We ignored model's harrowing screams as she was raped and murdered on our street – we live with the guilt every day

The Sun

3 days ago

WHEN we're sitting in our homes and we hear noises from out on our street, our first thought is often to look past them.
But for guilt-racked neighbours in one leafy suburb in south London, they will never be able to ignore anything they hear in their street again.
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On one fateful September night in 2005, residents of Blenheim Crescent in Croydon heard a flurry of high-pitched noises.
Some believed it was a family of foxes. Others begrudgingly tutted at what they thought was a group of teenagers larking about.
But the reality was far worse.
Unbeknown to them, these were the last desperate breaths of teenage model Sally Anne Bowman, moments before she was raped and murdered just metres from her home in the early hours.
Sally Anne was discovered by a neighbour at around 6am, roughly two hours after she was brutally slain by sick rapist Mark Dixie, who stabbed her seven times in the neck and stomach.
She attended the nearby Brit School for Performing Arts and Technology in Croydon - which boasts a string of famous former pupils, including Adele and Amy Winehouse.
Now, almost twenty years on, her neighbours have spoken of their guilt after they unknowingly ignored her cries for help.
Ernest Mugadza said that he was still 'racked with guilt' after failing to investigate when he heard Sally Anne's harrowing screams.
The 71-year-old retired defence lawyer told The Sun: 'I think some of us feel guilty that we didn't come and help this girl.
'I think we've become closer as a community because of the guilt, because we heard the sounds and we heard this woman cry.
'Yeah, I remember hearing the screams like it was yesterday.
"But we didn't come out. And that's the guilt that I still feel even now.
'No, if I'd come out, I'm sure the guy would have stopped.
"If I'd come out and said, come on, stop that, you know what I mean?
'I know that police always tell you not to intervene, but I should have at least made a noise, scared him away at least.
'You can't save your own life to let another one die. I think you should come out. And now I do.
'Now I come out as soon as I hear anything. I come straight out.'
Racked with guilt
Sally Anne had been dropped off by her ex-boyfriend, Lewis Sproston, after a night out in Croydon with her sister and some pals on September 25.
But the 18-year-old had fallen out with Lewis, sparking a row between the pair as he drove her back.
She was just metres from her family home when she was brutally slain at around 4am.
As the last person to see Sally Anne alive, it initially led cops to believe that it was her 20-year-old former lover who had killed her.
One of Ernest's neighbour added: "Sally Anne was just with her boyfriend beforehand and he left her, what, 50 yards from home?
"A lot of people heard sort of like shouting and screaming back then, but thought it was just partying.
"Since then, whenever we hear anything, we look out and our light goes on. I tend to go out.
"People who have lived here long enough will go to their windows to check too.
"Even now, I will walk my daughter's friends down the road to their front doors."
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But plasterer Lewis was cleared of any involvement through DNA evidence after being held for four days.
With the prime suspect ruled out, and in a desperate hunt for Sally Anne's killer, cops launched one of the largest drives for DNA samples the UK had seen.
Horrifying discovery
The part-time hairdresser was stabbed seven times, with bite marks discovered on her neck, breast and cheek.
Her lifeless body was discovered a couple of hours later by a horrified neighbour, who initially believed she had stumbled across a mannequin.
Speaking on the horrifying discovery, one local said: "The woman who found the body was taking a cup of tea to her mother.
"That was early in the morning and she found Sally Anne behind the skip.
"I think she thought it was a mannequin when she just saw the legs or something behind the skip.
"And she'd only sort of briefly seen it when she went past on the way to her mother's place."
"I think that severely affected her. She was definitely affected by it."
DNA screening
After her death, the road to catching Sally Anne's killer actually started eight months later, after an England football match.
On June 15 2006, chef Mark Dixie was involved in a bar fight and arrested for a minor assault.
It was following this incident that Dixie was made to give a saliva sample at the police station.
Prior to this, he had not been approached to give DNA.
His sample was collected and compared to that found at the crime scene in Blenheim Crescent. And on June 28, Dixie was arrested.
It meant that Sally Anne's murderer had finally been caught, with traces of his semen attaching him to the crime.
But question marks over the circumstances still remained. While traces of his DNA had been discovered, he denied murdering her.
