundations.
The grim search for Suzy’s body took place only yards from a child’s trampoline and other play equipment.
Ground penetrating radar is also thought to have been used on the area and the search is expected to last for several days.
The Suzy Lamplugh Trust said the development is a reminder of the ‘continuing tragedy’.
‘The thoughts of everyone at Suzy Lamplugh Trust are with Suzy’s family today,’ a statement said.
‘Today we continue the work of (her parents) Paul and Diana to reduce violence and aggression in society, supporting workplaces to help their lone and frontline workers be safer and feel safer.
‘Today’s news reminds us once again of the continuing tragedy of Suzy’s story and the importance of employers taking responsibility for the personal safety of their staff.’
The police are thought to be conducting a full scale investigation into her abduction and murder after receiving new information.
It is believed his mother Sheila, thought to be in her 80s, now lives in a different part of the country.
There is no suggestion she is involved in or knew anything about his crimes.
At the time witnesses had seen a woman struggling with a man next to a BMW, which Cannan was believed to have had access to.
In a rare move in 2002, Scotland Yard named Cannan as the man they believed murdered Miss Lamplugh.
He was released from a hostel only days before she went missing.
Cannan, 64, is serving three life sentences for murder and a series of sex attacks, has denied any involvement.
In 1989, he was jailed for life for the murder of Bristol newlywed Shirley Banks and the rape of a woman in Reading.
The case against Cannan has always been undermined by a lack of forensic evidence and the location of the body.
The Met Police said last night: ‘The search follows information received in relation to a historical unsolved investigation. We will not be commenting on speculation surrounding the search, or providing any further information at this time.’
Officers digging the concrete are wearing masks to protect them from the dust and have used tarpaulin to cover the area they are digging
The owner of the house says that police spent prolonged periods there in 2003 but failed to find any trace of missing Suzy
Police have been searching the area around the iron corrugated structure, picture above behind the gates to the property, and have pulled it down (Google street view)
Three major searches took place for Suzy in the early 2000s and in 2010. A team of 12 officers spent two days digging next to a disused brickworks at Norton Barracks, near Worcester, in 2001.
Suzy’s parents Paul and Diane Lamplugh both died without ever finding out what happened to their daughter.
Paul Lamplugh, who had Parkinson’s disease, died with his three surviving children by his side earlier this year, having spent the rest of his life searching for his daughter’s body.
The 87-year-old was handed an OBE along with his wife Diana, who died in 2012 after suffering from a stroke.
The couple, from East Sheen, South West London, set up the Suzy Lamplugh Trust in 1986 to ‘campaign, educate and support people to help reduce the risk of violence and aggression for everyone’.
Mr Lamplugh, last spoke out about his daughter’s apparent murder in 2016.
He said: ‘The older I get the more I miss her’ – but also admitted he ‘had to accept’ the ‘awful’ realisation she was killed deliberately and he would probably never know who did it.
Out of the tragedy Suzy’s family fought to protect other women from violence through the foundation in her name.
Generations of freshers at universities were handed free rape alarms – known as ‘Suzy Lamplugh Alarms – and they fought for more street lights on the streets of Britain to protect women.
The Suzy Lamplugh Trust would also launch Stalking Awareness Week in Britain.
In 2008 it emerged that the wife of Suffolk Strangler Steve Wright said he could have claimed missing estate agent Suzy Lamplugh as his first victim.
The Ipswich based truck driver murdered five prostitutes in a six-week frenzy in 2007.
His ex-wife Diane Cole revealed the extraordinary links between the former QE2 steward and Miss Lamplugh , who worked on the luxury liner as a beautician.
Mrs Cole checked her diaries to discover that her former husband, who was violent towards her, had shore leave around the time of 25-year-old Miss Lamplugh’s disappearance on July 28, 1986. She has given full details to police.
Mrs Cole, who also worked on the QE2, said: ‘I knew Suzy Lamplugh by sight. I saw him talking with her in the corridor. I was too downtrodden to challenge him about it then because he was such a Jekyll-and-Hyde character and you never knew when he would flip.
‘But when I look back I can see how he was probably flirting with her.’ She added: ‘I really want him to tell us if he killed her for my peace of mind – for her family’s sake.’
Mrs Cole added: ‘I’m sure Steve used the word ‘kipper’ as slang for face. He used to say, ‘What’s up with your kipper?”
Fellow QE2 shipmate Paul Tennant, a former waiter, said Wright ‘tried to become a friend of Suzy’s all the time’, while another former crew member, Steve Adler said: ‘Steve would sniff around all the girls and particularly the beauticians such as Suzy.’
Police search a field next to the B4084 in Pershore, Worcestershire, looking for Suzy Lumplugh in 2000
Detectives from the Metropolitan Police searching the ground near Norton Barracks, Worcestershire, in 2001