Dr Yetman was called to the scene at 11.00am. He saw that the hands showed a great deal of bruising, due to the binding around them being so tight. He was also able to say that it appeared that Elizabeth might have been dead for some considerable time.
A check with the neighbours confirmed that Elizabeth kept herself to herself. She had been an independent woman but, at the request of her relatives, neighbours had kept an eye open for her. She had actually last been seen alive, returning from the shops, on 27 November. That was the day Elizabeth had last collected her pension and it was her habit to then do her shopping for the week. This meant that at this stage, the attack upon her could have taken place at any time between that date, and the day her body was discovered, 6 December. House to house enquiries were set in place around a one and a half mile radius, with officers asking if anyone had seen anything suspicious between those two dates.
By now a full post-mortem had been carried out by Dr Arthur Keith Mant, a pathologist from Guy’s Hospital. He had first seen Elizabeth’s body on the afternoon of 6 December, in situ. He noted that her legs were hanging over the edge of the bed. Pin-point haemorrhages, were seen in the eyes; a sure sign of strangulation or asphyxia. A thin cord had been circled three times around Elizabeth’s left wrist and twice around her right, and then tied to the bed-head. Both hands were now swollen and the left one was badly bruised. In addition, Elizabeth’s wrists were badly chaffed where she had struggled against her bonds.
There were actually two gags around her mouth. The inner one was a woollen scarf, which had been knotted. The knot produced was inside Elizabeth’s mouth and the ends had been tied quite loosely around her head. The outer gag was a linen slip, which had also been knotted and that knot too had been placed in Elizabeth’s mouth. The slip had then been looped twice around her lower face and secured on the right side of her head.
The two gags had forced Elizabeth’s tongue towards the back of her throat causing a severe restriction of her airway, though she could still have breathed through her nose. Death had been caused by asphyxiation and hypothermia and Dr Mant felt that Elizabeth must have lived for several hours at least, after being tied up. Prior to her death, she appeared to have been quite physically fit for her age. As for the bruising, that had not been caused by any act of physical violence. Rather the bonds had been so tight that they had restricted the flow of blood.
For a time, the investigation stalled. There were no fingerprints that could be identified, no witnesses and no clues as to who had attacked Elizabeth Dymott. Further, though neighbours had told them of an odd-job man who sometimes called at Elizabeth’s property, they had not known his name. In fact, it was not until February of the following year that two men; Alfred Bowers and Noah Ernest Page, came forward to tell officers that Leonard King, was the odd-job man who had worked for Elizabeth. Further, he had told them, back in July 1967, about an old woman he did some work for who didn’t trust banks and kept her money in her house in Onibury Road, and she might well be worth robbing.
When he was interviewed, King, a general dealer of 13 St John’s Road, Hedge End, confirmed that he had done odd jobs for Elizabeth Dymott, and had started work for her in the summer of 1966, whilst her sister was still alive. He went on to say that in November 1967, he had been to Parkstone to see his father. At the time, his uncle, William Warren, was there. They had chatted a little about the various jobs King was doing and at one stage he mentioned that he was doing some work for an old lady who kept lots of money in her house. One night, soon after this, over a weekend, Warren had called at King’s home. There were two other men with him; one was named Sergeant and the other he only knew as ‘glasses’. His uncle was driving a van and together the four men drove to Onibury Road where King pointed out number 37. King was then driven back to his home. Finally, King was able to say that one of the men in the van had said something about ‘seeing him right’ when they next met up, if they ‘did the job’.
It was important to pin down the exact date of this visit to King’s home. Luckily, on the drive to Onibury Road, ‘Glasses’ had had a portable radio with him, tuned in to the police channel and King remembered hearing some report about a little boy being missing from home. The police checked their records and found that the report King referred to had been made by Constable Eric William Perriment of the Winchester police. A Mr Gray had made a 999 call to the police reporting that his eight year old son, Kevin, was missing. Constable Perriment had then transmitted the details through to police car 208 at 18.53 on Saturday, November 25th.
It was a simple matter now to trace the men King had referred to. The first of these, Michael Anthony Sergeant, a landscape gardener living at 20 Bryanstone Road in Bournemouth, was also able to say that the van they had used to make the visit in late November 1967 had belonged to him. He had been accompanied by William Warren and Kenneth Vincent. King had told them that the old woman in Onibury Road didn’t trust banks and kept her money hidden inside her house. Though King had never been inside the house he had seen that the woman always paid him in £1 notes which she took from a drawer in the kitchen.
Sergeant confirmed King’s story of being taken back home after he had shown them which house the old lady lived at. The other three men; Sergeant, Warren and Vincent, had then driven back to the Onibury Road area. They parked the van about half a mile away and went for a walk. At one stage, Sergeant became separated from the other two and by the time he got back to his van, he found that Warren and Vincent were already sitting in the back, waiting for him. Sergeant didn’t feel like driving around to drop the others off, so he loaned the van to Vincent who took Sergeant to the top of Bryanstone Road. By arrangement, Sergeant walked to Vincent’s house the following morning, at 8.30am, to pick the van up.
