The Guardian from London, Greater London, England • 3

THE GUARDIAN Tuesday August 4 1992 HOME NEWS 3 Victim 'radiated love' DDDCiresises mmmsstSL Homicides is consistent that the murders of young women have attracted more attention than that of a woman in her fifties and sixties. London remains, unsurprisingly, the murder capital of the United Kingdom. Around a fifth of all murders and rapes take place in the Metropolitan Police area. But there has been no recent dramatic, increase. Last year (from April 1991 to March 1992) there were 185 murders, manslaughters and infanticides, an increase of only one on the previous year.

They have a high detection rate: 163 of the the 185 unlawful deaths were cleared up. Violence is increasing but not Annual (England and Wales) 1981 82 83 84 Homicide by age of victim Number per million population SO (England and Wales) Method of killing and sex of victim 1990 () Male F'male 800 mi 500 fl i 400 8 300 200 85 66 87 88 89 90 91 40 Sp FAMILY and friends were asked to celebrate the life of Rachel Nickell, who was murdered while out walking with her young son, at a funeral service yesterday, writes Louise Dowries. Rachel's father, Andrew Nickell, aged 52, led the congregation of 200 in the private service at St Andrew's parish church in Ampthill, Bedfordshire, where he asked them to remember her as "straight, bright and A plain clothes police officer carried Rachel's two-year-old son, Alexander, into the church. The child, who witnessed the sexual assault and murder of his mother on Wimbledon Common, south London, last month, was clutching a silver heart-shaped balloon. Among other mourners was Detective Constable Paul Miller, who flew to Canada to tell Mr and Mrs Nickell of her death while they were on holiday, and who is part of the 54-strong team investigating the murder.

Mr Nickell spoke at length of his 23-year-old daughter and her life, and read a poem which had been sent to Andre Hans-combe, 29, with whom she lived in Tooting. It read: "Do not stand at my grave and weep, I am not there, I do not sleep, I am a thousand winds that blow, I am the diamond glimpse on snow, I am the sunlight on ripened grain ti Mr Nickell, who lives in Ampthill with his wife Monica, 48, said his daughter radiated love, good humour, warmth and generosity. "She had an unconscious capacity to bring out the best in the people she met," he said. "I believe that the good that people do lives after them bringing out the best in those that are left. "I believe Rachel has bequeathed in the memory of all who knew her a positive force which will transform them in their lives ahead." After the service, relatives left for a private ceremony at Bedford crematorium.

Among the floral tributes was a posy of peach carnations from Alexander and one from the incident room at Wimbledon police station. A police spokesman said they were following up 1,500 lines of inquiry, after their appeals for help from the public. They still want to interview four people who are known to have been in the area at the time of Rachel's death. 1.20 on Saturday morning a tall, young business studies stu went, waiting to buy a hamburger with a friend at a moDiie burger bar in Kingston upon Thames, Surrey, was set upon by a group ot young men after an argument. Within a few minutes he was dying.

Patrick French, aged 22, and about to embark on a course at a- college at Montpellier in France, had just become the lat est in the steadily increasing number ot murder victims. There were 728 unlawful killings murders, manslaughters, infanticides in England and Wales last year, up by nearly 10 per cent on the previous year. Ten years ago the figure stood at 556. In the last year there were 12 victims of homicide for every million people. Some murders attract publicity because of the motives of the attack or the nature of the victim.

Others merit barely a paragraph in the national press. There has been an increase in Britain in all crimes of vio lence, particularly in the use of knives and guns and with that has come the increase in manslaughter and murder. But the likeliest victims of a sudden unlawful death remain children under the age of one or people in the company of their families or friends, rather than alone at night. The age group from five to 15 is least at risk and men are twice as likely to be murdered as women. The level of detection for murder remains high, as many killers are either known to their victims boyfriends, husbands, fathers, mothers, lodgers, ex-lovers or have carried out the murder in front of witnesses in a pub or at a party.

Less than 10 per cent of murderers escape conviction. But it is the cases for which no one is caught that attract attention: Suzy Lamplugh, the London estate agent who disappeared in 1986 and has never been seen since, Penny Bell, murdered last year in London, and now Rachel Nickell, murdered on Wimbledon Common. Murder squad detectives believe that their chances of catching the murderers are highest within the first 48 hours, before they have a chance to destroy evidence or cover their tracks. After more than two weeks the trail starts to go cold and bloodstains, skin under the nails, soil and footprints arc less likely to yield evidence. The reaction to the crime varies in accordance with the victim and the circumstances: an Sharp instrument 37 23 Blunt instrument 13 11 Hitting, Kicking 21 17 Strangulation 7 25 Shooting 10 9 Explosion 1 Burning 4 5 Drowning 1 Poison or drugs 3 Motor vehicles 2 3 Other 2 3 Not known 1 2 Less than hall per cent Source: Home Olfice attractive young white woman remains the likeliest person to attract media coverage.

