R v Donovan

R v Donovan (also known as the Bray Street murders) was a landmark criminal case which saw the first occasion since the 1920s in which a convicted criminal was condemned and punished with a sentence of death.

Background

Reintroduction of capital punishment

Further information: Capital punishment in New Ingrea

The history of capital punishment in New Ingrea is a long and colourful one. In the colonial period, hangings took place on fairly regular basis, with Kingsbury and Williamsdene gaols each seeing a number of judicial hangings throughout the late nineteenth century. The last of these executions took place in 1912, when Fredrick Ball from Stanley was hanged in Swanbrook for the murder of his wife. After the execution of Ball in 1912, no further executions took place. New Ingrea abolished capital punishment for acts of murder in 1925 and the Criminal Code (Punishments Amendment) Act in 1929 saw the abolition of capital punishment for all other offences.

However, the move to abolish capital punishment never enjoyed universal support, and opinion polls conducted over the next thirty years found that anywhere up to half the country advocated its reintroduction. In 1970, a formal campaign to bring back the death penalty in New Ingrea began with the formation of the Committee for Real Justice. Over the next five years, the Committee waged a propaganda war on the merits of capital punishment against those who for whatever reason opposed the practice. Public opinion supported a debate on the matter and calls for a plebiscite became stronger. In 1975, the newly elected government of Jacob Meyer relented and proposed to hold a vote on the issue in August 1976, which to the surprise of many, passed easily. Despite there being no legal obligation to do so, the government followed the wishes of the people and passed the Criminal Code (Capital Offences) Act in November 1976, which came into effect for offences committed on or after 1 January 1977. The act made it a potentially capital offence to commit murder, rape, piracy, and treason.

Bray Street murders

It would not be long before a case would emerge involving a capital crime. In February 1977, 14 year old Tiffany Kensitt was reported missing by her family. Kensitt had gone to see a film with friends at the Bray Street cinema in Corfe Harbour on the evening of the 3rd, and had not returned home at 21:00 as promised. When she failed to return by dawn the next day, her parents contacted the local police. Despite a lengthy investigation of witnesses and police divers checking Corfe Creek, no trace of the girl could be found.

Fourteen days later, another teenager, 15 year old Bethany Whiston, vanished from the car park of the Park Beach shopping centre whilst waiting to be collected by her brother. Again, a police investigation failed to recover any evidence of her disappearance or whereabouts. Alarmed, police now issued a warning to teenage girls to be vigilant when on their own at night in public areas. However, just twenty-four hours later, a third victim, Jane Bradley, vanished from the grounds of Corfe Harbour Showground, whilst attending a circus with friends. This time, a bloodied cardigan matching one belonging to the victim was recovered from the scene, and there was sufficient evidence to suggest foul play. Police now had enough evidence to suspect a serial killer was on the loose, and went public with an appeal for information on the 22 February. Again, a warning was issued, with the police suggesting parents enforce a curfew on their children until the killer could be found.

The fourth victim, 12 year old Tanya Jenkins, vanished in front of Corfe Harbour railway station on the evening of the 2 March. This was followed by 15 year old Helena Clarke on the 16 March from off the footpath of Williamsdene Street. Despite the growing public panic, police now had a clearer picture of the killer and his modus operandi. Investigators believed the killer was a man in his twenties, who lived locally. There was clearly a preference for teenage girls, which appeared to indicate a sexual motive as well. A police task force was set up, and took the name of Taskforce Leopold. Checking the nascent Sex Offenders Register, a number of suspects were investigated, interviewed, and released without charge. Police now believed the suspect to be someone without a serious criminal conviction.

The final victim, Georgina Lewis, vanished from the car park of the Park Beach shopping centre on the 31 March. A fortnight later, an attempt was made on a seventh victim, 13 year old Hayley Mellon from the car park of the Bray Street cinemas. Mellon was able to fight off the attacker, and gave police a detailed description of her assailant and his methods. Checking a database of mug shots failed to reveal the killer, but investigators now had some concrete leads to follow. A more detailed sweep of witness statements across all the scenes revealed an individual who matched the description Mellon had given to police. The following day, utilising the facial composite description they had drawn up, the police hit a match from driver licence records. One Stephen Peter Donovan, originally from Williamsdene, came up as the possible suspect. With this evidence, police were convinced Donovan was a person of interest, and swooped on his Bray Street home on the evening of the 16 April 1977. Donovan was arrested, and a detailed search of his home turned up the shallow graves of his six victims, all but one of the victims had been sexually assaulted and then strangled. The body of Bethany Whiston had not been sexually assaulted, as it appeared she had died before Donovan could molest her. Donovan protested his innocence, but was formally charged on the 17 April, and his arrest was revealed to the public.