As far as the police were concerned this testimony seemed to suggest that Warren and Vincent had shown a rather keen interest in the house where Elizabeth Dymott lived in Onibury Road. The attack upon her could not, however, have taken place the same night since Elizabeth had been seen alive two days later, on Monday, 27 November. It was time to interview Warren and Vincent.
When he was interviewed, William Warren confirmed that he had first heard of the old woman who had money hidden in her house, from his nephew, ‘Lenny’ in November 1967. A week or so later Warren, together with Vincent and ‘Sango’ (Sergeant) had driven to King’s house and he had then come with them to show them the exact house where Elizabeth lived. He also confirmed that King had been dropped off at home and, after this night, Sango had taken no further part in events.
Over the next few days, Kenneth Vincent and a third man, Peter Daley, had visited Warren two or three times and tried to persuade him to join with them in robbing the woman from Onibury Road. He didn’t want to get involved, as the house was occupied by a very old lady.
Then, one night, Daley and Vincent drove over again in two separate vehicles. Daley was driving a yellow Hillman car whilst Vincent had a blue Morris van. All three men climbed into the van and Vincent again suggested that they rob Elizabeth, as it would be easy money. Warren was hoping to find some metal to sell but the other two seemed much more interested in ready cash. Once again, they drove to Onibury Road where they arrived at around 7.00pm.
Vincent was driving the van and he parked behind some flats. The three men then all walked towards the back of Elizabeth’s house where Daley prised open a window with a chisel. Daley then went inside only to return a few minutes later to say that the woman who lived there was in bed. At that point, Daley and Vincent pulled silk stockings over their heads and Daley took some rope out of his pocket, saying that he intended tying the woman up. Warren wanted nothing to do with this and walked back to where the van was parked.
According to Warren’s story he then sat in the van for some two hours before the other two returned. At one stage he had paced up and down outside the van and asked a man who was passing if he had a light for his cigarette. That man was aged about fifty, some five feet seven inch
es tall, wearing a dark jacket and trousers and a white shirt. He had a small white spaniel or terrier with him.
In due course, Vincent and Daley returned. Vincent was still wearing some rubber gloves and Warren said that they might have been yellow but he wasn’t sure on that point. The two men confirmed that they had tied Elizabeth up and said that they had taken somewhere between £150 and £200. They also had some shillings and two gold sovereigns. Warren told the others that it would be a good idea for them to telephone the police and tell them, anonymously, that an old lady was tied up in her house but Daley was worried that the police might trace the call and argued against the idea. Warren said that he would go to the police station if Daley didn’t make the telephone call. At the time they had stopped the van by the White Hart public house at Ringwood, where there was a public call box. Reluctantly, Daley then walked across to the box, returned after a minute or so, and said he had made the call.
The three men then drove to Vincent’s house where they had a cup of tea. Daley then shared out the money they had taken and one third of it was handed over to Warren. He, however, did not want his share and said that later he had burnt it. Less than two weeks later, there was a report on the television that Elizabeth Dymott had been found dead in her house. That same night, Vincent came to Warren’s house and told him not to say a word to anyone. He pointed out that Warren was involved as was Leonard King and if it came out, they’d both probably get ten years in jail.
Peter Daley’s statement was somewhat different. He said that he had been talked into his involvement in the crime. It had been Warren who told him that they would have to tie up the old woman and he hadn’t really wanted to do that. Possibly to make him feel better about things, Warren had said that the money was in a desk just inside the back door and if they went in that way, they might not even see the woman who lived there.
On the night of the crime, all three men had gone inside the house; Warren, Vincent and Daley himself. They searched the kitchen but didn’t find much so decided to go into the bedroom. Elizabeth was asleep but woke up when they entered and tried to grab the man nearest to her, which happened to be Daley. Someone, he wasn’t sure who, had then grabbed Elizabeth’s hands and tried to stop her from shouting for help. Vincent produced a rope and tied Elizabeth’s hands.
Elizabeth asked the men what they wanted and when they said they were after her money, she offered to show them where it was but as soon as they let her get up, she started shouting. Someone covered her mouth with some material and Warren went to the back door to see if anyone had heard Elizabeth’s shouts.
An envelope was discovered on a chair at the foot of the bed and this contained a good deal of banknotes. The men also found a jewellery box, which also contained some money. At this point Vincent complained that it was hurting his arms to keep hold of Elizabeth and said it would be better to tie her up. Vincent tied her hands to the bedstead whilst Warren held Elizabeth still.
The men then searched the house and at one stage Vincent noticed the gas meter in the kitchen. He broke this open and took the shilling coins from inside it. By this time Warren was outside, standing a few yards from the house and mentioned that he might have been seen by a neighbour. It was time to leave. Warren was driving and he refused to stop at the call box so that Daley could telephone the police. He was eventually persuaded that they didn’t need to call the authorities as it surely wouldn’t be long before someone found Elizabeth and untied her.
Kenneth Vincent did not make a formal statement. He merely told Detective Constable John Jones: ‘I didn’t intend this to happen to her. It has gone wrong.’ Later he added: ‘You may not believe this but when I saw what had happened to her on the television, I nearly went and gave myself up. I was going to say I was the only chap on the job. Do you believe that?’ Later still, Vincent spoke to Detective Inspector Graham Swain and said that when this all came to court he intended to plead guilty adding: ‘The books are stacked against me. I will defend myself.’
