‘I had nothing to do

A WOMAN who was friends with suspected murder victim Bruce Gapper has spoken out about the case four years after she was arrested as a suspect.

Nicole Whitworth, 55, was left angry and upset after she was named as a former suspect during an inquest into the suspected death of Mr Gapper, then 40, who went missing in 1999.

Mr Gapper, who was employed as a lorry driver by Huddersfield transport company, Dukes Transport, was last seen on Sunday, March 14, 1999, shortly after he left the Batley Frontier nightclub.

Ms Whitworth first met Mr Gapper at the Frontier club where her-then partner Leo Hepworth had been working as a doorman and later as a barman.

At an inquest last week, it was revealed that the couple had been loaned £2,000 for a house deposit by Mr Gapper shortly before he disappeared from his Dewsbury Moor home in March 1999.

The couple were later arrested on suspicion of murder but were released without charge. Both denied any involvement.

A senior detective told the inquest that he believed Mr Gapper was “infatuated” with Ms Whitworth who saw him as a “soft touch”.

This has been firmly rejected by Ms Whitworth who contacted the Examiner to put her side of the story.

“Bruce offered the money to help us out,” she explained.

“He was a social friend and did have girlfriends whilst we were acquaintances. He wasn’t infatuated with me and I did not see him as a soft touch.”

Ms Whitworth said the £2,000 loan hadn’t been repaid because Mr Gapper had gone missing.

“Bruce was going to spend the money on a porch but then said he didn’t need it.

“We were trying to scrape enough together and he just offered it. He lived on his own and had a job as a driver. We only had the money a few weeks and he was gone. I think we made one repayment.”

Ms Whitworth said Mr Gapper had never asked her out.

“He never propositioned me,” she added.

Ms Whitworth finds it hard to believe that Mr Gapper is dead despite a coroner coming to this conclusion earlier this month.

“I just hope one day he will pop up. He did used to say he could disappear off the face of the earth and no-one would know. He had a friend with a bar abroad.”

She added: “I really don’t know what happened to him. A part of me thinks he has just gone off somewhere. I hope he just appears, I really do. Police said it doesn’t look hopeful after all this time.”

Ms Whitworth, who still lives in West Yorkshire, wants the public to know that she had nothing to do with Mr Gapper’s disappearance.

“I know that I had nothing whatsoever to do with it. Police know that as well. It’s true that I did know him and he did lend me money which we didn’t pay back.”

Ms Whitworth recalls with horror the day she was arrested on suspicion of killing Mr Gapper.

“That day will haunt me forever. I was interviewed for eight hours. I couldn’t stop crying.”

Four years on from her arrest she still cannot understand why detectives focused on her and Leo.

“I can’t understand why they based it on us two. If there are suspicious circumstances I am 100% not involved. They (police) are looking the wrong way.

“When I was released they did say they knew I was not guilty but they had to follow lines of inquiry.”

Ms Whitworth said she was now willing to repay half of the £2,000 to Mr Gapper’s family.

“I am going to get in touch with police and set up payments to pay half of it back. If nothing else, maybe it can be put towards a