Andrew Lindo (29), her fiance and the father of her children, strangled her, cut her throat and stabbed her. He then cleaned the house, stored her body and pretended she had left him. Lindo used Ms Stewart’s mobile phone and Facebook page to mislead her family into believing that she had abandoned him and their two young children.

Lindo, a music teacher and band player, admitted manslaughter but denied murder. However, a jury at Bradford Crown Court rejected his claim that he lost his self-control after a row in which he falsely accused Ms Stewart of mistreating their young daughter. On 20th September 2011 the jury found him  guilty of a murder described in court as  “protracted and brutal”. Ms Stewart’s mother, Helen, and sister, Katie, wept in the public gallery as the jury returned its verdict.

On 21st September Lindo was sentenced to life imprisonment. The judge said he had revealed an “extraordinary and chilling lack of remorse”.

Michelle Colborne QC, for the prosecution, described Lindo as an “inveterate and accomplished liar” who was leading a double life when he killed Ms Stewart. Prosecutors said he put Ms Stewart’s family through “mental torture” as he deliberately damaged her reputation, suggesting she had deserted her young family for another man. Lindo posted a message on her Facebook profile saying she was having “fun in the sun”.

The jury heard that Lindo received great sympathy from Ms Stewart’s family. On Christmas Day Ms Stewart’s father, Robert (55) and sister Katie (26) visited the house to open presents, while her corpse was in the next room. Ms Colborne said that Ms Stewart’s family had been appalled when she failed to see her children over Christmas and missed her son’s first birthday. However, family members and friends became suspicious and the police were called. They searched the house and Ms Stewart’s body was found on 13th February 2011.

Lindo did not give evidence in the witness box, but described to police how he first strangled Ms Stewart and then, when she was still making noises, hit her with a child’s chair and tried to choke her with a belt. He dragged her down to the basement garage in a suitcase and finally killed her by stabbing her 12 times with a kitchen knife. The court heard he then stored her body in a flight bag in the garage.

The court heard that Lindo and Ms Stewart met at university, when he was studying music and she was studying health and community studies. She was at that time married to Martin Waldron, but the relationship broke down and by 2007 she and Lindo were living together and she was pregnant. They had a daughter in October 2007 and a son in January last year.

Jurors were told that Lindo was seen by friends and family as a doting father in a “perfect little family”. However, Lindo had had a series of affairs with several women and brought his latest lover, Angela Rylance, to the house just hours after the murder. The court heard that he would pretend he was a struggling single father living alone when women called.

Angela Rylance (29) described how she started a relationship with Lindo in August 2010 after he cashed a cheque in the money shop in Barnsley where she worked as a cashier. She said she began to doubt the defendant’s claim to be a single father, but he reassured her by telling her that Ms Stewart had left their children with him.

The murder happened on the first night Ms Rylance had been due to spend the night. After cleaning the scene he woke the children and drove to pick up Miss Rylance as arranged. Ms Rylance said she spent Christmas with the family without realising Ms Stewart’s body was in the house. She commented “He said what a fantastic Christmas it had been – the best one ever,”.

After Ms Stewart’s murder it was reported that Lindo had also been sexually involved with a 15-year-old school girl, who was one of his music students. He was not charged with this.The allegation emerged after he had been charged with murder.

It was also reported that while Ms Stewart was pregnant with their second child, Lindo was simultaneously involved with two women colleagues, Alison Doram (27) and Amy Wilde (26).  Ms Doram, a dance teacher, had a five-month sexual relationship with Lindo. She too believed Ms Stewart had walked out on him and the children. She said “Andrew was really friendly and easy to talk to, a charmer,” adding “I believed I was in a relationship with him exclusively.”

She saw Miss Stewart’s Facebook page indicating she was living with Lindo, but he convinced Ms Doram it was a “tactic” in a custody dispute over their daughter. However, Ms Doram ended their relationship after reading on Facebook that Miss Stewart’s status had been changed to “engaged to Andrew” on Valentine’s Day 2010. She then spoke to Ms Wilde and discovered she had also had a romantic relationship with Lindo.

Lindo showed no emotion when the verdict was announced. The judge commented that in the future any parole board would have to consider his “extraordinary cunning and facility for deceit”.

Note: This report was compiled from reports in The Times, The Independent and The Daily Mail.

