JUSTICE FOR ROY TUTILL AFTER 33 YEARS

Man jailed for schoolboy murder unsolved for 33 years

15th NOV , 2001
DAILY MAIL online

 

Roy Tutill

A 65-year-old farm labourer was today jailed for life at the Old Bailey for the previously unsolved murder of schoolboy Roy Tutill.
Now police forces around the country are expected to examine hundreds of cases of missing children and unsolved sex attacks on youngsters.
The 14-year-old was abducted, raped and strangled in 1968 as he hitch-hiked home from school so he could save his bus fare towards a new bicycle.
Divorced Brian Field, of Rowood Drive, Solihull, West Midlands, pleaded guilty to the 33-year-old murder - thought to be the longest period between a crime being committed and being solved.
Field, a loner with previous convictions for attacking boys, is believed by detectives to have been one of Britain's most dangerous paedophiles.
He was trapped only after a tiny speck of DNA was matched to him when he was stopped by police for drink-driving.
Field killed Roy to "eradicate a witness" and police fear other boys may have met the same fate. West Midlands Police in particular are believed to be looking at unexplained deaths or disappearances in the area.
Among them are the mysterious disappearances of David Spencer, 13, and Patrick Warren, 11, who were last seen in Chelmsley Wood, near Field's home, on Boxing Day 1996. It was thought they had run away.
They are also understood to be reopening the inquiry into the death of 15-year-old Mark Billington found hanged from a tree seven miles from his home.
His parents always maintained he had probably been attacked by a man who murdered him.
The murder of Roy Tutill remained Surrey's only unsolved child murder until Field's arrest in February this year.
The Kingston Grammar School pupil, known to his friends as Tutts, went missing after leaving the school on April 23 1968 at 3.30pm.
He boarded a bus with friends for the start of his 15-mile journey home - but hitch-hiked after a few miles as he was saving towards a new bicycle.
He was last seen trying to stop a car in Chessington, close to his home in the village of Brockham Green, near Dorking.
His body was discovered nearby in a copse at the entrance to the late press baron Lord Beaverbrook's estate at Mickleham, Surrey, three days later.
His clothing, including his red and grey striped school blazer, were found folded across his body.
After his arrest, Field confessed to killing Roy with a rope and keeping the body in the boot of his white Mini car before dumping it.
He moved from Surrey shortly afterwards and travelled around Britain as a farm machine repair man.
Detective Chief Superintendent David Cook said outside court: "By his plea of guilty today, Brian Field has publicly admitted that he is a very dangerous person.
"When you take into account his previous criminal history, it leaves you in no doubt what a danger he poses to society and in particular, to young boys."
Police appealed for any other possible victims over the last 30-odd years to come forward.