Kidnapping and murder of Lesley Whittle

Lesley Whittle
Lesley Whittle, pictured at her brother Ronald's wedding in October 1972
Born3 May 1957
Bridgnorth, Shropshire, England[1]
DisappearedHighley, Shropshire, England
Diedc. 17 January 1975 (age 17)
Kidsgrove, Staffordshire, England
Cause of deathVagal inhibition[2]
Resting placeHighley Parish Church, Shropshire, England[3]
52°26′48″N 2°22′56″W / 52.4468°N 2.3822°W / 52.4468; -2.3822 (approximate)
EducationWulfrun College, Wolverhampton[4]
OccupationStudent
Known forVictim of kidnapping and murder
Height5 ft (152 cm)
Parents
  • George Whittle (father)
  • Dorothy Walker (mother)

The kidnapping and murder of Lesley Whittle occurred on 14 January 1975. Whittle, a teenage heiress, was kidnapped at gunpoint from her home in Highley, Shropshire, by Donald Neilson; a notorious burglar and murderer known as the Black Panther.[5]

Whittle was driven 65 miles from her home to an underground drainage shaft of a reservoir at Bathpool Park in Kidsgrove, Staffordshire, where she was tethered, naked, upon a narrow platform 54 feet (16 m) below ground by a wire noose affixed around her neck and with a hood placed over her head as Neilson made several unsuccessful attempts to collect a £50,000 ransom from her family over the following days.[6] She is believed to have either fallen to her death from this shaft, or been pushed to her death by Neilson, on or about 17 January, causing her to die of vagal inhibition. Her emaciated body was discovered hanging from this shaft on 7 March 1975.[7]: 25 

The kidnapping and murder of Lesley Whittle dominated national headlines for eleven months; the investigation into her kidnapping and—ultimately—murder, involved over 400 officers from three separate police forces in addition to the Metropolitan Police.[8][9]

Donald Neilson was arrested in Mansfield in December 1975 on unrelated charges; he was convicted of Whittle's kidnapping and murder in July 1976 at Oxford Crown Court and sentenced to life imprisonment. He was later convicted of the shooting murders of three post office workers and given three further life sentences.[6]

  1. ^ "FreeBMD: Births: Jun. 1957". freebmd.org.uk. 19 September 2001. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
  2. ^ Dark Secrets of the Black Museum, 1835-1985: More Dark Secrets From 150 Years of the Most Notorious Crimes in England ISBN 978-1-78418-102-4 ch. 18
  3. ^ "Shropshire Heiress Kidnapped from Her Own Bed 40 Years Ago Today". ITV. 14 January 2015. Retrieved 24 June 2023.
  4. ^ "From the Archives: Heiress in Kidnap Horror". The Birmingham Mail. 24 October 2012 [1 April 2010]. Retrieved 13 June 2023.
  5. ^ "40 Years On: The Tragic Story of Lesley Whittle Remembered". Shropshire Star. 16 January 2015. Retrieved 13 June 2023.
  6. ^ a b "Legacy of Black Panther Murders". BBC News. 27 January 2010. Retrieved 19 December 2011.
  7. ^ "Donald Neilson". Murder in Mind (18). Marshall Cavendish. 1997. ISSN 1364-5803.
  8. ^ Osman, Arthur (17 February 1975). "Press Upset Over Case of Abducted Girl". The Times. No. 59322. London. p. 2.
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference Telg8060030 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).