Justice For Glyn RazzellThis is an average of 847 a year. Moreover, the Crown Courts quosh around 3,500 criminal convictions obtained in the magistrates court each year. |
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Case OverviewIntroductionLinda Razzell disappeared on the 19 March 2002 after dropping her children off at school & driving into Swindon town centre where she worked at the college. Her car was parked in its usual place in Alvescott Road, Swindon and her mobile phone was found by some garages in an alley nearby. Blood, DNA matched to Linda was eventually discovered in the boot of a car used by Linda's estranged husband Glyn Razzell on the day that Linda disappeared. The car underwent 2 forensic examinations & no traces of blood were found. It was only on the 3rd attempt that blood was discovered. Glyn was charged and convicted of Linda’s murder.Glyn has always maintained his innocence and no body has been found. Police officers acted contrary to the Police & Criminal Evidence Act 1984Police suspected Glyn from the onset but contrary to PACE, questioned him without a caution or legal advice, and without taking variable records.The police arrived at Glyn’s home at 01.00am on the 20 March to search his house and question him on his whereabouts. Over the next 2 days Glyn spent 17 hours with officers at his home trying to piece together Linda's background. Glyn believed he was helping the police with their enquires. However, his statement was later used in court against him. Within days it became apparent that Glyn was the main suspect for Linda’s disappearance. Thereafter, the Police appeared to be focused solely on building a case around Glyn, and seemed to have forgotten they were meant to be looking for a missing person. Despite this, Glyn continued to help the Police in every way he could until he was arrested on suspicion of Linda’s murder. On the 17 May 2002 Glyn Razzell was charged with the murder of Linda Razzell. On the 14 November 2003 Glyn Razzell was convicted of the murder of Linda Razzell. Back to Top Investigations to prove Glyn's alibi were bungledAlongside 2 Police Officers, Glyn retraced the walk he had taken the morning Linda disappeared enabling the Police to note down all the CCTV cameras on his route that could potentially, give Glyn an alibi, including cameras on Westlea Police Station. 3 cameras covered Glyn’s route, 2 including the Police Station were not recording and the 3rd was not seized promptly and consequently the tape was reused and the evidence lost.Witnesses from a school trip to Lydiard Park, who may have seen Glyn on his walk were identified in April 2002 but were not contacted until July 2002, 3 months later, not surprisingly no-one remembered seeing Glyn. Another witness who was walking his dog near Lydiard Park wasn’t followed up for more than a year, by then his memory had faded. He remembered seeing a man dressed like Glyn but couldn’t be sure of the date. Back to Top Actions taken to find Linda's bodyExtensive police searches took place to locate a body, using divers, heat seeking equipment and dogs.The Police searched over 200 locations including all the places known to Glyn in the Swindon area. They had identified areas by soil samples from Glyn’s car tyres, boots & shoes, from maps and from witnesses but no trace of Linda has been found. Back to Top Background To Linda's disappearanceGlyn & Linda separated in August 2000. Divorce proceedings initiated by Linda began in May 2000. The marriage breakdown was caused principally by Linda’s infidelity with builders who were adding an extension on their house in 1998, and the consequences which stemmed from it, including Glyn starting a new relationship in the October of 1999.The divorce was slow and acrimonious. It was due to conclude in July 2002. Linda had a history of making false allegations of domestic violence against Glyn which had led to charges, however when the court heard the full facts Glyn was acquitted. Allegations were made just days before key divorce hearings. Subsequently at the hearings Glyn was disadvantaged by the allegations pending which were used by Linda’s solicitors to wrongly attack Glyn’s character. No allegations of violence or misconduct had ever been made against Glyn until the divorce started. Linda has a long history of mental illness and has been a patient at Goodmayes Mental Hospital in Essex and Seymour Clinic Psychiatric Unit in Swindon. Linda had become extremely bitter towards Glyn because of his new relationship. Linda was in a new relationship at the time she disappeared with her best friends husband, which had started a year earlier. But friends commented that Linda did not see this as "long term". Back to Top Flaws in the Crown's caseThe Crown claims that on the morning of the 19 March 2002 Glyn Razzell drove from his home to the centre of Swindon town and abducted Linda on her way to work.Glyn did not know Linda’s routine. Linda’s hours changed from term