‘A wall of fear’: Ex-detectives reveal why some murder cases are never solved

Published

4 years ago

October 5, 2021

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The mother of a teenager who was shot dead in the street says her hopes are fading that her son’s killer will ever be caught – and believes police have “prioritised” other murder cases.

Cherie Nedd told Sky News that her 18-year-old son Ethan Nedd-Bruce “was just coming home” when he was attacked outside a fried chicken shop in southeast London almost three years ago.

Two men arrested on suspicion of murder were later released under investigation – and Ms Nedd has voiced frustration at the “wall of silence” surrounding Ethan’s death.

It comes as the brother of a 20-year-old man who was fatally shot in west London voiced fears that his killer may strike again.

No one has been charged over the murder of Alexander Kareem who was gunned down in June last year, in what police believe was a case of mistaken identity.

While the Metropolitan Police are actively investigating both unconnected killings, two former detectives have spoken to Sky News about the problems that can arise in murder investigations that mean some culprits never face justice.

• The unsolved murder of Ethan Nedd-Bruce

As she prepares to mark the third anniversary of Ethan’s death, Ms Nedd remembers the moment police informed her that her son had been shot dead.

“It felt like the blood had left my body,” she tells Sky News.

“My knees went weak and I fell to the floor. I was in absolute shock.”

Nearly three years on, Ms Nedd says there has been “no progress” in the investigation.

“For us, it’s been a really painful time,” she says. “I live with that pain every day.

“I feel other cases are prioritised over it.

“There are other murders being solved after Ethan.

“The hope is diminishing.”

• ‘Young black boys in London – nobody sees their lives as important’

Ethan was killed in Greenwich on 22 October 2018 after he was involved in an altercation with a gang of men who then chased him on a motorbike and in a silver Ford Kuga car.

The Met Police described the shooting as a “targeted attack linked to a number of other incidents in the area between two criminal groups”.

However Ms Nedd insists her son was in the “wrong place, at the wrong time”, having recently moved to the area from north London.

She says there was “no retaliation” after he was killed which proves he was not involved in gangs.

Two men, aged 24 and 34, were arrested on suspicion of murder last year but were later released under investigation.

Meanwhile, police have confirmed that a potential key witness whose image they released last year has not yet been tracked down.

A £20,000 reward is now on offer for information that leads to the conviction of Ethan’s killer.

Ms Nedd says she was told by police there were “no further updates” when she last received information on the progress of the investigation six weeks ago.

“It’s completely frustrating because I know somebody knows something,” she adds.

“More has to be done to get that information and break that wall of silence.”

Ms Nedd says the murder of Sarah Everard in March was quickly solved “and a lot of people got behind that”.

“I don’t see that support for other victims when they’re of a particular demographic, which is really sad,” she adds.

“Young black boys in London – nobody sees their lives as important.

“It tends to be the cases of young black boys, sadly, where the perpetrators are not found.

“Why is that? That’s the question we have to ask.

“People are not up in arms about it.”

• The unsolved murder of Alexander Kareem

Alexander Kareem was murdered as he made his way to a friend’s house in Shepherd’s Bush on 8 June 2020.

It is thought a white Range Rover drove past the 20-year-old and shots were fired from it, with the vehicle later found burned out in Ealing, west London.

Nine people – including a 16-year-old boy – were arrested over the murder but five were released under investigation and four were freed with no further action.

Alexander’s brother Kabir has now voiced concerns that his brother’s killer remains at large and could murder someone else.

“We need people to come forward,” he tells Sky News.

“There’s a sense of frustration and anger knowing somebody could do that and they’re still out there.

“At the same time, there’s worry that they could do it to someone else.

“My brother wasn’t the intended target. That just means the target is still out there. They’ll probably go out there to try to kill someone else.

“It’s frustrating and it makes me angry, in a personal sense, as I want justice for my brother.

“You also know there’s someone out there who is willing and able to commit dangerous crimes.”

Mr Kareem says it is “in the back of my mind” that he may unwittingly come into contact with his brother’s killer.