Ms Gotip, of Nigel Rise, Livingston, West Lothian, worked at the Inland Revenue and was described in court as a “bubbly and out-going” person who loved life. The court heard she was a “caring and supportive” woman who helped to raise two of her siblings, who had health problems, and also helped to look after her mother.

In September 2011, Jamie Ellis (18) Ms Gotip’s former boyfriend appeared before the High Court in Edinburgh and admitted his guilt. Ellis, who is being held at Polmont Young Offenders’ Institution, now faces a life sentence.

At the time of the offence, unemployed Ellis had been in a relationship with Ms Gotip for seven months. Ms Gotip’s two young daughters were from a previous relationship with Neil Henderson and they remained close friends and shared childcare responsibilities. Ms Gotip and Ellis broke up several times during their relationship and he was said to be jealous of Ms Gotip’s continued relationship with Mr Henderson.

Ellis first claimed he ‘snapped’ because Ms Gotip had been “moaning at him because he had not made garlic bread for tea”. However, he later told police he felt their relationship was coming to an end and said: “I love her that much I can’t possibly imagine her with anyone else and I just thought f*** it.”

After the murder, Ellis, crying and with blood and cuts on his hand, was reported to have gone to his cousin’s house and told him: “I don’t know what I’ve done.” Immediately after the murder, Ellis was seen standing in the front garden covered in blood and holding two knives. He handed himself in after her body was found, reportedly telling police: “It’s not that I am a horrible person but s*** happens.”

Graeme Jessop, interim district procurator fiscal for Livingston, said it was a “particularly disturbing” crime. He said “Jamie Ellis stabbed Ms Gotip more than 30 times in the neck and chest, and inflicted multiple other injuries to her body with a knife”. He added “Mr Ellis committed this offence after taking a number of valium tablets and smoking several cannabis joints. The repercussions of this tragic incident will stay with both of Ms Gotip’s children for the rest of their lives.”

Susanne Tanner, prosecuting, told the court: “Two very young children have been left without their mother and, in the case of the deceased’s younger daughter, without any memory of her.”

After the hearing, Detective Inspector Phil Gachagan said: “The brutal violence Alami Gotip was subjected to prior to her death is testament to the violent and remorseless character of James Ellis. Despite being in a relationship with Miss Gotip and although her children were sleeping within the property, Ellis showed her no compassion during the attack and inflicted several serious injuries upon her. His guilty plea reflects the comprehensive work carried out by Lothian and Borders Police to build a murder case against him and he will undoubtedly face a lengthy prison sentence.”

Detective Inspector Gachagan added “I would like to thank Miss Gotip’s loved ones for all of their assistance and support during this investigation, and I sincerely hope that, following James Ellis’s sentencing, they can begin to move on with their lives.”

After the death, her mother, Karen McKenna, told police that Alami was her “best pal”. She said “She’s a loss that can never, ever be replaced. She shouldn’t have been taken away from me. I loved her so much, she was a big part of my heart. I don’t know how I am going to go on without her.”

Judge Lord Glennie called for reports and deferred sentencing until 5 October at the High Court in Glasgow.

Note: This report was compiled from reports in the Edinburgh Evening News, Sky News, BBC News and the Metro

Police were called to the house in Ireton Court, Thame. A 21-year-old man was arrested in Thame Market Place shortly after the incident and taken to Abingdon police station.

Post-mortem examinations are due to take place to determine the cause of death but a police spokesman said the women appeared to have sustained stab wounds during the incident.

Senior investigating officer Det.Chief Inspector Joe Kidman, from Thames Valley Police, said: “We are in the early stages of our investigation.We have arrested a man on suspicion of murder. At this time it appears that all parties are known to each other and we are not seeking anyone else in connection with this case.We are working hard to establish the full circumstances of this incident and what led to the tragic deaths of these two women.”

A neighbour reportedly described hearing a commotion during the night.

Another neighbour, who declined to be named, said: “All the police have told us is that it’s a major incident. Neighbours are saying it is a domestic. I don’t know the people involved but Thame is a delightful town. It is a shock that something like this has happened here.”

Another neighbour, who also refused to be named, said: “There have been police here standing about but I’m keeping well out of it. It’s a very nice area and we have had no trouble in the time we have been living here.”

Note: This report was compiled from news reports from the BBC, the Independent on Sunday.

Thomas Raymond Quinn (50) of Emberton Court, Finsbury, is accused of murder. The police believe him to be the son of the victim. It is reported that they lived at the same address.

