STRANGER THAN FICTION

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I read novels and watch films and TV series of thrillers, murder mystery and 'Noir'. I'm obviously not alone in this as the genre is probably the biggest in all of those media.

Life can imitate art sometimes and I'm reasonably close to a real situation that is just or more gruesome than those depicted in the fiction that I indulge in.

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My brother's sister-in-law was murdered in 2002.

She was 34 years old. Her name was Bridgette Maclennan.

Her killer was Anthony Hardy.

Hardy was also known as The Camden Ripper. He's now, thankfully dead having died in 2020 of Covid. He was 69 years old.

The so-called Camden Ripper was given a life sentence for the murder of three women, Sally White, Elizabeth Valad and Bridgette. He had a 20-year history of mental illness, domestic violence, alcohol abuse and an obsession with prostitutes. Brigette, like the other two was a prostitute working in North London.

Psychiatric experts warned of the danger Hardy posed when he was freed from a mental hospital two months before he carried out the murders. While living in Tasmania 20 years before he tried to murder his wife by hitting her over the head with a bottle and submerging her in the bath. He spent two weeks in a psychiatric unit there. By the early 90s, in England, he was living in hostels, taking drugs and picking up prostitutes. He was known to police and considered a danger but - nothing was done. After being diagnosed with bipolar disorder, he was treated at a number of psychiatric hospitals across London for psychosis, alcohol abuse and depression. He had a record for theft and being drunk and disorderly. In 1998, he was arrested after a prostitute accused him of raping her but these charges were later dropped due to lack of evidence.

In January 2002 he was arrested after pouring battery acid through a neighbour's letterbox as part of a dispute, and police found the body of his first victim, Sally White when they searched his flat. 

Sally White,  was a 38-year-old prostitute who had been living in London. Despite the fact that she was found with cuts and bruises to her head, Hardy wasn't charged with her murder. Forensic pathologist Freddy Patel concluded that White had died from natural causes, namely a heart attack. (Patel's findings later came under scrutiny and he was eventually suspended from the government’s register of pathologists. In 2012, his name was removed from the medical register, meaning he can no longer practice medicine in the UK).

Hardy claimed that he had no knowledge of how White had come to be in his flat, due to his alcohol problem. He pleaded guilty to causing criminal damage to his neighbour’s door and was transferred to a psychiatric hospital, where he remained until November 2002. He was not charged with the murder of Sally White.

In December 2002, 11 months after White's death a homeless man made a grim discovery while scavenging for food in rubbish bins in Camden, near Hardy's flat. While searching for something to eat, he discovered the dismembered body parts of two women wrapped in black plastic bin-liners. They were later identified as Bridgette Maclennan and Elizabeth Valad, who had been brutally tortured and killed. 

Anthony Hardy, as a key suspect due to his past history and his close proximity to the scene of the crime was suspected by the police but he went on the run while his mugshot was plastered over London newspapers. He was spotted by an off-duty police officer a week later and a fight ensued as he attempted to avoid arrest, with two police officers being injured until he was detained, arrested and  charged with all three murders.

A search of his flat found evidence  that indicated that Maclennan and Valad had been killed over the Christmas holidays and dismembered at the property. It was suspected that Hardy was also responsible for other murders of sex workers but there was insufficient evidence to charge him.

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Bridgette Maclennan was the sister of my brother's ex wife and was born in New Zealand. I didn't know her but remember that she was at my brother's wedding in 1972 as a flower girl aged about 5. Apparently she moved to the UK when in her teens along with her parents (who were originally from the UK) and her brother. This must have been in the 1980s. She became involved with drugs and is understood to have had several convictions for drug offences and prostitution. 

Bridgette was no shrinking violet by all accounts but no-one deserves to be treated like that. She had two pre-teen children at the time of her death and was divorced from her husband ant their father. I can only recall her as the cute little kid with freckles and red curly hair.

I discovered three documentaries relating to the Camden Ripper that detail the crimes and the appalling responses from the police, health workers and the pathologist who failed the public by inefficiency and incompetence but - we're seeing similar things at home due to understaffing and the pressures on the system. This is only going to get worse with the government's hell-bent drive to reduce workers in police, health, education and government support institutions.

The documentaries pay scant attention to the victims though which is par for the course.

THE HUNT FOR THE CAMDEN RIPPER

THE CAMDEN RIPPER

THE CAMDEN RIPPER - HOW I CAUGHT THE KILLER