John Sweeney murder trial – Was body in the canal the work of Camden Ripper?

Published: 31 March, 2011
by JAMIE WELHAM

DEFENCE lawyers for a man accused of murdering two lovers and dumping their severed bodies in canals have suggested the crimes could have been committed by serial killers in Camden Town and Holland.

The killings and the disposal of the bodies of Paula Fields and Melissa Halstead were compared at the Old Bailey to the work of Anthony Hardy, the man who became known as the “Camden Ripper” after the murder of three women, and Frank Gust, who killed four women in the Netherlands.

Both men are now in prison but were free at the time of the murders alleged to have been committed by John Sweeney, 54. 

The suggestion that the two men may have been involved was described as a “smokescreen” by the prosecution.

Mr Sweeney, a carpenter who lived in Kentish Town, denies murdering American model Ms Halstead, 33, in Holland and Paula Fields, 31, in Camden Town.

Defence QC Michael Wood told the jury that police have never been able to rule out Anthony Hardy for the murder of Ms Fields – a woman who worked as a  prostitute and struggled with a crack addiction when she was living in Highbury at the time of her death in 2001.

Hardy was convicted of three murders at his council flat in Camden Town in 2002. Two of his victims were found dismembered.

Mr Wood told the jury: “Anthony Hardy is not a smokescreen. He could have been the person responsible for killing Paula. 

“Certainly there are people out there who do kill women in this way. 

“I dare say you were surprised when you found out where Mr Hardy was living – a few hundred yards from where Paula Fields’ body was found. 

“Paula Fields was a prostitute. The three women killed by Mr Hardy were prostitutes. Sally White’s body was found before it could be mutilated. Elizabeth Valad and Bridgette MacClennan had their hands and heads removed. They are missing and have never been found. Neither have Paula’s.” 

He added: “Hardy was at large at the time Paula Fields was killed. For some reason he was never interviewed.” 

Ms Fields’ body was pulled from the Regent’s Canal in Camden Town after a group of boys spotted holdalls floating in the water. It was cut into pieces and stuffed into ten bags. 

The jury was also told to consider the theory that Melissa Halstead was a victim of “Rhine-Ruhr Ripper” Gust.  Another dismembered body was discovered in the Amsterdam canal network two years after Ms Halstead’s body was found in a canal in Rotterdam in 1990. 

The jury was told neither the body nor her killer had ever been identified. Gust was convicted in Holland of murdering four prostitutes.

In his closing statement, prosecutor Brian Altman, QC, said there was an overwhelming case against Mr Sweeney. 

He said his history of violence towards women, his preoccupation with dismemberment and the fact he was in relationships with Ms Halstead and Ms Fields at the time of their deaths made it impossible for “lightning to strike twice” despite being separated by time and in different countries. 

Mr Altman described Mr Sweeney as a “remorseless” killer who went to extreme lengths to protect himself from ever being a suspect.

“This is a man who displays low cunning,” he told the jury. 

“This is a man who could hardly give an answer to a straight question. It is an attempt to blind you from the obvious.” 

 Mr Altman said that Gust was not in Holland at the time of Ms Halstead’s death and that Hardy was “amateurish” in the way he cut up and concealed his victims, in contrast to the way Mr Sweeney was alleged to have operated.

The court has heard that Mr Sweeney followed Ms Halstead to Europe after she was deported from England.

He is already serving a life sentence for the attempted murder of another girlfriend. He attacked Kentish Town nurse Delia Balmer with an axe and knife in 1994. Police discovered dozens of paintings and poems at properties where Mr Sweeney lived, which have been shown in evidence. 

The alleged murders of Ms Fields and Ms Halstead took place 11 years apart. 

Judge Mr Justice Saunders began his summing up yesterday (Wednesday). The jury are expected to return a verdict next week.