1996 was a year most people wanted to see the end of, Prince Charles and Princess Diana got divorced, a massacre in Dunblane, Scotland saw the murder of 16 primary school children and their teacher by crazed a gunman and there was The shocking killings of Lin and Megan Russell and remarkable survival of Josie Russell
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But as the year came to a close Birmingham 17-year-old schoolgirl Nicola Dixon had a lot to look forward to, whilst the rest of her family travelled to visit relatives in Northumberland. Nicola had stayed at home in Corncrake Close, Sutton Coldfield, over the festive period to take her driving test on New Year's Eve.
However, that day her test was cancelled because of snowy weather leaving her disappointed.
That night, despite this minor setback, she was ready to see in the New Year with a celebration as she set off from her home she was planning to flit between a couple of parties across the road from each other and was only going to be short walk from her home in Sutton Coldfield.
Dressed in typical 1990’s teenage style of a leopard print blouse, black hipster trousers and a short leather jacket, Nicola an A-Level student who studied at Fairfax School in Sutton Coldfield looked forward to a night out with friends.
The poor young woman with her whole life ahead of her never saw in the New Year of 1997 as her life was tragically taken from her by a sadistic rapist and murderer before the clocks chimed midnight.
Nicola, was attacked in an alley which ran by the Holy Trinity Church, in Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands, as she took a short cut to meet friends in a town-centre pub. She was sexually assaulted, robbed and bludgeoned to death.
On the night she died Nicola, had set out to walk half a mile from a hospital social club to meet friends at a pub party.
Her killer struck as she took a short cut down an alleyway near the church - and she never arrived at the pub.
quoted from a Police statement made following the discovery of her body
The police revealed the killer may have been spotted leaving the murder scene in a blue Ford Fiesta car and appealed for witnesses and information from the public.
At 8am on New years day 1997, twelve hours after she was last seen at 10pm on December 31, 1996 Nicola’s battered and lifeless body was discovered in the snow by a rector’s wife in the grounds of an unoccupied curate’s house in Trinity Hill.
The petite student had clearly put up a fight. Forensic evidence gathered at the scene showed that she had managed to escape from her attacker and attempted to scramble over a gate in a desperate need to escape. Unfortunately it was not enough and her attacker caught up with her. Once he had her in his evil clutches again, he easily overpowered her and forced her into the grounds of a rectory in Trinity Hill, and raped her, smashed her skull repeatedly against a stone step before callously leaving her for dead in the cold snowy weather conditions.
The brave teenager managed to crawl across the snow to her final resting place, before eventually succumbing to her massive head injuries and dying alone in the grounds of the church less than a mile from her home.
Following the gruesome discovery forensic experts scoured every inch of the snowy murder scene for several days, their appearance incongruent against the picturesque snow covered grounds of Trinity Church but their hard work did recover what would eventually become crucial DNA.
A pair of damaged trousers, ripped from the front to back, that had been torn off with 'some force,' were discovered. Her underwear had been used as a gag. Forensic swabs taken from Nicola's body showed traces of semen and a single Afro-Caribbean hair was found four days later, near to where her body lay.
Nicola’s death shocked the nation and West Midlands Police launched one of its biggest ever manhunts.
Police took 6,000 statements from the community and interviewed 11,000 people; the murder was featured on BBC’s Crimewatch a programme which would air monthly in the UK and ran appeals for unsolved crimes often with reconstructions and interviews with senior detectives.
Almost 3,000 people living in the area were DNA-tested – but her evil killer was not one of them.
a £20,000 reward was also offered.
2 years after the crime Home Office pathologist Dr Peter Jerreat was asked to review the forensic evidence in 1999. He said one possibility for Nicola's neck injuries was that the 17-year-old had tried to escape before being grabbed back by her assailant.
Despite the painstaking work by West Midlands Police, it would take another six pain-filled years before Colin Waite was finally brought to justice. This breakthrough would also reveal that due to a Police error, the Killer may have been brought to justice much sooner.
On the anniversary of Nicola's death West Midlands Police disclosed that they often monitored the national DNA database for comparisons between samples from the murder scene.
At the time Nicola's parents gave a heart breaking appeal for information. hauntingly her father Mr Dixon, 51, a civil engineer, had said:
'My wife Rita and I are always hopeful that one day this man will be caught."
He added: 'If the killer commits another crime, and if he does I hope it is a petty one, then he will end up behind bars
words which meant that the worry was this man would offend again and that would be the only way he would be caught.
'We feel that someone, somewhere, must know something about the murder or at least have a suspicion about a particular person. Even after all this time it is not too late.'
spokesperson for West Midlands police in an appeal on the anniversary of Nicola's death
When Colin Waite was finally brought to justice for the murder some 6 years later a history of a violent man emerged and some victims may have been spared if it were not for the error and perhaps the words of Mr Dixon and the Police Spokesperson would haunt them for failing to catch him sooner when the evidence was there in their possession.
Colin Waite was born in February 1961 to parents Iona and Eustace, and was christened Cecil Iram, but his mother changed his name to Colin when he was 15.
At the time of the offence he was a father of three children with two women was a driver for Hertz car hire.
Waite had in fact been interviewed in connection with the enquiry into Nicola's murder, he had an alibi for that night provided by his brother and two of his sisters, despite this now being proved to be false no one was ever charged with perjury.