Rachel Nickell murder drew 1,500 calls after a televised appeal for help. The murder of Brendan Penn, stabbed to death in front of 40 witnesses in Bradford last year, drew only "one call following a televised appeal by his widow, Suzanne. Betsy stanko, reader in law at Brunei University "and author of Everyday Violence, who is making a study of recent murders ot women, says tnat it room on Saturday morning before going to work at a supermarket. "The duvet was on her bed and it looked as if she was in it." On Sunday she had started to ask friends and neighbours about Helen. "Then one of the lads said there had been a girl found murdered." The funeral cortege leaves St Andrew's in Ampthill, Bedfordshire, after a service for Rachel Nickell who was murdered while walking on Wimbledon Common.

Her father wanted her to be remembered as "straight, bright and shining" photograph: graham turner Teenager's mother pleads at the same rate as the rest of crime: violence against the person was up by 4.8 per cent in the last year, according to Home Office statistics. The total was 194,000, compared with 185,000 the previous year. There has been a marked increase in racial attacks reported. In one area of south London, a monitoring group, the Greenwich Action Committee, says there have been four racist murders in 16 months. Knives remain the most usual murder weapon: the latest annual figures show that 193 of the murders, almost a third were carried out with sharp instruments; 118 died from a beating or kicking; 83 were strangled; 74 were struck with blunt instruments; 59 were shot and 29 were burned to death.

The police are anxious that the increase in violent deaths should not cause panic. A spokesman for the Association of Chief Police Officers said yesterday: "There have been some very tragic murders in the last few weeks which quite rightly have been widely reported. However, these types of murder are thankfully still very rare and it is perhaps be cause they are so infrequent tnat they attract so much attention in the media." He said that while no one should try to underplay in any way the tragedies, we still live in relatively peaceful times when people should not be afraid, as a matter of course, to walk our Gordon Honeycombe, in his foreword to The Murders of the Black Museum wrote: "Murder is a very rare event in England. Its exceptional nature is in fact part of its fascination'." None ot which make trage dies any easier to bear for the friends and relatives of the vic tims, whether they are attacked because of their sex, their race or because someone with a knife and a grudge felt like it. Last night police were still trying to ascertain if Helen had agreed to meet anyone when she left home late on Friday night.

Her body was found by wedding guests at a reception at the community hall in Horn-dean. She was only a few minutes walk from her home. Her aged 70, stabbed at home in Aberdare, West Glamorgan. Maria Rossi and Christine Mol-loy, both 17, who lived nearby, charged. July 18: Former mayoress Carolyn Challenor rapejd then battered and left naked in a field at Bawtry, South Yorkshire.

July 21: Rosemarie lies, aged 53, killed at home in longstanding, Birmingham. Richard Murray, 57, of Kmgstanding, charged. July 25: Open University lecturer Dr Elizabeth Howe, aged 34, stabbed in her room at York university. Student Robin Andrew Pask, 31, charged. July 30: Christopher Stanley, aged nine, found naked and strangled on Hounslow Heath golf course, west London.

Neighbour Kelvin John McMa-hon, 24, charged. July 31: Ruhullah Aramesh, aged 24, dies after beating in Thornton Heath, south London. Youths aged 17, 16 and 15 before magistrates today. August 1: Student Patrick French, aged 22, of New Maiden, south London, dies after being punched and kicked in a row in a hamburger stall queue in Kingston-upon-Thames. Police questioning three males, all 19.

August 1: Helen Gorrie, aged 15, found behind hall in Horndean, Hants, by wedding guests. Introducing the University of Greenwich (Formerly Thames Polytechnic) Sheila Gorrie, left, pleaded for help at a press conference after the death of her 15-year-old daughter Helen One month's toll of victims and accused reported in the press for help body was left by a footpath used as a short cut and was a meeting place for young people. Detective Superintendent Douglas Quade said he believed that Helen had been killed at, or very close to, the spot where she was found. Detectives say that Helen had been throttled. They believe that there was no connection between the murder and the wedding and said that it did not appear that there had been a sexual assault.

