A Room Full of Killers, Michael Wood [best books for students to read txt] 📗

she was looking for. She told the others and they asked her to read aloud.

IDENTITY OF MYERS KILLERS FINALLY REVEALED

The identity of the killers of 13-year-old Felix Myers can now be revealed after a judge lifted a reporting ban.

Felix Myers was beaten, mugged, and stabbed before his body was set on fire last June in an unprovoked attack which shocked the country. His killers were caught following an extensive search of CCTV footage within the area and painstaking work from police forensic officers at the scene of the murder.

In a trial that lasted six weeks, the court heard how Felix was subjected to a prolonged and sustained abuse by two boys in his class at school.

The trial was delayed on several occasions due to a juror fainting upon hearing the forensic evidence and the breakdown of the police officers giving evidence. The jury eventually took just forty-five minutes to find the two schoolboys guilty.

At the time, Mr Justice Kent said identifying the killers was not in the public interest and would lead to their families receiving adverse publicity. However, the national press has lobbied for their names to be made public, arguing that people living locally already know the identity of the killers and officially revealing them would stop the worldwide press from making the lives of locals difficult.

After months of court wrangling, the boys can now be identified as Wesley Brigstone and Thomas Downy, both thirteen at the time of the killing. From St Austell in Cornwall, they were well known in the local community as being bright and friendly boys. Their acts came as a complete shock to everyone.

Brigstone and Downy were sentenced to life in prison to serve a minimum of twelve years.

Cornish Guardian, Wednesday 4th June 1986.

FELIX MYERS’ KILLERS RELEASED EARLY

The killers of 13-year-old Felix Myers have been released early from Youth Detention Centres.

As the release date of killers Wesley Brigstone and Thomas Downy approached, family members of Felix Myers called for their sentence to be increased, particularly in light of stories in the press about the luxury they lived while in prison.

Earlier this year we exclusively revealed that Thomas Downy, now aged 22, had received one-to-one tutoring, gained four A* passes at A-Level when he was 17, and received a first class degree in English Literature.

The date that Brigstone and Downy were released has not been revealed but it has been confirmed by the Home Office.

‘Thomas Downy and Wesley Brigstone were released from detention earlier this year. They were sentenced to life in prison and will remain on licence for the rest of their lives. They will be closely monitored and will return to an adult prison to serve the remainder of their sentence should they commit any further crime.’ A Home Office spokesperson said in a statement.

A representative for Felix Myers’ family said: ‘It is inconceivable they have been allowed an early release. We find it disgusting that we were not even informed of this decision. They have only served nine years and if the stories in the newspapers are true they’ve hardly suffered for their crime in that time. We’re still living in agony. Our lives have been ruined by those two evil boys.’

Wesley Brigstone and Thomas Downy have been given new identities upon release. However, there are strict instructions to which they must adhere. Neither of them are allowed to contact family and friends from their former lives, they are not to contact any member of Felix Myers’ family, and must not return to St Austell in Cornwall where both were originally from and where they committed their crime.

Brigstone and Downy are now free. Aged just 22, they can return to normality and rebuild their lives. The Myers family continue to suffer.

The Sun, 10th August 1995.

WHERE IS CATHERINE DOWNY?

Mystery surrounds the “disappearance” of Catherine Downy who has not been seen since July.

Catherine Downy is the younger sister of Thomas Downy, who was released three years early from a twelve-year prison sentence for the brutal killing of Felix Myers in 1986.

When Thomas was convicted with Wesley Brigstone, the Downy family moved to Birmingham to be closer to their son. In the nine years Thomas has been in prison, both of his parents have died – father Robert died in 1988 aged 45 from lung cancer and his wife, Wendy, died three years later from a heart attack aged just 44. Catherine lived with friends until she was old enough to live alone.

Jilly Sanders, a close friend to Catherine said: ‘Catherine lived for her brother and visited him as often as she could. She has been counting down the twelve years until his release. When she found out he was to be released early she was over the moon. I’ve never seen her smile as much. She talked about Thomas being given a new identity. The thought of not seeing him again was very difficult for her.

‘I last saw her on 15th July. She was going into her flat and we spoke briefly. She seemed happy and everything was normal.’

West Midlands Police have said they have received no missing person’s report for Catherine Downy and are not investigating her whereabouts.

The Sun, August 12th, 1995

‘Catherine seemed to have disappeared around the time her older brother was released from prison in 1995,’ Pat said.

‘So Debbie Hartley is really Catherine Downy?’ Adele asked.

‘Yes. The photo in that passport is definitely of a young Debbie. You could see it in the eyes,’ Matilda said.

‘So her brother was Thomas Downy who murdered Felix Myers,’ Pat said.

‘It would appear so.’

‘And when he was released he was given the new identity of Daniel Hartley. He killed an innocent little boy – his son, Thomas Hartley, killed too. Maybe some people can be born evil,’ Adele mused.

‘We don’t know Thomas is guilty,’ Matilda said, sounding less convinced now.

‘So, Thomas Downy was given the new identity of Daniel Hartley. He broke the rules of his licence straightaway. He left Birmingham and moved to Manchester and contacted his sister to join him. She changed