to term. The sites she worked at varied. Linda started work in 2000 a few months before they separated, but at the time Linda’s routine was to work around pre-school childcare commitments. Despite extensive Police enquires with Linda’s friends and colleagues, Glyn’s friends, and Alvescott Road residents, there is no evidence of Glyn knowing where Linda parked. Linda had only started to park in Alvescott Road to save money on her parking costs after they had separated. Glyn had not had any direct contact with Linda for 18 months before she disappeared. No time to plan an abduction. Glyn was due to be in France on the day Linda went missing (Tuesday 19th March) and only pulled out on the Monday (18th March) as his solicitors needed his affidavit for court to get his bank accounts unfrozen. Linda had obtained an order for this on the previous Friday. Due to the fact that Glyn’s car was a people carrier and the purpose of the trip to France was to stock up on wine, his friends asked if they could still take his car because of its storage capacity. Glyn agreed which is why he had his friend’s car on the day Linda disappeared. Glyn received a phone call At 8.24am Glyn’s girlfriend phoned him on his landline for 1 minute 43 seconds just as she arrived at work. Police enquires revealed that Linda’s routine was to arrive in work between 09.00 & 9.15 on Tuesday’s, so she would normally park at around 08.50. It usually takes about 20 minutes to get into town depending on rush hour traffic from Glyn’s home, it could take as little as 15 minutes but often took a lot more. So to be sure of intercepting Linda, Glyn would have had to leave his home by 8.20am, get into position and wait to abduct Linda, so he would not have been at home to take the 8.24am call! Sighting of the car Glyn’s next door neighbour who has a clear unobstructed view of his drive confirmed that the car was parked on his drive both when she went out shopping at 9.30am & when she returned at 11.00. CCTV on route to town centre More than 20 CCTV tapes were seized by the police along all possible routes from Glyn’s address to the alleged abduction site. Many pictures were enhanced. The car that the Crown say Linda was abducted in does not appear on any of the tapes seized. Glyn could not have driven into town without passing one of these cameras, and be recorded on CCTV tape. CCTV on route to Lydiard Park On the morning Linda disappeared Glyn went for a walk to a local park. He passed a CCTV camera located on Westlea Police Station which pointed directly at the path he walked along. When Glyn retraced his walk with 2 officers a few days later, he pointed out the camera and asked the Police to check their tape. A number of other cameras were also pointed out that could possibly have Glyn on them. The Police claim that the camera on the police station does not record, although it is linked to recording equipment. There is no way Glyn could have known this, and he would therefore have been crazy to say he walked past it if he didn’t. 2 other cameras were identified but one was not recording and the other one was not followed up quickly enough by the Police and the tape had been re-used and recorded over. Linda’s mobile phone was found by some garages in an alley that she walks through to work at Swindon College, the Crown claim that this was the abduction site & that the phone dropped out of Linda’s bag when Glyn abducted her. The alley is only wide enough for 1 car. There is no room to turn a car. A resident saw Linda enter the alley on foot and he followed her in his car about 75 seconds later. He said no car entered or left the alley from his end. (Covert Police surveillance confirmed the time by monitoring his routine). A driving instructor was parked at the other end of the alley waiting for his next lesson. He saw or heard nothing unusual. The Police timed how long it takes to walk to the spot where the phone was found and that leaves only around 30 seconds for Linda to be overpowered, bundled into a car, the abductor to get back into the drivers seat, start the engine, drive off and clear the alley completely. It couldn’t have been done! The phone was set to discrete which is an unusual setting to have it on if you are walking outside or in the car. The phone was found on the 20 March 02 lying under a piece of wood with no sign of disturbance around it. At an initial police briefing it was reported that the phone looked like it had been planted there and had not fallen. As you would expect, Linda’s phone received a large number of calls from the morning of the 19 March until the next day when the phone was found by police. 