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Daily Mail
23-06-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
ROLAND WHITE reviews Death In The Desert: The Nurse Helen Mystery - 'How Foreign Office covered up the suspected murder of British nurse'
Is there anything that politics can't make a great deal worse? One night in May 1979, a young nurse called Helen Smith was enjoying herself at an illegal alcohol party in a block of flats in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. She was dancing with a Dutch tugboat captain called Johannes Otten, and they eventually left together. That was the last time anybody saw them alive. The following morning, Helen's body was found on the street outside, while Johannes was impaled on nearby railings. She was 23. The Saudi authorities insisted the couple had accidentally fallen from a balcony while having sex. Last night's Death In The Desert (Ch4) made a convincing case that they were both murdered. If they fell from the balcony, why weren't their bodies spotted by some fellow guests, who left the party at 3am? Why weren't Helen's injuries consistent with a 70ft fall? A Home Office pathologist - who conducted a second post-mortem after a long campaign by her family - concluded she had probably been raped and beaten. The producers of the documentary, using the Freedom of Information Act, managed to obtain 121 Foreign Office files about the case. These show that, behind the scenes, officials were far from convinced by the Saudis' story. And the Director of Public Prosecutions wrote to the Chief Constable of West Yorkshire to report 'a strong suspicion that both people were murdered'. The trouble was, nobody in government was prepared to say this out loud. It was politics, of course, that got in the way. Margaret Thatcher had only recently become Prime Minister, and relations with Saudi Arabia were particularly delicate. Ministers feared that any shift in the price of oil could cause inflation, which Mrs Thatcher was struggling to bring down. If we offended the Saudis, they could also cancel valuable arms contracts. To make matters worse, there was already tension between the two countries after ITV's Death Of A Princess documentary - about the execution of a Saudi princess for adultery. As barrister Geoffrey Robertson put it: 'It's quite clear from these papers you've discovered that it suited the Foreign Office for this to go away'. It did go away, eventually. This was partly because Helen's campaigning father Ron died, and partly because there was no obvious suspect. Last month, the Mail reported a new development in a similar case. When Julie Ward was found dead in Kenya in 1988, local officials said she'd been eaten by lions. But evidence now suggests that the late Jonathan Moi, son of former president Daniel arap Moi, should have been arrested. It's reassuring, I suppose, that injustices like these can be exposed by newspapers and television programmes so many years later. By then, of course, it's usually far too late to do anything about it.
The Sun
23-06-2025
- The Sun
Who was Helen Smith and how did the British nurse die in Saudi Arabia?
MYSTERY still surrounds the deaths of nurse Helen Smith and tugboat captain Johannes Otten after they 'fell' from a balcony in Saudi Arabia more than 46 years ago. Here's everything we know about Helen and the suspicious circumstances surrounding her passing, which are investigated in a new C4 documentary. 3 3 Who was Helen Smith? Helen Linda Smith was a 23-year-old nurse from Yorkshire. In 1978, she moved to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, to take up a nursing post. Helen was enjoying her new home, writing home about her positive experiences in the Arab state. However, her life was cut tragically short on May 20, 1979, in circumstances that would become one of Britain's most controversial international cases. Suspicious circumstances Helen Smith died after allegedly falling from a sixth-floor balcony during a party at the home of Richard and Penny Arnot in Jeddah. Her body, along with that of Dutch tugboat captain Johannes Otten, was found in the street below. She was discovered lying dead fully clothed, aside from her underwear, which was partly removed. He was impaled on spiked railings with his underpants around his thighs. The party had been attended by several expatriates, including a diver from New Zealand named Tim Hayter, marine biologist Jacques Texier and four German salvage operators. The party itself was illegal under Saudi law, as alcohol was present and consumed in a country where it is strictly forbidden. Sexual encounter Testimony from Jacques Texier indicated that a sexual encounter between Mr Hayter and Mrs Arnot was taking place at the time of the deaths, further complicating the investigation. This led to the prosecution of Mrs Arnot for "unlawful intercourse" and a sentence of eighty lashes for Richard Arnot for supplying alcohol — though the sentences were never carried out. Official explanation Supported by British diplomats, Saudi authorities quickly ruled the deaths as accidental, stating Helen and Johannes fell from the balcony while drunk, possibly during or after a sexual encounter. However, Helen's father Ron Smith, a former policeman, immediately doubted this explanation. 3 He traveled to Saudi Arabia to examine his daughter's body and became convinced that she was murdered. Ron believed there was a cover-up to protect diplomatic relations and the reputations of those involved. His campaign for justice lasted decades — he refused to allow Helen's burial, keeping her body in a Leeds mortuary for 30 years in the hope of uncovering new forensic evidence. His efforts led to a 15-day inquest in 1982, which returned an open verdict. Ron's persistence even contributed to changes in UK law regarding inquests into the violent deaths of British citizens abroad. Key changes include: Duty for inquests on repatriation: Coroners in England and Wales are now required to investigate deaths that occurred abroad if the body is repatriated and the death appears violent, unnatural, or the cause is unknown. This is set out in the Coroners and Justice Act 2009, Chapter 1, which obligates coroners to hold inquests in such cases, regardless of where the death took place, as long as the body is brought back to their jurisdiction. Clear criteria for inquests: The law now specifies that an inquest must be held if the death was violent, unnatural, or the cause is unknown, or if the person died in custody or state detention—even if the death occurred overseas. Comprehensive investigations: These inquests can involve extensive investigations, including witness and expert testimony, to establish who died, and how, when, and where the death occurred. Consistency Across the UK: While the process differs slightly in Scotland and Northern Ireland, similar reforms have ensured that coroners (or the Lord Advocate in Scotland) can investigate deaths abroad when the body is repatriated. Some expert testimony at the inquest suggested Helen's injuries were not consistent with a simple fall, raising further suspicions of foul play. Her body was finally cremated in 2009, three decades after her death, following her parents' decision to allow burial before their own passing. Helen Smith's death remains officially classified as accidental Death in the Desert: The Nurse Helen Mystery Channel 4 has made a documentary about the death of Helen Smith. It looks into the suspicions of Helen's family and investigates whether new information can help shed any light on the case. Death in the Desert: The Nurse Helen Mystery airs on Channel 4 at 9pm on Monday, June 23, 2025.