Note: This report was compiled from reports from: Murder Maps; the Islington Gazette; London 24.

Donna’s estranged husband Neil Langmead (41), a builder, brutally killed the women at the property before setting fire to it. A jury at Exeter Crown Court found him guilty in June 2011. He will serve a minimum of 30 years.

The women were found almost side by side in the blood-soaked kitchen of the burning house. Both had been sexually assaulted and Deborah had been stripped from the waist down and sexually mutilated by Langmead, either as she lay unconscious or after she was dead.

Forensic pathologist, Dr Russell Delaney, told the jury that Deborah Langmead had suffered a genital stab wound which could only have been made if she was unable to fight back. He said: “Had she been conscious and able to resist, I would have expected to have seen significant injuries to external surfaces.” Semen was found on her legs. Dr Delaney said 19 stab wounds to her front and back would have caused death within minutes.

Donna St John was found with 12 stab wounds and her breasts exposed.

The court had heard that Langmead had a long history of domineering behaviour towards his wife and had been unable to accept that she had moved out of the family home and was starting divorce proceedings.

The jury was told that he had been issued with a warning by police for harassment a week before the killings for following his wife and sending her hundreds of text messages. She had been so worried about her estranged husband’s “obsessive” behaviour in the days before she died that she had asked her step father Brian Hooper to fit extra bolts to the front and back doors of her house.

Langmead told the jury that he killed his wife in self-defence after she killed her best friend Donna.  Mr Justice Field, sentencing Langmead, said his defence at the trial had been a “tissue of lies” adding: “Both women were in their 30s, both had young children, both were entirely innocent. Neither did anything at all that could begin to justify what you did to them.”

The couple, who both had two children from previous relationships, began their relationship in 2005, moving in together with their children after three or four months together. However, Deborah left Langmead on several occasions. Her mother, Caroline Hooper, said she described him as a “control freak, obsessed with cleanliness” adding “She felt he was smothering her and she just wanted to breathe.”

After undergoing relationship counselling, they married in April 2009, but their  relationship further deteriorated. Deborah moved out on 19 May 2010 and did not tell her husband where she was living. However, the court was told he found her after following her and members of her family.

On the night of their deaths the two women appear to have bumped into Langmead. It is not clear how and why he was in the house, though Donna was reported to have telephoned her boyfriend in the early hours and have informed him that the Langmeads had sorted things out. She was then heard to say: “What the hell are you doing?” before the line went dead.

Note: This report was compiled from reports from BBC News and the Bearsden Herald.

A post-mortem examination took place on Thursday 28th April. It revealed evidence of multiple stabbing.

On 24th April, prior to the discovery of Lucinda’s body, the body of her partner Paul Wright (31) was found hanged from a tree in Weavers Fields, Bethnal Green. This led police back to Lucinda’s flat in Brymay Close on 26th April when she was found dead. Police have confirmed that they are not looking for anyone else in connection with the deaths. The investigation was led by the Homicide and Serious Crime Command under DCI John Sandlin.

Neighbours told local journalists on London 24 that the police had previously been called to their address.

There are reports that the police had been warned that her life was in danger nine days before her body was found.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) is investigating the actions of the two Tower Hamlets officers who visited Lucinda on 17th April, after a friend contacted police to express concerns about her welfare.

Reportedly Lucinda had told her friend that Wright was at her home on 17th April, in breach of his bail conditions. This was reported to police but, when officers arrived, he had already left. The IPCC will now investigate what action was then taken by the officers.

A neighbour reported that he had spoken with a close friend of Lucinda’s who said she believed she was killed on Good Friday – four days before her body was discovered.

He said the friend called for Lucinda that morning, but was told by Wright that she had gone back to bed. The friend reportedly received text messages from Lucinda’s phone saying that she had gone away which apparently stopped when Wright’s body was found on Easter Sunday.

A neighbour is reported to have said: “That girl possibly could have been saved. It’s such a waste.”

Note: This report was drawn from reports from: London 24, Murder Maps, the Metropolitan Police and the BBC.

A man, named locally as Bill Allen (66), her husband, was arrested on suspicion of murdering his wife. He remains in hospital with stab wounds to his legs. He was found by officers in his six-bedroom home after he called police at about 2.40pm on 9th June.

The cause of death is still to be established and a post mortem is due to be carried out.