43 calls in total were recorded, 42 calls routed through the 2 nearest masts, but 1 call went to a mast over a mile away. This call was at 10.17pm on the 19 March. A phone expert said in court that he thought it was highly unlikely that at 10.17pm the phone was in the alley, because the signal from the mast a mile away was not detectable there. Glyn has a firm alibi at this time as he was with friends in Hungerford. Linda’s boyfriend arrived at her car, parked 12 metres from the end of the alley at 10.15pm to check if it was still there. The boyfriends DNA was found on the mobile phone. A witness claims she saw Linda walking quickly and looking upset after the alleyway. The woman gave a good description of the clothes Linda was wearing that day and said she had also seen her on previous mornings. The area is very busy around rush hour as there is a school nearby, it is also a residential area with lots of people getting ready for work. A nearby playschool starts at 9.15am and Police videos of the area show several mothers with pushchairs pass the end of the alley, they all look up as they cross. Any stationery vehicle, blocking the alley would have been noticed by someone. The alley is overlooked by the windows of 12 houses and it has been shown that more than 40 people either drive or walk past it at the relevant time each morning. There is no evidence of any disturbance in the alley. No screams, shouts or car doors banging were heard, and no blood, hair or skin traces were found despite forensic searches. Not one person reported seeing Glyn, or anyone matching his description, nor did they see the silver Renault Laguna that was in his possession that day. The Police questioned all the residents in the area and stopped all passers by on 2 Tuesdays after Linda disappeared. Hundreds of people were spoken to but there is no evidence of an abduction. There is no evidence at all to link Glyn to the alleyway either on the morning of the 19 March 02 or any other time. The Crown claim that Glyn drove an extra 60 miles in his car on the day of Linda’s disappearance, therefore showing he had driven somewhere to dispose of the body. However, by looking at the amount of fuel in the car when it was next filled up and retracing Glyn’s routes in the car that day, an expert concluded that no extra miles had been driven based on the car doing 24 mpg, the figure usually attained by the car’s owner as it is a 3 litre V6. It emerged in court that police officers who had done the same test had made errors with their calculations, they had not considered the amount of fuel put in the next time the car was filled up. It was initially denied by the crown that the Police had details of the next fill up. It was later admitted in court that they had always had the information. The Crown claimed that Glyn stood to benefit from a substantial amount of money if Linda died. Linda’s Will had been changed in 2000 leaving all her assets and money to the children. There is documentary evidence to show that Glyn knew this. The life insurance taken out in 1992 on Linda would also go to the children. There is documentary evidence to show that Glyn knew this. There is also documentary evidence to show that Glyn knew that Linda had taken steps to change the ownership of their house so that her share would not go to him in the event of her death. If Linda disappeared, Glyn would not be able to sell the house for 7 years and would have to put his life on hold for years to come. No life assurances will pay out without a body. There is documentary evidence to show Glyn knew this. The Crown claimed that Glyn deliberately turned off his mobile telephone on the morning of the 19 March 02 so that his whereabouts could not be traced. Glyn owned a Nokia 6210. Both defence and prosecution phone experts confirmed that this phone had a tendency to switch off on its own - this may be due to a loose battery or a software fault. Glyn’s phone bills show that there have been many occasions when Glyn’s calls had been diverted to voicemail as the phone had turned itself off. The court heard evidence from a woman who worked in the phone department for Nationwide Building Society. She confirmed that many of the Nationwide staff have complained that the Nokia 6210s keep switching off. Nationwide was fixing this problem by issuing sticky patches to place between the phone and the battery. The Crown’s own expert confirmed that Glyn’s phone had switched itself off whilst being carried in his trouser pocket. Back to Top The BloodThe Crown’s main piece of evidence was that blood identified through DNA as Linda Razzell’s, was found in the boot, and a small smear on the passenger footwell mat of the Renault Laguna Glyn had used on the day Linda disappeared.Superficially this sounds like a very strong piece of evidence, but when examined closely there are many inconsistencies as outlined below:- Glyn only had the car in question from the afternoon on the 18 March until the evening of the 19 March 2002. Linda was reported missing on the evening of the 19 March 2002. The car was first forensically tested for blood on the 20 March after Police came to Glyn’s house in the early hours of the 20 March & Glyn had told them that he was using the Laguna on the 19 March 2002. He also told them whose car it was. Police forensic officers checked the car using intensive light treatment. The Scenes of Crime Officers (SOCO) took 40 minutes on the Laguna using 4 different techniques and found no sign of blood or recent cleaning. On the 21 March the car was taken away to a special bay in a Police garage. A full scene of crime forensic examination was done, tapings & swabs were taken. 