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At his trial, he shamelessly claimed he had "taken advantage of the situation" by having sex with her dead body.
Residents in the crescent remember the heavy police presence in the area in the weeks after the murder.
One local said: "The next day I had to go to work. I always remember going to work and the whole street was cordoned off.
"The closed the road off for weeks and everybody was just shocked.
"It went on for months. No one knew who it was. They initially thought it was the ex-boyfriend and he got done.
"When it first happened they were DNA testing everybody. All the males along the road.
"I remember being in the shower and the police coming round to ask.
"They told my wife they were checking the DNA of everyone in the area. It was weird, something like that happening on your doorstep."
Another neighbour continued: "I was in the front room on the Sunday morning when we got a knock on the door from the police.
"They were testing males and looking at age brackets and stuff like that.
"A lot of people went through it, but to me it was a shock how long it took to get there.
"I remember asking the officer if it was serious.
"He told me that it was probably the most serious it could get."
Lengthy wait for justice
It took a fortnight for Dixie's DNA to finally be added to the national database.
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In February 2008, Dixie finally stood trial at the Old Bailey. He was handed a life sentence, with a minimum of 34 years.
His shocking past only came to light in the years after his conviction.
In 2017, Dixie admitted to cops that he had attacked two other women previously.
His shocking crimes included raping a woman in her car in Croydon and molesting another woman near a railway bridge in 2002.
The serial predator was also deported from Australia in 1999 after attempting to rape a woman when he jumped out of a bush naked.
But when he arrived back to the UK, cops received no warnings or information about Dixie's crimes Down Under.
Speaking on the killer after his 2008 conviction, Det Supt Stuart Cundy said Dixie was "bad, not mad".
Mr Cundy added: "There is a lot we don't know about Mark Dixie.
"A lot of friends describe him as a normal person.
"As far as we know Mark Dixie has kept his history secret from just about everyone."
Impact on residents today
Blenheim Crescent resident Debbie Dowd, 65, explained that the horrific murder would always live with her.
The customer service agent said: "Yeah, I'll always remember it.
"It's heartbreaking. And you always think of her, I always think of her.
"Everyone in the crescent felt the shock. This is such a small crescent, but so much has happened.
"It was just horrific... you know. It was sad, because her boyfriend was obviously the number one suspect at the time.
"But as far as the community was, I think the Crescent had started changing then anyway.
"I mean, we did know lots of people and we did talk to them and everyone used to talk to each other.
"I don't know, community-wise. I don't know if it made people more fearful."
Others told how they are still "scared at night" in the aftermath of Sally Anne's murder.
They said: "We don't feel unsafe because it was such a one-off event. But it was just so traumatic.
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"So the first thing I did when I moved in was cut my hedge because it was really tall. I cut it so there would be more visibility.
"At the time, I remember feeling a sense of fear and being scared at night. And I still think I have it to this day.
"When I catch an Uber I will often say to the Uber driver, can you wait until I get in?
"Or the taxi driver, I'll say, can you please wait until I open the door and get in?
"If I'm coming on my own, I'll sort of do a mental check and I'll look to make sure that it's safe.
"I'll have the right key ready to quickly open my door."
Stronger community
Residents also explained that a Neighbourhood Watch has been set up in the area, which has helped improve the community feel in the crescent.
One local added: "There is a local residents watch kind of thing.
"I think, since that incident, it is reassuring. I think there have been a couple of instances when you hear noise in the street.
"Everybody in the street is so aware. So, you know, everyone will call the police.
"Everybody's phoning the police, everybody will switch on their lights and start looking out in the street.
"Sometimes people will come out just to check and make sure that nothing untoward is happening.
"It's a lovely thing because you could almost say that's her legacy in a way, that this community has become so strong and so close-knit.
"Everyone is so desperate to look out for each other and make sure that nothing is going on.
"It's certainly not anyone's fault on this street for what happened to her. But there is a slight sense of regret.
"It's hard not to think what might have been different if we had gone out."
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