Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
I’ve forgiven honeytrap cop but I will sue man who led plot to convict me of murder
THE man wrongly accused of murdering young mum Rachel Nickell today vows to sue the Scotland Yard “cracker” behind a police plot to jail him for the crime.
Colin Stagg wants to bring a civil case against Professor Paul Britton – who he blames for ruining his life almost 30 years ago.
Colin spent 13 months behind bars after being wrongly charged with the 1992 murder of Rachel on Wimbledon Common – an injustice turned into a new prime-time TV show.
He blames Prof Britton for “pulling the strings” of the “honeytrap” sting which saw him jailed.
Speaking for the first time since the release of Channel’s 4 Deceit, Colin, 58, reveals he…
Has forgiven the female cop used as a honeytrap to lure him into a confession.
Wants the death penalty for the real killer, maniac Robert Napper.
Longs to wed his new partner Terri Marchant – who told us: “Colin’s no monster.”
Colin suffered 14 years of accusations and public abuse before Napper was finally convicted in 2008 for stabbing Rachel, 23, to death in front of her two-year-old son in South West London.
He won a record £706,000 payout from the Home Office for his ordeal, but says he still needs to take Prof Britton to court to force him to admit he acted wrongly.
His action could see him make a claim for damages against the professor.
Colin told the Sunday Mirror: “If I can find a solicitor to take the case, I would like to take him to court now.
“This isn’t about money. I want an apology for the manipulation and for him to admit he was wrong. He had never even met me.”
As for the policewoman who pretended to want a relationship with him in order to extract information, Colin feels nothing.
DEATH SENTENCE
“If I saw the female officer in the street now I would probably just nod and go about my business,” he revealed.
“I only feel ambivalence towards her and the other officers involved because I know they were only acting on what they were told by Britton.
“I still feel anger towards him because what he did affected me really badly.”
While Colin is still rebuilding his own life, he feels Napper should never be given that chance and should face the death penalty.
Napper’s other crimes include the murder of Samantha Bisset and her four-year-old daughter, Jazmine, in Plumstead, South East London.
Just 16 months earlier in 1992, a few miles to the west on Wimbledon Common, he had stabbed Rachel to death while she was out with her son.
Napper carried out more than 100 other violent sex attacks on women.
Colin said: “I’m in favour of the death penalty and believe Napper should be executed. I don’t think he should be costing taxpayers so much.”
Colin said the impact of being falsely accused for one of the most notorious crimes of the past 50 years will stay with him for ever.
He lived on a housing estate near where Rachel was killed and came to police attention when neighbours put his name forward after a Crimewatch appeal.
Despite there being no direct evidence against him, investigators, including Det Insp Keith Pedder, quickly became convinced the shy 29-year-old was guilty.
They asked Prof Britton, who worked on a string of other high-profile cases including the Fred and Rose West killings and the murder of
This isn’t about money.. I want him to say sorry and to admit he was wrong COLIN STAGG ON WHY HE WANTS TO SUE PROF BRITTON
James Bulger, to draw up an offender profile. And the professor, said to be the inspiration for Robbie Coltrane’s criminal psychologist in 1990s ITV drama Cracker, helped to devise the plan, codenamed Operation Edzell.
It saw a young female police officer using the pseudonym Lizzie James try to tempt Colin into confessing.
Prof Britton has since denied the sting had been his idea. But he did personally coach the officer, helping her to plan out five months of phone calls and letters to Colin.
They also plotted four meetings with him, including one in which she claimed she had slit
a woman’s throat during a satanic ritual before having sex with a man. Colin said: “I was a very shy quiet person and felt I couldn’t attract a woman, so this was exciting. I didn’t think she was all there in the head, but she was an eight out of 10 in terms of looks.
“I was still a virgin. I just thought ‘this is my opportunity to be with a woman’. I couldn’t believe my luck.”
Throughout the operation, Lizzie, whose real identity is protected by a court order, feigned a sexual interest.
And Colin admits he did foolishly concoct a false story about murdering a child when he was a youngster in order to impress her, but police quickly discounted it.
Although Colin made no admissions of guilt in Rachel’s case, Prof Britton went on to tell officers Stagg’s conversations with Lizzie left him satisfied that he fitted the profile.
Colin said: “When they arrested me and brought Lizzie into the interview room, it was like the last piece of the puzzle had finally been filled and everything made sense.
He added: “I felt a mix of anger, upset and a sickening feeling of being the victim of deception. Following Britton’s instructions, she had manipulated my feelings and emotions.”
Colin admits he was “scared” and “suicidal” while on remand at maximum security Wandsworth
I was regularly abused in the street.. I felt like I was the most hated man in Britain COLIN STAGG ON REACTION TO HIM DESPITE BEING CLEARED
prison in South West London. But even after his Old Bailey trial sensationally collapsed in 1994, his ordeal was far from over. Many people continued to believe he had committed the murder and got off on a technicality.
And some were not shy about letting him know what they thought of him.
HATED
He said: “I was regularly abused in the street. I felt like the most hated man in Britain. People would shout that I was a murderer and others wanted to be seen as heroes for attacking me.
“I still feel there’s confusion for some people and they still wrongly associate me with being involved somehow
because I got a lot more publicity than Napper. That’s part of the reason I wanted this drama to be made, as well for people to know about everything that happened to me.
“I wanted to get it all out there and remind people of the truth.”
Lizzie James was given early retirement from the Met on the grounds of ill health after the investigation fell apart and granted life-long anonymity. She went on to sue her former employer and was awarded £125,000. Det Insp Pedder also left the force after falling ill following the probe.
Prof Britton, played by Eddie Marsan in the show, was criticised by Mr Justice Ognall when he threw out the case against Colin. The judge said he had been “pulling the strings” in the sting.
Colin’s lawyers submitted an unsuccessful complaint about Prof Britton to the British Psychological Society.
Prof Britton has published books about his career, teaches clinical and forensic psychology at Birmingham City University and gives talks about his work. And he has acted as an adviser to the Home Office and senior police.
Colin said: “Lizzie’s career and that of Keith Pedder both collapsed after the case, but Britton’s career seemed to carry on unaffected, despite his methods being shown to be flawed.
“I spent time in jail for something that I hadn’t done.”
Despite that Colin believes one word from Prof Britton would allow him to find peace and call off his court plans.
He said: “If he apologised, I think I’d be able to shake his hand, forgive him and finally put it behind me, once and for all.”
Last night, Prof Britton declined to comment.