“Because the case has been online and on TV, they’ll probably know who I am – but I won’t know who they are,” he says.

“I’m not going to live my life worried I might bump into people.”

More than a year after his brother’s death, Mr Kareem says he is still “hopeful” that the killer will be caught.

“Whether that will happen is a whole different story,” he adds.

• How can murders go unsolved?

Former Met Police detective Clive Driscoll, who worked as a senior investigator on the Stephen Lawrence case, says a high proportion of murder cases are solved but they can falter for “a variety of reasons”.

“It could be that witnesses are scared to come forward,” the former detective chief inspector tells Sky News.

“I remember in one of my cases they said it was ‘a wall of silence’. It was never a wall of silence, it was a wall of fear.

“People were scared to come forward.”

Mr Driscoll says cases may involve a lack of CCTV evidence or there could be poor quality footage that means officers cannot identify suspects.

Meanwhile, a case where the murder weapon is not recovered means forensic evidence is missing, he adds.

“There are many, many reasons why a murder investigation might stall,” Mr Driscoll says.

“Gun crime can be difficult purely because of the fear factor.

“Usually gun crime is connected to serious organised crime. The witnesses could be reluctant to become involved.”

• Which murders are more likely to go unsolved?

Stuart Gibbon, a former Met detective, says police never “completely” close an unsolved murder case and it gets “periodically reviewed”.

He tells Sky News: “There are actually quite a lot of unsolved cases out there – not so many murders, but unsolved cases where police go through all their lines of inquiry and draw a blank for one reason or another.

“The longer it goes on without being able to identify those responsible, the harder it becomes and the less likelihood there is that you are going to be detected.”

Mr Gibbon says CCTV evidence alone is often not enough to arrest and charge murder suspects.

“Unless you can identify those people or tie it in with other evidence, on its own it’s not always enough,” the former senior investigating officer adds.

“It’s fair to say anything that involves gangs – where a group of people have been involved and the community knows what happened… but for one reason or another, they are not willing to share that with the police – they are the most challenging.”

However Mr Gibbon believes it is more difficult than ever before for criminals to get away with murder.

“The rate now is higher than it’s ever been in terms of arrests, detention and I would say convictions as well,” he says.

“The investigations are generally very, very thorough.

“If you can find the motive, then the person responsible often comes off the back of that.”

• What have the Metropolitan Police said?

In relation to Ethan’s murder, Detective Chief Inspector Richard Leonard, who is leading the investigation, said: “Our thoughts continue to remain with Ethan’s family who we know are heartbroken following the loss of their son.

“We understand that they need answers and we too are still searching for the truth as to what happened on the evening of 22 October 2018.

“We have not given up – this remains an active murder investigation and we would again ask anyone who may be able to assist us to come forward.”

The Met Police told Sky News it is currently actively investigating 280 murders dating back to 1974.

A further 245 cases of homicide – meaning murders or manslaughters – remain open but inactive because all reasonable current lines of inquiry have been investigated, the force added.

“We never close a murder investigation and will review any new information received in relation to these,” a Met Police spokeswoman said.

Last year, the force said it investigated 126 homicides and charges were brought in 121 of those cases.

“Our specialist teams continue to investigate the five remaining cases,” the spokeswoman added.

UK

Christian B: Freed suspect in Madeleine McCann case attempts to confront prosecutor

Published

6 hours ago

September 29, 2025

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Christian B: Freed suspect in Madeleine McCann case attempts to confront prosecutor

The freed suspect in the Madeleine McCann case has come out of hiding to confront the prosecutor who has accused him of the British toddler’s murder.

Christian B, who cannot be fully identified under German privacy laws, travelled for hours to try to speak to lawyer Hans Christian Wolters.

Mr Wolters has stated publicly that he has evidence, which he has not revealed, to show that Christian B abducted and killed Madeleine, who vanished from her bed during a Portuguese holiday in 2007.

Christian B denies any involvement in her disappearance.