Detective Chief Inspector Trevor Bowles from the Sussex Police’s Major Crime Branch who is leading the investigation said: “”We are not looking for anyone else in connection with this tragic incident.”

Neighbours said the road was closed for several hours as two ambulances, the police helicopter, and several police cars arrived in the street.

Neighbours described the couple as “really quiet and unassuming” and said that they had only lived in the street a “matter of weeks” and were barely seen leaving their home.

One of the neighbours commented that another murder had happened in the area a few years ago. Jamie Goossens said a man “murdered his wife about 100 yards from here.” In December 2007 Roger Goswell stabbed and bludgeoned his wife Susan to death. Police found her slumped on the lounge floor of their house with multiple stab wounds. Police said Goswell (66), who had a history of mental illness, had not been able to cope with the revelation that his wife had not been a virgin when they met. Police came to the conclusion that he murdered his wife and then killed himself by driving his car into a tree near their home in Silverwood, West Chiltington.

Note: This report was based upon a report in the Argus newspaper, but was altered to focus upon the death of Linda Allen rather than the injury to and arrest of Bill Allen.

FOD proposes to write to Sussex Police to ask why their spokesperson referred to what appears to be a violent crime (given that they have arrested Bill Allen on suspicion of murder) as a “tragic incident”.

FOD will also write to the Argus to ask why the focus of the article was the Bill Allen, the alleged killer – who was referred to by the rather gentle non-threatening term of “pensioner” – rather than Linda Allen, who is referred to as an apparent afterthought and as “his wife”. FOD believes the focus in such articles must be the victim.

Joanna Brown’s estranged husband Robert Brown (47) admitted manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility but denied murder. Jurors heard that the defendant, a Scottish-born British Airways pilot, will tell the court that he was suffering from severe stress and hit his wife during an argument.

However, the Prosecution allege that Brown clubbed his wife to death because he resented the pre-nuptial agreement he had signed before their marriage which left her in control of most of the assets she had inherited from her wealthy property developer father.

The court heard that Brown attacked Joanna with a mallet or hammer “hitting her about the head and face repeatedly until she collapsed” after he brought their two children home after a half term break. Jurors heard the attack took place while the terrified children – a boy of nine and an 11-year-old girl – were in a room next door, where they could hear the blows.

Graham Reeds, QC, prosecuting, said: “She suffered extensive fractures to her skull and facial bones with brain injury from which she had no prospect of surviving.

“After he had incapacitated her, he wrapped Jo’s body in plastic sheeting and put a bin liner or  similar black plastic bag over her head in an attempt to avoid  leaving bloodstains.”

It is alleged Brown then bundled her body into the boot of his estate car and, with the couple’s two children also in the car, drove to his nearby home in Winkfield, Berkshire. After dropping the children with his girlfriend, Stephanie Bellemere, a BA stewardess, it is alleged he buried Joanna in a plastic box in a  preprepared grave in Windsor Great Park, which had been dug weeks earlier.

Mr Brown, who was due to fly to Lagos in Nigeria that day, called the police and claimed he and his wife had had a “domestic argument”. He was arrested soon after but would not say what had happened to Mrs Brown. The following day his solicitor read a prepared statement which led the police to the location of the body.

The Prosecutor said that the couple, who married in 1999, had been involved in “acrimonious and bitterly contested” divorce proceedings since 2007.

Mr Reeds insisted the death had been planned. He pointed out that inside the plastic crate, officers had found rolls of tape, garden ties, latex gloves, plastic footwear and two white overalls on Joanna’s body. They also found a rubber mallet.

Mr Reeds said: “The remote location of the grave, the advanced preparation of it, and the collection of materials needed to dispose of her body are, the prosecution say, clear indicators that the defendant had planned to murder his wife and to dispose of her body intending that she never be found.”

The case continues.

On 12th April 2011 unemployed Ward was convicted of murdering Emma, a pub waitress,  at the home they shared in Rockland St Peter, Norfolk. The court found that he murdered his wife then dismembered her with an electric saw and hid her remains. Judge Peter Jacobs imposed a mandatory life term and said Ward could not be considered for parole until he had spent 22 years in jail.

Jurors were told that relatives raised the alarm after Emma vanished in late March 2010.

Detectives said no trace of Emma’s body had been found. Ward, who was described as a “cynical and cruel” killer, denied murder, telling jurors he killed his wife accidentally in self-defence during a row. He said he had no memory of dismembering her or of disposing of her remains.