His offending had started in 1979 and he had been convicted on numerous occasions for dishonesty, assault, criminal damage and possession of controlled drugs.
In 1992, he was jailed for six months for an assault on his then partner which was witnessed by children.
At the time of the murder, Waite was in a relationship with Ms Christine Lowndes in the Bordesley Green area of Birmingham, after meeting her when they both worked at Cadbury's Bournville factory. Just seven months after killing Nicola; Waite had broken the jaw of Ms Lowndes in a violent argument.
After that offence he was jailed for four-and-a-half years following his being convicted of GBH assault occasioning grievous bodily harm, in February 1998.
A DNA sample was taken from him at the time of the assault which potentially could have brought Nicola's killer to justice less than a year after the brutal attack. Unfortunately, errors made in packaging the sample meant it failed the standards set by the Forensic Science Service and the Police and Criminal Evidence Act rules stated that another DNA swab could not be taken from Waite at the time
He had already been imprisoned the previous September for an unrelated wounding offence.
On his release in 2001 for the assault on Ms Lowndes he was employed as a vehicle examiner for Yes Car Credit in Birmingham.
A further assault charge followed in August 2002 after what police described as a "road rage type" incident. He chased and assaulted another motorist after arguing with the driver and his wife. It was only when he was arrested for a road rage attack in August 2002 that police were able to take another sample. This provided an exact match with that found at the murder scene, 6 years after the murder.
Colin Waite could have been arrested shortly after Nicola's murder as officers had taken a swab from him in July 1997 when they arrested him for assaulting his former girlfriend.
Warwick Crown Court was the scene of the Trial against Waite who pleaded not guilty
The Court heard evidence that the chances of Waite’s DNA match coming from someone other than him were one billion to one.
The court also saw CCTV footage which showed a man similar to Waite leaving Sutton Coldfield's Good Hope Hospital where Nicola had been at a party.
Waite's trial was told how the defendant, of Kinver Croft, Birmingham,
"came out of the night"
to murder Nicola,
Police also matched the earlier mentioned hair found at the scene to the killer using a newly discovered specialist DNA technique
Despite the mounting DNA and other forensic evidence against him, Waite continued to insist that he had never met Nicola and did not change his plea, forcing her parents and the Jury to sit through the evidence of the brutal crime.
Waite, claimed in his defence that the evidence against him had been fabricated.
The jury took 25 minutes to reach the unanimous guilty verdict. Waite sobbed in the dock after greeting the verdict with a sigh and a shake of the head.
Meanwhile his relatives and friends caused a near-riot in the public gallery when the Guilty verdict was announced and Waite's brother was detained by police after he attacked camera crews waiting outside the court with a walking stick.
Nicola's parents remained dignified throughout, despite their years of suffering and their tremendous loss.
You are a violent and dangerous man who had committed the crime for sexual gratification.
Mr Justice Hughes at Warwick Crown Court as he sentenced Waite to life imprisonment
When it was discovered that Waite had been in prison for three years without the authorities having a DNA sample, wheels were set in motion to tighten the loophole.
Nicola Dixon’s lasting legacy is that her case has now lead to the law being changed so that DNA samples of prisoners are now taken as a matter of course.
It is little consolation for heartbroken parents Andy and Rita Dixon, who endured six years of waiting, wondering if their daughter’s killer would ever be found.
In an interview shortly after Waite’s conviction, Andy, by then 53-years-old described
the moment it sank in that it was his daughter’s body that had been found.
“There’s never been the cliché when you think it’s all been a dream, but there have been moments when we’ve thought this just can’t be right,” he said.
“I think we were lucky that we never had any doubt that it was Nicola. In different circumstances perhaps we’d have hoped that there had been a mistake, but there’s only ever been a few minutes when we could have harboured that doubt, even before we saw her for identification.
Andrew Dixon, father of Nicola, shortly after Waite's conviction for murder
No clear motive for the murder or how Waite met Nicola on the night of her death have ever been established. But the only connection between the defendant and Sutton Coldfield was his brother who lived on the Falcon Lodge estate.
"There is no clear indication - the only person who knows these details is Colin Waite, but he chose not to say so."
"Rita and Andy have watched over the proceedings daily with the same dignity and patience that they have always shown in trying to come to terms with what happened."
Detective Superintendent Matt Sawers
Detective Superintendent Matt Sawyer, who led the murder inquiry, later defended the Police investigation as there had been several suggestions in the media that police only caught Waite due to a stroke of luck.
“It is possible that Waite could have been arrested earlier if the sample had been loaded on the National DNA Database sooner, that’s true, But I do not accept the charge of luck. This is an investigative process that came from the case and the forensic science procedures in recovering the sample in the first place.
“No stone has been left unturned. That is not luck in my view. That is the inevitability of justice following the scientific advances.”
Detective Superintendent Matt Sawers
Waite never admitted his part in the crime and was sentenced to serve at least 20 years in prison at the sentencing Mr Justice Davis at the High Court in London.
said:
"In my view this was offending of the gravest type and clearly merited a very significant minimum term.
"I stress that the minimum term to be specified simply indicates the stage at which the defendant may be considered for release. It will be clearly understood that it does not follow that he will be released at that time. That is a matter for the parole board."
dedicated to the memory of Nicola Dixon aged 17
(c) K Lemonidis 2021
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