Suzy Lamplugh murder investigation: Police dig up field near Worcester

Police investigating the disappearance and murder of estate agent Suzy Lamplugh in 1986 dug up a field today as they search for clues in one of Britain’s most notorious unsolved crimes.

Detectives were spotted combing through the field near the village of Drakes Broughton in Worcestershire, with police vans in a layby off the A44.

The search today comes eight months after police also dug up the garden of chief suspect John Cannan’s mother in Sutton Coldfield but found nothing.

Miss Lamplugh, 25, vanished on July 28, 1986 after apparently arranging to show a potential buyer known as ‘Mr Kipper’ around a house in Fulham, West London.

Serial rapist and killer Cannan, who is serving three life sentences for the murder of Shirley Anne Banks in 1989 and a series of other sex attacks, was named by police as the prime suspect in November 2002. 

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: ‘Officers received new information about Miss Lamplugh’s disappearance following the publicity around the search of a property in Sutton Coldfield in November 2018, as part of this investigation. 

Miss Lamplugh had apparently arranged to show ‘Mr Kipper’ (left, in an artist’s impression) around a house. Serial rapist John Cannan (right) was named by police as the prime suspect

‘All information was reviewed. Information relating to the areas we are currently searching was assessed and the decision was taken to make further enquiries.’

The force added that Miss Lamplugh’s family had been notified, and officers ‘will continue to assess any new information received in connection with this case’.  

The search is being carried out by officers from the Metropolitan Police and West Mercia Police, but the owner of the land is not connected to the investigation. 

Three days before Miss Lamplugh vanished, Cannan was released from a hostel at Wormwood Scrubs prison, where he had been serving a six-year sentence for rape. 

It later emerged that he was known by other inmates as Kipper. The ex-car salesman also had access to a BMW of the type thought to have been driven by ‘Mr Kipper’.

Eight months ago police dug up the garden of chief suspect John Cannan’s mother in Sutton Coldfield but found nothing

In addition, he resembled a photofit of a man seen with a woman presumed to be the estate agent outside the Fulham flat on the day Miss Lamplugh vanished.

The only clue to her disappearance was an appointment in her work diary recording a lunchtime appointment to show a ‘Mr Kipper’ around the house in Fulham.

But former Scotland Yard detective David Videcette said last month that believes the appointment was a red herring that sent officers on the wrong track. 

Miss Lamplugh’s father Paul died earlier this year and her mother Diana in 2011. The estate agent was declared dead in 1994, presumed murdered.

Police have asked anyone who could assist the investigation to call 0207 230 4294

Suzy Lamplugh: Timeline of one of the UK’s most notorious cold cases

Suzy Lamplugh went missing in July 1986

March 1981: Cannan robs a knitwear shop at knifepoint and ties up a woman inside and rapes her.

July 25 1986: He is given day release from Wormwood Scrubs after serving five years for the rape.

July 28, 1986: Suzy Lamplugh, 25, disappears after leaving her office to show a man known only as ‘Mr Kipper’ around a house in Fulham, west London.

October 7 1986: Cannan rapes a woman at knifepoint in Reading. Later that day he tries to abduct a woman in Bristol with a gun.

October 8, 1987: Murder victim Shirley Banks failed to meet her husband Richard for a drink as planned and her car is missing. Six months later Shirley’s naked body was discovered decomposed in the Quantock Hills in an area known as Dead Woman’s Ditch.

October 29, 1987: Cannan caught trying to hold up a shop in Leamington Spa and arrested.

November 9 1987: Cannan is arrested on suspicion of stealing Shirley’s car and her disappearance is linked to Suzy’s. His laywer says his client had never met Suzy.

April 1989: Cannan guilty of Shirley’s murder, raping the woman in Reading and for the attempted kidnap in Bristol. He is given a whole life term later reduced to 35 years.

August 1991: He writes a letter from prison to his local paper denying any part in Suzy’s disappearance.

1999: Police start a cold case review and hand it to the murder squad

June 2002: Met name him as the only suspect

November 2002: CPS say he can’t be prosecuted because of lack of evidence and ‘trial by media’

June 2008: He loses appeal against his 35 year jail term

October 2018: Police return to his mother Sheila’s home and examine the concrete pit Cannan used to tinker with his cars.

November 2018: Police call off search of garden after finding no evidence.

Today: Police search a field near Drakes Broughton in Worcestershire