Ward had previously told police that his wife had left him for another man but forensic investigations revealed that she had been killed in a bedroom, then dragged to the bathroom and cut up with a £55 saw bought in a local hardware store.

Inquiries showed that Ward had cleaned carpets and repainted – but not realised that his wife’s blood had seeped through to floorboards and left a trail for scientists to follow. The judge said the amount of blood found suggested that Ward had attacked his wife with a “sharp instrument”. He said “What happened after that was truly dreadful….. You embarked upon a cynical and cruel effort to cover your tracks.”

Jurors were told how evidence suggested that the Wards’ marriage had broken down.

Emma Ward is survived by her parents David and Elaine Noonan, who live in Rockland All Saints, Norfolk. Her father said: “I cannot begin to imagine the pain and terror Emma must have felt. It is so unbearable to think about”. He added: “We have not been able to grieve for Emma because we do not know where she is. If Nick Ward has any remorse he must do the decent thing and tell us where he has put our daughter.”

(compiled from reports in the Independent newspaper 12.4.11.)

Assia lived with her three sons and several lodgers in Wendover Road, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire and had been separated from her husband, Rashad (45) for several years. She ran a successful taxi firm with her estranged husband.

Shortly after her death police arrested her son Usman and a 16-year-old boy who cannot be named for legal reasons. Shahzad’s other son Lookmarn (18) has severe learning difficulties and was previously cared for by his mother.

At the time of her death Raj Khan, a Buckinghamshire county councillor who grew up with Assia, commented: “We lived on the same street, went to school together and we were in the same business together.” He added: “It’s a devastating time, not only for her family but for the community. She was a very community-spirited lady. She helped where she could, particularly with Asian women’s issues by filling in their forms and advising them.”

Cllr Khan said then that the dead woman’s parents were “ absolutely devastated”. A family member said her father, Mohammed Nawaz, was inconsolable over the loss of his daughter. “He is screaming and crying. He is absolutely distraught.”

A friend was reported at the time of her death as saying: “Assia was a strong-minded, independent, modern woman. This did not always sit well with some parts of the family.”

On 6th April Usman Shahzad pleaded guilty to the killing of his mother. Aylesbury Crown Court, sitting at Wycombe Magistrates Court, heard a former tenant of Mrs Shahzad testify that Mrs Shahzad was so terrified of Usman that she planned to move to Birmingham with Lookmarn. The other defendant (16) continues to deny murder.

Jurors heard a recorded 999 call by one of Mrs Shahzad’s lodgers Rosemary De Jonk, in which she told an operator that two males were “trying to kill her, they won’t open the door”. Miss De Jonk told the court that while Mrs Shahzad was being attacked she was heard shouting the 16-year-old’s name.

The court heard that Mrs Shahzad had earlier had a heated argument with her son at her parents home in Aylesbury before she returned to her house, which she and her sons shared with several lodgers. Ben Gumpert, prosecuting, said: “There had been bad feeling between Assia Shahzad and Usman Shahzad that may have been caused by the fact Assia Shahzad had found a new husband in Pakistan.” He added that her son “feared a hoped-for financial inheritance was no longer secure as a result of the marriage.”

The prosecutor described the attack as “remorseless, merciless”. He said the two men rained down blows on Mrs Shahzad with knives, a machete and a shower pole, causing 84 separate injuries, while playing rap music at high volume to muffle her screams.

The jury was told that Mrs Shahzad was chased around the large detached property in Aylesbury, Bucks, as her son and the boy carried out the “prolonged and horrifically bloody” murder. The prosecutor said a pathologist found massive damage to Mrs Shahzad’s head, including two skull fractures and one blade wound which entered the skull. Parts of several fingers had been cut off in her bid to defend herself. Her hands were almost severed by the severity of the blows.

The prosecutor said she that evidence suggested she was hit when she was “upright, defending herself, but many, many times after she had fallen to the floor.”. Mr Gumpert said: “After the police had broken down the door they found Usman standing on his mother’s neck as she bled to death at his feet.”

Usman Shahzad has been told he faces a life sentence in prison for the murder. The trial of the 16 year old continues.

Assia lived with her three sons and several lodgers in Wendover Road, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire and had been separated from her husband, Rashad (45) for several years. She ran a successful taxi firm with her estranged husband.

