Wild Justice: Lynn Siddons Murder

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It was only then that Derbyshire Police, who accepted criticism of the way they had handled the case, charged Brookes with the murder. Though plainly dangerous, he had been a free man for more than 17 years after he murdered Lynn, and for 15 years during which he was exposed as a child murderer again and again in a mass-circulation national paper. The motive for the murder is readily apparent, because teenage girls always look up the age range for sexual and romantic encounters, never down it, and in addition to his age, no doubt the boy's evident puniness and his murderous potential would have added to his unattractiveness for her. Lynn's grandmother Florence Siddons, 83, who campaigned to bring her killer to justice, was in court to hear the appeal judges say they had "no lurking doubt" about the safety of 53-year-old Brookes's conviction. However, after Roy Brookes was cleared, Mr Chittenden was approached by an MP and asked if he, in any way, could help the distraught family of Miss Siddons.

But while speaking to his teenage client before and during the trial, it became clear to him that the real killer was the boy's stepfather, Michael Brookes. Lynn Siddons did not get justice, and for many years her female relatives turned their need for this on to the step-father, Michael Brookes, who experienced years of persecution with their campaign. He found it increasingly impossible to get employment, and he was willing and open in TV interviews about his situation. They are right, what I did was professionally unforgiveable, but I did it because I would not have been able to live with myself knowing that Brookes was out there and could have killed again. His conviction followed a rare civil suit brought by Lynn's family after police decided not to charge him with murder. Speaking at the time, he said: "Lynn Siddons's family had this incredible resolve and Flo was the driving force behind it all.Show Sponsor: Care/Of - Find the right vitamins, protein, and now collagen too, personalized just for you. I could have said nothing but I chose not to and the support I got from people afterwards was overwhelming and still is.” Read More Related Articles

They were bringing a civil case against Michael Brookes, who would eventually be jailed for life for the murder of Miss Siddons, 18 years after she was found stabbed to death in bushes. For nearly two decades the police had declined to prosecute Brookes for obvious reasons, but after this judgment, they bowed to the mobbing pressure of the press and these women and prosecuted their case in the criminal courts. Michael Brookes and the step-son's story went through the jury like a dose of salts, and into jail he went, where he has pleaded innocence ever since. In 1991 the three women turned to the civil courts, which are noted for having a cavalier attitude to culpability in criminal cases, and they prosecuted the step-father there. The women saw the frenzy with which they had hounded Brookes for so many years as the explanation for the 43 stab wounds and the messy finish, but this didn't accord with the other part of the story that their case was based on, which was that Brookes had only held the girl and that he had given the knife to his step-son instead. Mr Chittenden, a father-of-three, helped to clear 16-year-old Roy Brookes of the murder of Sinfin girl Lynn Siddons when he was acquitted of the killing in 1978. Music used in this episode: "The Descent" by Kevin Macleod. All music used is sourced from https://filmmusic.io/ and used under an Attribution Licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)There is also a palpable tendency nowadays for the police to yield to pressure from the press in the matters of both detection and prosecution, and they are apparently suffering from the media bends. It would be interesting to know what the people of Derby think I should have done. Read More Related Articles The confirmation of Brookes as the killer is the culmination of a lengthy campaign waged by Florence Siddons. Murdered Derby teenager Lynn Siddons (left) and Michael Brookes (right), the man who killed her (Image: Derby Telegraph)

A Derby woman who spent 18 years campaigning to bring her granddaughter's murderer to justice has died aged 92.However, his defence collapsed the trial, and he was never convicted. Ever since then, Thatcherist politicians have taken up his example, using "spin" and jaw-flapping measures to scupper public intelligence over matters of national importance while they squander the nation's heritage for their own personal success. After the trial the step-son retracted his claim that his step-father had been involved. The Derby step-strangler case has the step-son committing the murder and the step-father doing the punishment for it, while the hereditary difference between them is the motive. This case serves as a warning against the bringing up of children by unnatural parents.