David Smith: ‘Honey Monster’ killer handed life sentence for double jeopardy murder
A ‘sadistic’ sexual predator nicknamed the ‘Honey Monster’ by colleagues has been jailed for life for the murder of an escort – exactly 30 years after he was cleared of the killing.
David Smith, 67, was acquitted of the 1991 murder of Sarah Crump, 33, at a trial in 1993.
The lorry driver went on to commit an almost identical murder of another sex worker, 21-year-old Amanda Walker, for which he was convicted in 1999 and has now served 24 years of a life sentence.
After being convicted of Ms Walker’s murder, Ms Crump’s mother, Pat Rhodes, warned: “I said at the trial he would kill again.
“I truly believe Smith to be guilty of the murder of my daughter, Sarah.
While on remand awaiting trial for Ms Walker’s murder, Smith boasted to an inmate that he had “got away with it”.
Court of Appeal judges ordered Smith should be retried for Ms Crump’s murder after “new and compelling evidence” emerged.
He was retried after the centuries-old double jeopardy rule – which meant a defendant, once acquitted, could not be tried for the same crime – was scrapped.
Read more:
Mother and father who murdered 10-month-old baby on Christmas Day 2020 jailed
Carer who climbed into teenage girl’s bed ‘was sleepwalking’
The law change in 2005 has allowed prosecutors and police to bring offenders to justice if there is new and compelling evidence against them.
Smith – known to colleagues as “The Honey Monster” or “Lurch” due to his heavy build and 6ft 3in height – denied murder but was this week convicted by jurors at Inner London Crown Court.
On Friday, he was sentenced to life with a minimum 27 years behind bars – less the 479 days he spent on remand in the 1990s – meaning he will serve at least 25 years and 251 days in prison.
Smith previously raped a young mother at knifepoint in 1976 and falsely imprisoned another woman in a car around 10 years later, jurors heard.
He regularly played card games with Harold Shipman while serving time at HMP Wakefield, the 2005 inquest of the serial killer GP heard.
Sarah Crump
Pic:Met Police
Passing sentence for Ms Crump’s murder on Friday, the judge, Mr Justice Bryan, said the “abhorrent murder” was both “sexual and sadistic in nature”.
“I have no doubt your pre-meditated and planned intention that night… was to kill and sexually mutilate an escort to satisfy your perverted and sadistic sexual desires,” he said.
Smith, branded a “habitual and dishonest liar”, had a “history of escalating sexual violence against women” since he was a teenager in the 1970s, the judge said.
Read more:
How scrapping double jeopardy has brought killers to justice
Double jeopardy killer jailed for murder and rape of teen in 1975
The killing of Ms Crump was part of a “pattern of violence and sexual offending against, but not limited to, sex workers.”
Ms Crump’s family, including her two sisters, Joanne Platt and Suzanne Wright, together with Detective Inspector Jill McTigue, who led the initial murder investigation, were present in court for the hearing.
Mr Justice Bryan said he hoped the the sentence would give them “some closure”, telling Smith they would be “safe in the knowledge you have been brought to justice and are likely to spend the rest of your life in prison.”
A victim impact statement was read by Ms Platt on behalf of Ms Crump’s relatives including her parents, who have now died.
She was described as a “bubbly”, “popular” and a “trusting person” who “believed in the good of people”.
Sarah Crump
Pic:Met Police
Ms Platt said: “I can’t adequately express the pain of knowing what my sister endured.
“My family will never come to terms with the brutal savagery of Sarah’s murder.
“Even after 32 years having to listen to the details of the attack against Sarah was excruciating.
“This was always so very important to pursue, to finally see justice for Sarah.
“We would like to remember Sarah for who she was to us – the sister with the most amazing smile, a funny, thoughtful aunt and the daughter who was one of the best three girls in the world.”
“No remorse whatsoever”
Wearing dark glasses with his head bowed, Smith showed no emotion as the sentence was passed.
Mitigating factors for Smith were “thin gruel indeed”, the judge said, adding: “You have shown no remorse whatsoever.”