The suspect, who was released from a rape sentence two weeks ago, told Sky News in an exclusive interview: “The prosecutor refused to meet me, but I told his representative I wanted his help to get my life back.

“I’m being hounded by the media, and it’s his fault. I want him to take responsibility.

“I was told there was nothing they could do to help. I had been convicted and released, and I wasn’t their responsibility.”

Christian B, 49, was driven from jail by his lawyer Friedrich Fulscher on 17 September and, since then, has lived in local authority accommodation in the town of Neumunster, north of Hamburg.

Journalists quickly tracked him down and exposed his new address, prompting anger in the community from people worried about his convictions for child sex crimes.

Local councillor Karin Mundt of the hard-right populist movement, Heimat Neumunster (Homeland Neumunster), took to Facebook to warn locals to be vigilant, not go out alone, and make sure that their children and elderly were safe.

She also called for a public protest under the slogan ‘Christian B. out of Neumunster – tougher measures against child abusers and rapists to protect all citizens!’

Germany operates draconian privacy laws, whereby even the media must get the consent of someone they photograph, or disguise their features.

Yet the group even decided to publish photos of Christian B, arguing that the danger he presents means he was a public person of interest, and that they had to make sure that elderly people were able to recognise him.

Two separate chat groups were set up, one dedicated to campaigning for Christian B to be booted out of Neumunster, the other to discuss alleged sightings of him.

Some claimed that Christian B had turned up near schools and that the police were called round, though other people said they worked at these schools, and that no police had been there.

A woman at Domino’s pizza claimed that Christian B had turned up in a false beard, yet just days later, her colleague said she had seen the pictures and she was unsure that it was Christian B.

And throughout all this, a source close to Christian B’s defence claimed that he had not been out at all apart from to sort out his phone, and also once for a steak.

On Wednesday, one chat even discussed gathering at the town hall in the evening, and police vans then turned up to try to prevent this.

But the language of the chat became ever bolder – with people openly posting addresses they were convinced he was living at – and at one point, all people with English-sounding surnames were ejected from the group as people suspected they were journalists.

Explainer: What we know about Christian B

Police quickly moved Christian B out of Neumunster, and reports he has since been spotted at a hotel in an unnamed town.

In a recent interview with Germany’s Stern magazine, Christian B’s main lawyer Dr Fulscher said: “The Braunschweig public prosecutor’s office has fuelled this media campaign of prejudgment.

“It has told the public that it is certain it has the right person. Without presenting sufficient evidence or even allowing my client to inspect the files.

“I find this highly questionable from a constitutional point of view. In my opinion, the Braunschweig public prosecutor’s office has made rehabilitation impossible.”

Prosecutor Mr Wolters told Sky News today that he’d been tipped off about the suspect’s visit to his office in Braunschweig near Hanover and refused to speak to him.

Christian B was released from Sehnde prison, near Hannover, earlier this month after a prosecutor failed to find enough evidence to charge him in the Madeleine case.

As part of his release conditions, he’s been fitted with an electronic ankle tag, has had to surrender his passport, and register his permanent address with probation officers.

UK

Penny Lancaster says she felt ‘belittled’ by ex-MasterChef host Gregg Wallace

Published

7 hours ago

September 29, 2025

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Penny Lancaster says she felt 'belittled' by ex-MasterChef host Gregg Wallace

Model Penny Lancaster has said she “felt ashamed and belittled” by how former MasterChef host Gregg Wallace treated her on the TV show.

Lancaster, who is also a TV personality, and is married to singer Rod Stewart, told Sky News’ The UK Tonight with Sarah-Jane Mee programme that she also felt let down by MasterChef’s production company Banijay UK.

“I didn’t feel like I was supported in that moment, I felt ashamed and belittled by the way Greg Wallace had treated me but equally I felt disappointed that the production company hadn’t come to my rescue,” Lancaster, 54 and a MasterChef contestant in 2021, said.

“There is a long way to go, but just by people coming forward and being honest about their experiences I think will help in the long term.”

