Latest news with #VictoriaStation
Daily Mail
29-05-2025
- General
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Murder victim's father goes to his grave without knowing who stabbed his daughter to death in closed train carriage in one of Britain's most notorious unsolved crimes
The haunted father of the victim of one of Britain's most notorious unsolved murders has died before any suspect was ever arrested, MailOnline has learned. The savage killing of Deborah Linsley on a suburban commuter train as it arrived at London 's Victoria station in 1988 is regularly cited as one of the UK's most high-profile unsolved cases. Deborah's father Arthur, a retired insurance broker, spent more than three decades campaigning for justice for her - regularly appearing in the media to ensure her case was not forgotten and that the police continued to try to find her killer. But now MailOnline can reveal that Mr Linsley has sadly died before anyone could ever be linked to the attack and prosecuted. The case was particularly infuriating for detectives as they have a full DNA match for the killer - but no match has ever come up for them or any relative. A source close to the Linsley family said: 'Arthur's life since 1988 revolved around finding who killed his daughter. 'We had all hoped he would live until the police made an arrest - which as they have the DNA seems like it must inevitably happen at some point. 'There was also a £20,000 reward but it didn't yield a suspect. 'Deborah's mum died 14 years ago and Arthur carried on alone, campaigning and keeping Deborah's memory alive. 'But sadly he too died a little while ago - in 2023 - and now there's no one left to push the case. 'It's so sad that Arthur never got to find out who killer her and see them jailed.' Arthur had been still living in the house where Deborah grew up in Bromley, Kent, but it has now been sold. Deborah, 26, was born in Bromley, south London, to and his wife Marguerite, a fraud investigator for the DSS. She had moved to Edinburgh to pursue a career as a hotel manager and on the week of her death had returned to stay at the family home while she could attend a course. Deborah was on her way back to Edinburgh when she was attacked in the closed carriage of a commuter train. On the afternoon of Wednesday March 23, 1988, she had lunch with her brother Gordon, who then gave her a lift to Petts Wood station. Linsley boarded the 14.16 from Petts Wood in south London to London Victoria when she was viciously attacked. When the train arrived at that busy terminal, a station porter discovered her body in the blood-soaked coach when the train arrived at its final stop. She had been stabbed 11 times with one wound penetrating her heart and killing her. The murder is thought to have happened in the six minutes between the train pulling out of Brixton and arriving in Victoria. The police were convinced of this because another passenger, a French au pair, told them she heard a scream after it had left Brixton. She didn't pull the emergency cord and didn't take any other action. Police initially suspected the murder may have been an attempted rape. Deborah had defensive marks on her hands and had seriously injured her attacker as she tried to fight him off. This meant police would have a full DNA profile. But despite regular familial DNA testing they have never uncovered a match and the case remains unsolved. Deborah was buried in the bridesmaid's dress she would have worn to her brother's wedding - which had been due to take place just wo weeks after she was killed. Arthur was still appealing for information just a few years before his death. In 2018, on the 30th anniversary, he said: 'My daughter Debbie was murdered and despite the DNA profile of the suspect being available, the person responsible has still not been found. 'I appeal for those who have suspicions about a partner, a friend or a relative to please come forward.' A spokesperson for the Met Police said: 'The investigation into the murder of 26-year-old Debbie Linsley remains open, with detectives exploring ways to identify the suspect using DNA evidence. 'Debbie, from Bromley but living and working in Edinburgh at the time of her murder, was stabbed to death on the 14.16 train from Orpington to London Victoria on Wednesday, 23 March 1988. 'She boarded the train at Petts Wood in south-east London and entered an old-fashioned compartment with room for six people and doors at each side of the carriage. 'The train arrived at platform 2 at Victoria railway station and at around 14.50hrs, her body was discovered on the floor by British Rail staff. 'Detectives have a full DNA profile of the suspect - Debbie fought off her killer during the attack and traces of blood belonging to someone other than Debbie were found at the scene - and detectives are continuing to explore all opportunities, including advancements in DNA technology. 'The current investigation is being led by the Met's Specialist Casework Investigation Team which investigates unsolved, historical cases.' Deborah's brother Gordon was approached via an intermediary but declined to respond to a request for comment.
BBC News
21-05-2025
- BBC News
Nottingham's 'lost giant' station recalled on 125th anniversary
One of Nottingham's greatest lost buildings is being remembered 125 years after it was railway station's construction cut a swathe through the centre of the city, resulting in the clearance of 1,300 houses, 24 pubs, two schools and a church before it opened on 24 May served passengers for nearly 70 years before being closed and demolished, with only its ornate clock tower and the vast hole dug for the platforms as reminders of its historian Janine Tanner, who has organised an exhibition about the station, said: "People called it a 'Cathedral of Steam' because they remember how beautiful it was and how elegant it was - it's the city's lost giant." As well as removing hundreds of buildings - the 13-acre site was equivalent to nearly eight football pitches - the station cutting was 58 ft (17.6m) below ground level, requiring the excavation of about 600,000 cubic yards of Tanner said: "It was a massive undertaking, especially at a time when mechanical excavation was in its infancy."While they used everything they had, it still took two years to build."As well as being physically central, Ms Tanner said the station played a central role in the lives of residents. "People have such a huge amount of memories of railway stations, people going away and coming back, going on holiday and being sent to war," she said."And Victoria was built with such huge grandeur, it was massive."The booking hall was 100ft (30m) long, you could literally lay the clock tower inside the booking hall."There were 12 platforms and the huge glass roof allowed light to pour in." But in the decades after World War Two, Britain's railways struggled with aging infrastructure, a lack of investment and the rise in car Tanner said: "In 1958 London Midland, which ran the Midland station on the other side of the city centre, took over the Victoria station."They decided to wind it down, they didn't want two stations in the same city, so they wound it down until there was literally one service going through it."Ten days after they closed the station the demolition teams moved in - there was never even a chance to grow weeds on the platforms." The exhibition, which runs from 31 May to 6 June, will feature about 150 photographs, along with maps, plans, artefacts from the station and the line which it served.A centrepiece is a huge plan of the station, saved from a bin as the building was is being held in the shopping centre which was built on the site and bears its Tanner said: "It was so well loved and so well used by so many people and so many generations."So many people have such happy memories of going there, so many have happy memories of working there."