In the event, all three men were charged with murder. Various remands followed and the evidence was finally laid before the magistrates on 2 May 1968. In fact, one further adjournment was required and it was not until 10 May that it was decided to send them to the next Hampshire assizes to face their trial. All three men were charged with conspiracy in addition to murder.
The case had attracted a good deal of publicity and public feeling ran high. For this reason an application was made to try the case outside of Hampshire. The hearing on this took place on 21 May when it was stated that Warren had sought publicity, which might prove detrimental to the other two defendants. As a result, the trial of all three men was transferred to London.
The trial of Warren, Daley and Vincent opened on 9 July 1968, before Mister Justice Waller at the Old Bailey with Mr John Wilmers appearing for the prosecution.
Despite his earlier statements, Vincent, like the other two, pleaded not guilty to murder, but guilty to conspiracy to steal, and was defended by Mr John Stocker.
Detective Constable Perry told the court of the diamond shaped patterns he had found at the scene of the crime. On 7 March 1968, he had gone to Vincent’s house at 17 Teddar Road, Bournemouth and searched the premises. He had found a pair of rubber gloves with a moulded diamond pattern, and these matched the marks found at Elizabeth’s house. He had also found an 1889 sixpence with a hole bored through it. It should be remembered that a threepence piece, also dated 1889 and with a hole in it, had been found at the house. The holes in the two coins were checked for size and position and it was found that they corresponded exactly.
Detective Constable Frederick Meader told the court that he had visited the murder scene at 3.00pm on the afternoon of 6 December, when he helped other officers make a search of the house. He had found two letters on the doormat and these were postmarked 27 November and 1 December, respectively. The postman for this address, Alfred James Boyce, told the court that he believed he had delivered a letter to Elizabeth’s address on 28 November.
In addition to the two letters, a church magazine had been found, stuffed into the letterbox but not pushed all the way through. Dorothy Irene Young testified that she had delivered that magazine on 4 December. All this testimony implied that the attack upon Elizabeth had most probably taken place on the evening of Monday, 27 November, the date she had last been seen alive by a neighbour, as she was returning from the shops.
The two letters found on the mat inside Elizabeth Dymott’s house. These enabled officers to pinpoint the most probable date of the attack.
Detective Constable Leslie Reginald Newman had examined the gas meter at the premises. The lock had been forced and the coin container was empty. That gas meter had last been read by Albert Edward Beeson, a collection officer for the Southern Gas Board. He testified that on 3 October, the figures read 4985.
Albert Frank Butler was a special meter collector and from the present reading of 5004, he calculated that the collection box should have contained £1 6s in shilling coins.
Medical evidence was given by Dr Arthur Mant who had examined Elizabeth’s body at her home, and later performed the post-mortem. He testified that she had had a zero chance of survival once she was left tied up. The cords used to bind her were so strong that even a fit, strong person would have been unable to escape from them. Indeed, once the body had been found, the bonds had to be cut off by the police.
On 16 July, Vincent stepped into the witness box to tell his story. As he was being shown police pictures of the body of Elizabeth Dymott, Warren sobbed in court and shouted: ‘Dirty Dogs.’
The following day, 17 July, Lillian Warren, the wife of William, testified that at the magistrate’s court hearings, one of the other two, Vincent, had told her that her husband had taken no part in the crime. His exact words were: ‘No, Bill was not in the house.’
On 18 July, the jury of ten men and two women retired at 12.35pm. They had been told that there were three possible verdicts on the murder charge; gu
ilty, not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter and finally, not guilty. In the event, the verdicts, when they came, were that Daley and Warren were guilty of manslaughter, and two other offences. Vincent was judged to be not guilty but since he had earlier pleaded guilty to conspiracy to steal, he too would face a prison sentence.
In the event, Daley and Warren were both sentenced to twenty years for manslaughter, twelve years for robbery and six years for conspiracy, all the sentences to be served concurrently. Vincent received six years for the conspiracy charge.
An appeal against those sentences was entered and heard on Monday, 3 February 1969 before Lord Justice Winn, Lord Justice Widgery and Mister Justice Lawton. They held that whilst the crime had been a dreadful act, the sentences had, nevertheless, been too severe. The sentences on Warren and Daley were reduced from twenty years to fifteen, whilst Vincent’s six years’ was reduced to four.
Chapter 12
The Brothers John Henry De Lara and Owen William De Lara 1969
Police Constable Frederick James Tyler, a member of the harbour police, was on duty in the Town Quay office during the early hours of Monday, 28 July 1969, when he heard the protesting sound of a car ignition being turned.
Glancing at his watch, Tyler saw that it was 3.00am and as he stepped outside of the station he heard the ignition again. Looking up the road he saw that there was a car backing out of Bugle Street into Western Esplanade. The vehicle was facing him now, with its headlights on and even as he watched, Tyler heard the starter motor another three or four times. The officer climbed into his own car and drove down to investigate.
Foul Deeds and Suspicious Deaths in Southampton Page 11