Shortly after her death police arrested her son Usman and a 16-year-old boy who cannot be named for legal reasons. Shahzad’s other son Lookmarn (18) has severe learning difficulties and was previously cared for by his mother.

At the time of her death Raj Khan, a Buckinghamshire county councillor who grew up with Assia, commented: “We lived on the same street, went to school together and we were in the same business together.” He added: “It’s a devastating time, not only for her family but for the community. She was a very community-spirited lady. She helped where she could, particularly with Asian women’s issues by filling in their forms and advising them.”

Cllr Khan said then that the dead woman’s parents were “ absolutely devastated”. A family member said her father, Mohammed Nawaz, was inconsolable over the loss of his daughter. “He is screaming and crying. He is absolutely distraught.”

A friend was reported at the time of her death as saying: “Assia was a strong-minded, independent, modern woman. This did not always sit well with some parts of the family.”

On 6th April Usman Shahzad pleaded guilty to the killing of his mother. Aylesbury Crown Court, sitting at Wycombe Magistrates Court, heard a former tenant of Mrs Shahzad testify that Mrs Shahzad was so terrified of Usman that she planned to move to Birmingham with Lookmarn. The other defendant (16) continues to deny murder.

Jurors heard a recorded 999 call by one of Mrs Shahzad’s lodgers Rosemary De Jonk, in which she told an operator that two males were “trying to kill her, they won’t open the door”. Miss De Jonk told the court that while Mrs Shahzad was being attacked she was heard shouting the 16-year-old’s name.

The court heard that Mrs Shahzad had earlier had a heated argument with her son at her parents home in Aylesbury before she returned to her house, which she and her sons shared with several lodgers. Ben Gumpert, prosecuting, said: “There had been bad feeling between Assia Shahzad and Usman Shahzad that may have been caused by the fact Assia Shahzad had found a new husband in Pakistan.” He added that her son “feared a hoped-for financial inheritance was no longer secure as a result of the marriage.”

The prosecutor described the attack as “remorseless, merciless”. He said the two men rained down blows on Mrs Shahzad with knives, a machete and a shower pole, causing 84 separate injuries, while playing rap music at high volume to muffle her screams.

The jury was told that Mrs Shahzad was chased around the large detached property in Aylesbury, Bucks, as her son and the boy carried out the “prolonged and horrifically bloody” murder. The prosecutor said a pathologist found massive damage to Mrs Shahzad’s head, including two skull fractures and one blade wound which entered the skull. Parts of several fingers had been cut off in her bid to defend herself. Her hands were almost severed by the severity of the blows.

The prosecutor said she that evidence suggested she was hit when she was “upright, defending herself, but many, many times after she had fallen to the floor.”. Mr Gumpert said: “After the police had broken down the door they found Usman standing on his mother’s neck as she bled to death at his feet.”

Usman Shahzad has been told he faces a life sentence in prison for the murder. The trial of the 16 year old continues.

Sweeney is already serving four life terms imposed in 2002 for the attempted murder in 1994 of Delia Balmer, a  nurse who had also been his girlfriend. He was sentenced to life imprisonment with a whole life tariff for the two murders. There are fears he may also have killed three other women.

Melissa Halstead met Sweeney in London in the 1980s. He was a possessive and violent boyfriend who attacked Melissa and several times appeared in court. In 1988 she moved to Vienna to live with a friend, but Sweeney tracked her down and broke in to the property. He tied up the friend at gunpoint, the court heard, and threatened to kill Melissa.

Sweeney later apologised and Melissa persuaded him to leave Vienna, buying him a ticket and going with him to the railway station, but he never really left. Instead, a few days later he waited outside her flat and attacked her, hitting her over the head with a hammer and dragging her into the cellar. She managed to break free as Sweeney tried to strangle her. She called the police and Sweeney was given a suspended sentence.

Melissa Halstead then told police and her sister, Chance O’Hara, that she feared he would kill her.  She moved to Holland, but he followed her, and it was there that he killed her, dumping her dismembered body in a Rotterdam canal. She was identified 18 years later using DNA, though her head and hands have never been found. Chance O’Hara, said: “She told me, if she ever went missing, that John Sweeney would have killed her. He had threatened that he would kill her and he would make sure no-one would ever find her body.”

Sweeney later wrote a ‘poem’: “Poor old Melissa, chopped her up in bits, food to feed the fish, Amsterdam was the pits.”