Helen, a pupil at Purbrook Place school, was wearing blue denim jeans, a light green and grey striped jumper, and white and grey boot-style trainers. Mr Quade said: "We now know that Helen left her home around about midnight on Friday night. What we don't know is where she went or what she did or what she intended to do." Police said Helen's father, Robert Trussler, who lives in Basingstoke, was told about her death yesterday. The family used to live in Farnham, Surrey, and had been staying in Horndean since February. Three charged with murder of Kabul refugee RUHULLAH Aramesh, a young Afghani linguist who had come to Britain as a refugee to escape from the civil war in Kabul, died from the injuries he received in an attack in Thornton Heath, south London, at the weekend.

Yesterday three young men were charged with his murder. Mr Aramesh, aged 24, had been in this country for eight months. He had found work as a translator at a. local hospital and in a short time had made a number of friends. His relatives said that he had fled Afghanistan because of the continuing factional violence in his home town of Kabul.

Mr Aramesh was taken to Atkinson Morley hospital, in Wimbledon, in a coma on Friday night and never regained consciousness. He was pronounced dead by doctors on Sunday night. Scotland Yard said last night that Paul Hannon, aged 17, and two juveniles had been charged with murder, violent disorder and grievous bodily harm in connection with the incident near Mr Aramesh's home. They will appear at Croydon magistrates' court this morning. POLICE in Hampshire were last night searching for the killer of teenager, Helen Gorrie, as her family appealed for help.

Sheila Gorrie, aged 40, mother of the 15-year-old whose body was found on Saturday night by guests at a wedding reception in Horndean, near Havant, described her daughter as a lovable girl with a zest for life. Reading from a prepared statement, Ms Gorrie said: "I am sure you will appreciate how difficult it is for me to come and speak with you at this time. I am numbed by the killing of my daughter. She had her whole future before her." Ms Gorrie, who was accompanied by her son Jamie, aged 20, and a women police officer, was too overcome to carry on reading. Jamie Gorrie, a labourer, continued by appealing for help in the search for the murderer: "I appeal to anyone who may have any information which may help to contact the police." Ms Gorrie said she had looked in to her daughter's Killer, aged 17, detained at HM's pleasure A YOUTH of 17 who admitted stabbing to death a lodger in the family home to find out what it felt like to kill someone, was convicted of murder at the Old Bailey yesterday.

Judge Neil Denison ordered Jonathan Neill to be detained during Her Majesty's pleasure for killing Donald McKenzie. Mr Neill, of Mitcham, south London, who denied murder committed when he was 16 boasted he stabbed Mr McKenzie as he lay asleep "because I felt like He stabbed him 24 times on his 36th birthday, and left a cross carved on his back. Later he told friends he would like to kill someone else on their 36th birthday because the numbers would add up to 666 the sign of the devil. Martin Heslop, prosecuting, said there was no evidence of trouble between the two. Mr Neill's friend Eugene McLean, aged 23, was convicted of perverting the course of justice by disposing of the murder knife and Mr Neill's blood-soaked trousers, and jailed for two years.

The name has changed. The philosophy stays the same. Thames Polytechnic the second olJe.st polytechnic in the UK lias become the University of Greenwich. The University, like the Polytechnic before it, will continue to otter a wide and indeed increasing range of professionally oriented courses at Diploma, Degree and postgraduate levels. Our policy of making our courses widely accessible and helping students to meet their needs and achieve their goals will continue, as will our guarantee to find accommodation for all students, with priority for new students.

Little wonder that we are ranked 1st for quality in London! The philosophy remains the same; only the name has changed. If you would like to find out more about opportunities tor lull or part time study, telephone us on 081-316 8000 or write to: The (inquiry Unit, University of Greenwich, Wellington Street, London SH 18 6PK THE cases below are among murders reported in the press in the past month. July 2: Security guard Ian Foster, aged 26, shot after handing over 5,000 to armed robbers in Farnworth, Manchester. July 4: Seven men and four women questioned after Kevin Fox, aged 41, of Dagenham, shot in pub in Plaistow, cast London. July 6: Katie Rackliff, aged 18, of Hawley, Hants, stabbed to death in Farnborough.

July 8: Brigette Float, aged 42, stabbed at home in Wimbledon, south London. July 9: Calvert Summerville-Jones, aged 37, of Catford, south London, shoots dead Do-reen Henry, 36, in front of their four-year-old son then turns gun on himself. July 13: Remains of Shane Meredith, aged 25, found in a Bristol garden. He vanished in November 1990. Paul Weeks, 24, and Patricia Norris, 43, charged.

July 15: Widow Caroline Taylor, aged 54, stabbed at her home near Dorking, Surrey. Her French lover, Gaeton Beisy, 55, charged. July 15: Rachel Nickell, aged 23, raped and stabbed to death on Wimbledon Common, south London, in front of her two-year-old son, Alexander. July 17: Spinster Edna Philips, the UNIVERSITY of GREENWICH lliylu-T I5M2).