Ms Crump led a double life, employed as a secretary in the chiropody department at Wimbledon Hospital in south west London while also working as an escort.
Click to subscribe to the Sky News Daily wherever you get your podcasts
Victim turned to sex work to pay for fertility treatment
The former psychiatric nurse turned to sex work in a bid to fund fertility treatment and fulfil her “strong desire to become a mother”, said her family, who had no idea she was an escort.
Smith, who at the time was living with his parents in Hampton, south west London, visited his victim at her one-bedroom flat in Southall, west London, before murdering her and mutilating her body in the early hours of 29 August, 1991.
Her body was discovered in a shallow leafy grave near the Royal Horticultural Society gardens at Wisley in Surrey – a notorious spot for couples meeting to have sex – six weeks after she went missing in Paddington, west London.
DI McTigue conducted a “professional, rigorous and thorough investigation” but Smith was acquitted on the evidence available in 1993, the court heard.
The prime minister is facing another rebellion from his party over his plans to ban young people from ever smoking again.
Should the Tobacco and Vapes Bill eventually be passed into law, it would be an offence to sell tobacco products to anyone born after 1 January 2009.
This means children aged 15 or younger today will never legally be able to buy a cigarette.
The plan was one of Rishi Sunak‘s three key policies he announced at the Tory party conference last year.
However, some more laissez-faire Conservatives have criticised the ban, meaning the prime minister could have to rely on support from the other side of the Commons to get the bill over the line.
Opponents of the ban include Mr Sunak’s predecessor, Liz Truss, who has described the plans as “profoundly unconservative” and Boris Johnson, who branded the move “nuts”.
Tory MPs have been granted a free vote on the legislation, and several are expected to oppose it when it has its first full debate in the Commons on Tuesday.
However, Labour will back the proposals, making it likely the legislation will clear this first hurdle regardless of Conservative opposition.
The bill would not criminalise smoking itself, and those aged 18 or over can forever buy cigarettes without legal repercussions.
However, older people may have to carry ID if they want to buy cigarettes in the future.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Youngster on ‘smoke-free generation’
The ban aims to stop people from smoking even before they start as the government pointed to its highly addictive nature with four in five smokers picking it up before the age of 20, remaining addicted for life.
Shops that flout the rules will face on-the-spot fines – money which the government says it will use for further crackdowns.
Earlier this year, New Zealand‘s new coalition government repealed what would have been a world-first ban on young people ever being able to buy cigarettes.
UK’s biggest preventable killer
Smoking is the UK’s biggest preventable killer and is responsible for about 80,000 deaths yearly, causing cancer, lung and heart diseases and chronic bronchitis among other health issues.
The Department of Health and Social Care said in England alone, almost every minute someone with a smoking-related condition is admitted to hospital.
It also costs the NHS and economy an estimated £17bn a year – exceeding the £10bn annual revenue brought in from tobacco taxes.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Is vaping a cancer risk?
Read more:
Free vapes given to smokers at hospitals could help thousands quit
Boris Johnson brands smoking crackdown ‘nuts’
Victoria Atkins, health and social care secretary, said the bill would “save thousands of lives”, help the NHS and improve the UK’s productivity.
Ms Atkins said: “The truth is that there is no safe level of tobacco consumption. It is uniquely harmful and that is why we are taking this important action today to protect the next generation.”
Numerous heads have reiterated their support for the bill including Chief Medical Officer for England, Professor Chris Whitty, Deborah Arnott, head of charity Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), and the chief of the British Heart Foundation, Dr Charmaine Griffiths.
Ms Arnott said: “New research published by ASH shows that the majority of tobacco retailers and the public, including smokers, support the legislation and the smoke-free generation ambition it is designed to deliver.
“This historic legislation will consign smoking to the ‘ash heap of history’.”
-
Sports1 year ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Environment11 months agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Sports3 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Sports6 months agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Environment1 year agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Technology3 years ago
Game consoles were once banned in China. Now Chinese developers want a slice of the $49 billion pie
-
Politics2 years ago
Have the last few wobbly weeks seen a turning point for Johnson as PM?