Sweeney returned to the UK where in 1994 he tried to murder another girlfriend, an Australian-born nurse named Delia Balmer (now 59).  He subjected her to 48 hours of torture when she ended their affair.  A month later, within hours of being released on bail, he left her mutilated and scarred for life after an axe attack which only ended when a neighbour arrived to help. Delia Balmer said: “He had the axe above his head ready to finish me off. Then the man next door came out and risked his life. I had just curled up ready to go.” She was too traumatised to attend court, but said that Sweeney had told her that he had killed Melissa.

Sweeney was still ‘on the run’ for the attack on Delia Balmer when, in 2000, he killed Paula Fields (31). Paula was born in Liverpool, the youngest of 11 children. Her mother died when she was only nine. She arrived in London in 1998 – according to her sister Irene hoping to make a better life for herself and her three children. She worked in a laundrette, but turned to prostitution to support a drug habit. She was last seen at Sweeney’s north London flat a few weeks before her death.

Paula’s body parts were found on February 19, 2001 in six holdalls floating in the Regent’s Canal in Camden, North London. Her head, hands and feet have never been found.

Sweeney was arrested in March 2001, a month after Paula’s body was found. So far, there has been no explanation from police as to how an habitual beater was able to avoid capture for seven years from 1994 to 2001. He stood trial for the attempted murder of Delia Balmer, but not the murders of the other two women. At that time it was felt that there was insufficient evidence for a murder conviction. In 2002, Sweeney received four life sentences after being convicted of the attempted murder of Miss Balmer.

He was nearing the end of his minimum nine-year jail term when an Anglo-Dutch police investigation was launched in February 2009 and in April 2010 he was charged with the murders of Melissa Halstead and Paula Fields.

After his 2001 arrest for attempted murder, police discovered weapons at his North London house including sawn-off shotguns, a machete and a garrotte made with bamboo and wire. There was also a holdall with a saw, bow knife, Stanley knife, axe head, orange rubber gloves and rolls of tape. In addition, police found some 300 paintings, wooden sculptures and poems.  These provided what Brian Altman, QC, prosecuting called “autobiographical and confessional evidence” about the murder of Melissa Halstead.

Similar works were found in 2010 in his cell at Gartree Prison when he was arrested for the murders of Melissa and Paula. Brian Altman said that these items  revealed his “obsessive and violent hatred” of women and a “preoccupation with dismemberment”. In one picture, depicting a bloody axe, he called himself the Scalp Hunter. Another showed a headless and handless corpse apparently positioned in the way Miss Halstead’s body was found.

Brian Altman said the pictures revealed Sweeney’s hatred for women: “It is a picture of a hateful, controlling and possessive man….” Mr Altman said, “prone to outbursts of rage and murderous feelings.” Mr Altman commented: “There was one significant feature in common. Both women had been in a relationship with this defendant at the time they were killed and went missing.”

In sentencing Sweeney, the Judge said: “These were terrible, wicked crimes.The heads of the victims having been removed, it is impossible to be certain how they were killed.The mutilation of the bodies is a serious aggravating feature of the murders. Not only does it reveal the cold-blooded nature of the killer, but it has added greatly to the distress of the families to know that parts of the bodies of their loved ones have never been recovered.”

The judge added: “The method of disposal of the bodies demonstrates that there was a substantial amount of planning. Why the killings occurred, I cannot be sure, but I am satisfied that this defendant is controlling in his relationships with women and, chillingly, that control extends to deciding whether they should live or die.”

The Police are concerned about three other former girlfriends who have not been seen for many years. They are trying to trace a woman called Sue, possibly a trainee nurse from Derbyshire, who would have been in her late twenties or early thirties in the late 1970s or early 1980s. The police think she was living or working in the Holloway Road and Seven Sisters area of North London, was a churchgoer and went to Switzerland to work.

The police are also trying to trace two South American former girlfriends of Sweeney who have not been seen since the late 1990s. One was a Brazilian woman known as Irani, a cleaner, who lived and worked in North London in 1996 and 1997. She was thought to then be in her mid forties. The other woman was a Colombian called Maria, who lived in North London in 1997 and 1998, when she was thought to be in her late thirties. Both women are said to have frequented pubs and restaurants around Highbury and Holloway Road.

Dutch police are also looking into Sweeney’s reported claims to Miss Balmer that he killed two German men whom he caught with Miss Halstead.