Trial

Donovan was refused bail and committed to stand trial on six counts of abduction, sexual assault, and murder, and one count of attempted abduction. Given this was the first serial murder case in New Ingrea's history, there was a massive amount of media and public interest in the trial, which began on the 18 June 1977 and ran for six weeks. There was little doubt that if convicted, Donovan would be the first person sent to the gallows in 65 years. Sentencing guidelines issued in January 1977 made it clear that any case involving multiple homicides, or homicide accompanied by aggravating circumstances, should carry a penalty of death. Donovan's case met both these criteria, which meant if convicted, the judge was free to send Donovan to the gallows.

The prosecution laid out their case for Donovan's guilt using a number of means. The Crown drew on forensic evidence found on the victims, including a blood-type match for Donovan on two of the bodies. There were also several witness statements, which not only placed Donovan at the each of location of the abductions, but there were also statements by neighbours who attested to strange behaviour by Donovan, including instance where he was seen digging a hole in his back yard at 03:00 in the morning on the night Tanya Jenkins disappeared. Finally, the Crown used the presence of the victims buried his backyard as proof that only Donovan could have been the killer.

The defence countered that the witness statements were unreliable and contradictory, and that with no back fence, anyone could have buried the bodies in Donovan's back yard. They also tried to submit evidence that Donovan was clearly mentally unbalanced and could not in all reason be expected to be held accountable for his actions. On the 27 July 1977, having retired to consider the verdict for just 45 minutes, the jury returned a finding of guilty on all counts. The jury appears to have rejected the defence claims that Donovan was unbalanced, following the Crown's claim that his actions were planned, premeditated and carried out with a military-like precision. A week after having been guilty and having considered the details of the case in full, Judge Peter McGill felt able to pass sentence on Donovan. Not surprisingly to all those gathered in the court room, McGill donned the black cap and sentenced Donovan to be "hanged by the neck until dead".

Aftermath

Donovan launched an appeal within hours of his sentencing. His defence centred on the reliability of witnesses, with his defence team having received evidence that the statements of Hayley Mellon had been tampered within by police, and were therefore unreliable to be used as evidence in court. The evidence came from Jordan Hynd, a civil servant who worked for the police, who claimed that senior officials had manipulated Mellon to give a statement that placed Donovan in the frame for the attempt on her life. However, it a most spectacular fashion, the Crown was able to uncover evidence of Hynd's involvement with No Vengeance, an abolitionist organisation which had been accused of feeding mistruths to the public and media during the plebiscite campaign. Under interrogation, Hynd confessed to fabricating the evidence of Mellon having been manipulated by the police. Hynd was dismissed from the civil service, charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice and was subsequently sent down for seven years.

With key part of his appeal trashed, Donovan's attempt to overturn his conviction collapsed. The three judges of the Court of Appeal dismissed his appeal and upheld the penalty of death. Donovan's defence team was left with no option but to appeal to the Sovereign for mercy. The royal prerogative of mercy is one of the powers of the Sovereign that is exercised on the advice of the Judicial Committee of the Executive Council. Having received an application on the 25 September, the Committee was in no doubt that the penalty must be carried out. As is traditional, the original trial judge writes a letter to the Sovereign advising him if there is any leeway for a commutation of the sentence to given. In this case, Judge Peter McGill reportedly stated that there were no grounds for commuting the sentence that executing Donovan was the most sensible cause of action given what had been presented in the trial and subsequent appeal. Therefore, the Committee advised the Sovereign to issue not statement, in effect dismissing the appeal for mercy. With no statement was issued by the Sovereign on commuting the sentence, the Prisons Service was free to carry out the execution as planned.

At 09:00 on the 28 September 1977, whilst a very small crowd gathered outside the prison to protest, Donovan was led to newly constructed gallows in the death row block at HM Prison Aldaton by executioner Patrick Goodwin and his assistant, Peter Morgan. The condemned was cuffed by his hands and legs whilst a white cloth hood was placed over his head and the rope drawn down around his neck. Official witnesses stated that this process took only a matter of seconds, and the trapdoor lever was pulled before the prison clock tower had finished tolling the hour. New Ingrea's use of the 1913 Ingerish standard table of drops (the so-called Drop Tables) saw to it that Donovan was killed instantly. New Ingrea had executed its first convicted criminal in 65 years.