Wild Justice: Lynn Siddons Murder

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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. In 1978, 16 year-old Lynn Siddons was murdered on a canal towpath in Derby and her body left hidden in bushes. She had been stabbed 43 times, strangled unsuccessfully, and finally drowned in a puddle. Algae was found in her lungs. A 15 year-old boy was seen by eyewitnesses to leave the crime scene alone, and his age helps to explain why the killer had had so much trouble in killing the girl. The boy, who was recognized by the witnesses, was taken in for questioning, charged with murder, and tried in November. Brookes was later tried and convicted, but appealed against the verdict in 1998, saying he could not get a fair trial following publicity about the case, but his appeal was rejected. The plaque reads: "In loving memory of Lynn Siddons, 16 years old, tragically killed April 3 1978 - deep in our heart you will stay, loved and remembered every day."

His conviction followed a rare civil suit brought by Lynn's family after police decided not to charge him with murder. 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. Flo's daughter Gail Holford, said: "It was a long hard fight but my mum was always there at the front.While a motive can be detected in the case of the step-son, it is impossible to find one in the case of Michael Brookes. One would have to imagine one. A detectable motive for the boy using his step-father to carry the blame for the murder is that he was very immature, that he was still dependent on the protection and provision of the parent, and that he was homicidal. He was strongly attached to both his victims, and there is an interesting logic in the matter of this motive, because the physical weakness that is evident in the murder would not only have disappointed the boy's sexual success with the murdered girl, it would also have disappointed his self-esteem as the progeny of the 6 ft. 2 in. giant Michael Brookes, who was not his natural father, and who had not therefore passed his quality of strength to the boy, who must naturally look up to the parent and identify with it. The victims therefore share the same relationship problem for the killer, and they are combined in his motive. Murdered Derby teenager Lynn Siddons (left) and Michael Brookes (right), the man who killed her (Image: Derby Telegraph) 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.

Show Sponsor: Care/Of - Find the right vitamins, protein, and now collagen too, personalized just for you.Brookes, serving a minimum 26-year life sentence, had argued he did not get a fair trial, partly because of the intense media coverage of the campaign - including a civil damages action in which a judge said he was the murderer. He was one of three men to set up Smith Partnership in the 1980s and 18-months ago said goodbye to the courtroom after a long and distinguished career. It would be interesting to know what the people of Derby think I should have done. Read More Related Articles 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.