At the end of July, Wallace, 60, apologised after a report commissioned by Banijay UK, and carried out by law firm Lewis Silkin, found 45 out of 83 allegations against him were substantiated.

Sir Rod Stewart criticised Wallace on Instagram in November 2024 and claimed he “humiliated” his wife when she was on the show.

He wrote: “Good riddance Wallace… You humiliated my wife when she was on the show, but you had that bit cut out didn’t you?

“You’re a tubby, bald-headed, ill-mannered bully.”

Sky News has approached Wallace for comment.

He has previously apologised to people he has hurt, saying in July that he knows he has said things that have offended people. He has denied a specific allegation of unwanted touching.

The BBC referred Sky News to their statement from July, in which the corporation said: “Although the full extent of these issues were not known at the relevant time, opportunities were missed to address this behaviour – both by the production companies running MasterChef and the BBC. We accept more could and should have been done sooner.

“We want to thank all those who took part in the investigation, including those who first raised concerns directly with the BBC in November last year. We apologise to everyone who has been impacted by Mr Wallace’s behaviour.”

Banijay UK, the producers of MasterChef, told Sky News: “We are extremely sorry to anyone who has been impacted by any inappropriate behaviour by Gregg Wallace whilst working on our shows and felt unable to speak up at the time or that their complaint was not adequately addressed.

“Ways of reporting concerns whilst working on our productions, protocols around behaviour and training for both cast and crew, have improved exponentially in recent years and we constantly review welfare procedures across our productions to ensure that they are as robust as they can be.”

UK

London mayor Sadiq Khan hits out at ‘misinformation’ as new figures show fall in crimes

Published

7 hours ago

September 29, 2025

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London mayor Sadiq Khan hits out at 'misinformation' as new figures show fall in crimes

Sadiq Khan has hit back at politicians “spreading misinformation” about safety in London as new data shows the number of violent crimes leading to injury has fallen in every borough over the past year.

Figures from the mayor’s office for policing and crime compare the 12 months ending in August 2025 with the previous 12 months – and show there were 8,749 fewer crimes which resulted in someone being hurt, a drop of nearly 12%.

The borough of Havering in east London recorded the largest drop (16.3%) followed by Enfield in north London (16.1%).

The smallest decreases were in Greenwich (4.3%) and Kensington and Chelsea (4.6%).

Sir Sadiq said: “We’ve seen a number of politicians here and across the globe talking down London and spreading misinformation about crime and safety in the capital.

“The evidence is clear, our approach to tackling crime and its complex causes works. It’s driving down violence right across the capital.”

His comments come after Donald Trump reignited his feud with Sir Sadiq earlier this month by accusing him of doing a “terrible job” and claiming “crime in London is through the roof”.

The US president also hit out at the mayor in a speech at the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, where he also made the outlandish claim that London “wants Sharia law” – something there is no evidence for.

Asked about the attacks, Sir Sadiq said: “I think President Trump has shown he is racist, he is sexist, he is misogynistic, and he is Islamophobic.”

He added that the public would be “wondering what it is about this Muslim mayor who leads a liberal, multicultural, progressive, successful city that means I appear to be living rent-free inside Donald Trump’s head”.

According to the mayor’s office, overall homicides in London are at a 10-year low, and the city’s rate is lower than in Berlin, Brussels, Madrid, Paris and all major US cities.

The rate of homicide was down by 17% in the 12-month period to June this year compared with the 12-month period to May 2016, it previously said.

Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Rachel Williams said: “We’re targeting the most dangerous individuals, disrupting criminal networks, and investing in prevention to protect those most at risk.

“That’s why fewer people are being hurt, fewer lives are being lost, and London is becoming a safer city.”

The Conservatives rejected the suggestion that London is safer.

Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said: “Under this Labour mayor, criminals know the odds are stacked in their favour.

“Only one in 20 robberies is solved, fewer offenders are being jailed, and more than a thousand police officers have been cut from the Metropolitan Police, with Sir Mark Rowley warning of further losses this year.

“Londoners don’t feel safer because London isn’t safer.”