2 officers spent 5 hours working on the car. All results were negative. No hair, skin or blood was found. The car was given back to the owner. The owner then gave the car a thorough clean as it had finger print powder on it. He cleaned the boot but did not notice any marks. There is confusion over when the footwell mats were taken out. The police said the mats were taken out after their second inspection on 21 March 02, and produced documentary evidence, but in court the owner of the car said he was sure that the front mats were still in the car when it was returned to him on the 24 March 02. This gives a wider timescale on when the blood could have been planted. On the 28 March 02 the car was seized by Police again, it was only at this time that blood was detected using a chemical test called Luminol. Blood was found in the boot & a small mark on the passengers footwell mat. It is inconceivable that if it had been there earlier it could have been missed. The defence believe the blood was deliberately planted, (probably after the second examination) to incriminate Glyn. Forensic scientists have said that there are heavy blood stains which are visible to the naked eye. Was it really missed during the 2 previous thorough forensic examinations? and why do none of the swabs or tapings taken during the 2nd examination show blood. There is no blood on the driving controls or the door handle of the car. If the abduction took place in the alley there would have been no time to clean your hands or change your clothes before driving off. There is no blood on the boot lip The prosecution scientist said it would be highly likely the assailant would have had blood stained clothes. All Glyn’s clothes have been tested and they all came back negative for any blood, skin or hair relating to Linda. There were no hairs, skin, clothing fibres or fingerprints matching to Linda in the car. There are 7 samples of unknown DNA found in the car that could not be identified, and do not match any of the people known to have used the car. Police took elimination DNA samples from each of the people who had been passengers in the car from a list provided by the car’s owner. No blood or any other forensic evidence relating to Linda was found at Glyn’s house or on anything else seized from Glyn. Even the waste traps, which were taken from the bath, sinks and washing machine, came up negative. On the evening of 19 March, Glyn Razzell’s girlfriend sat in the passenger side of the car & put her handbag down on the spot where the blood was eventually found. The handbag & shoes have been tested and no blood was found on them. The Crown claim that the blood on the footwell mat came from gloves or a weapon being thrown onto it from the drivers side. If this was the case, the blood would have been more central on the mat or nearer to the passenger door. The blood mark is on the far right of the footwell mat nearest to the centre of the car. If an object was thrown or dropped, ergonomic tests show it couldn’t have landed where the mark was found without also brushing the side, but no blood stains were found on the side. After reading this evidence you still have to ask yourself the question "If Glyn is innocent what happened to Linda"? We have 2 possible explanations to this question, there may be others. 1 She went of her own free will, with or without the help of a third party 2 A third party was involved in abducting her against her will Back to Top Evidence that Linda planned her own disapearanceLinda cleaned out her car the weekend before she disappeared. This was the first time she had done this. DNA from an unknown male was subsequently found in the car. This man was never identified.A photo of Glyn’s rented home was loaded onto Linda’s home PC 2 days before she went missing. Linda had never lived at this address. Linda’s boyfriend visited Glyn’s next door neighbour asking for information on Glyn a week before she disappeared. Linda and her boyfriend visited 3 different banks in Swindon the day before she disappeared. CCTV shows money was being withdrawn. The day before Linda disappeared she visited Glyn’s bank claiming to want to pay money in and obtained information about Glyn’s account by deception. Linda gained an order to freeze Glyn’s bank accounts a few days before she disappeared. On the morning Linda went missing her children reported her being much calmer than normal. Usually she would be very stressed in the mornings, especially as one of the children had lost their homework and that had made them late. Linda would have been 15-20 minutes late for work on the day she disappeared. Her children reported that Linda said goodbye in a different way that morning, saying just "goodbye" rather than "see you at 5.00" like she normally did. Linda was issued with a staff identify badge for working at the college which should be worn at all times in work. The badge was found in a drawer at her home. Linda has 2 mobile phones, one for normal use and one as an emergency phone number for her children. The emergency phone was left at her home on the day she disappeared. The calendar at Linda’s home was marked with a question mark on the 19 March, which was apparently drawn on by Linda before she disappeared. Linda has a long history of mental illness dating back to the late 1970’s. There was evidence to show that these symptoms were coming back. The children reported their mum being very upset a lot of the time and going off on her own not wanting the children to hug her. She had been prescribed anti-depressants but was not taking them. Linda has disappeared before but took the children each time. The address of the Official Residence of the Ambassador of Burundi, Africa was found on a note book at Linda’s home. Linda was friendly with a couple whose husband had worked on aid projects in Burundi and Linda had helped him with the language. Burundi is French speaking. Analysis of Linda’s home computer showed that internet sites that deal with cheap flights were looked at shortly before she disappeared. Linda is a fluent French speaker and had lived in Paris for a year. She loved to visit France on holidays. Linda is an avid reader of crime novels. At the time of her disappearance she was three quarters of the way through Trial & Retribution 3. This novel contains descriptions of police methods when dealing with a murder investigation and the plot features a body in a boot of a car, and planting evidence to incriminate somebody. Linda had financial problems and was behind with mortgage payments, maintenance payments from Glyn had stopped because he had been made redundant. Linda was having problems at work, and was reported to be confrontational. She had to be spoken to by a senior member of staff, and was moved from one class because of her conduct with the students, and a clash with the tutor. A long standing friend of Linda’s claims she saw her in a silver fiesta driving through Highworth the day after she disappeared. She said Linda looked cross to see her. The Police believe she was mistaken and have tried to discredit her. Extensive police enquires at the DVLA involving 70 small silver hatchbacks, and checks every Wednesday for 3 months for a car and driver matching the description have failed to trace them. This leaves only one conclusion, and that is that the witness was correct, and she did see Linda on the 20 March 02. The day after she disappeared. There are at least 3 sightings of Linda in Weston-Super-Mare, one as recently as the summer of 2003. There were 2 sighting in Wales, one at a café & one with another man hitching a lift not far from the café. Linda was going through a very long and difficult divorce. She was extremely bitter towards Glyn because of his new relationship. The Police searched over 200 locations including all the places known to Glyn in the Swindon area. They had identified areas by soil samples taken from Glyn’s car tyres, boots & shoes, from maps and from witnesses but no trace of Linda has been found. Back to Top 3rd Party Involvment?A women thought to be Linda was sighted in January 2002 kissing another man in a pub car park in Stratton. The man had a beige car. The description of the man does not match her boyfriend. Was there someone else?At 8.30am on the 19 March a beige car with a man sitting in the driver’s side was sighted near to where Linda parks her car. Despite extensive police enquires the car and driver have not been traced. A beige car and a red Ford Escort (Linda drives a red Escort) were sighted at 6.50am at junction 16 of the M4 in a lay-by on the 19 March 02. A witness claimed in court that she saw Linda’s boyfriend on the 19 March 02 sat on a wall in Queen’s park at around 9.30am. Queen’s park is near to the road that Linda parks her car, she would have to walk through this park to get to work. Phone records show that Linda’s boyfriend was not where he said he was on the day that Linda disappeared. There are 3 occasions when his phone used masts away from where he claimed to be. This was identified using cell site analysis. He was not cross examined about this at the time for legal reasons. Linda’s boyfriend had been monitoring Glyn's movements during the 2 weeks before Linda vanished, one example is when he knocked on Glyn’s next door neighbour pretending that he thought this was Glyn’s house, & asking if Glyn still lived there. Linda’s boyfriend knew that Glyn had used the Laguna on the 19 March 02 when he was questioned by Police on Wednesday 20 March 02. Back to Top |
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