List of major crimes in the United Kingdom
Date Name No . of Deaths Location Details
2000 Murder of Victoria Climbié 1 London 8-year-old Ivorian girl , Victoria Adjo Climbié ( 2 November 1991 - 25 February 2000 ) , was tortured and murdered by her guardians ( including her aunt ) , who were found guilty of murder and jailed for life the following year . Her death led to a public inquiry and produced major changes in child protection policies in England
2000 Murder of Sarah Payne 1 East Preston , West Sussex , England Sarah Payne , a seven-year-old girl from Surrey , was abducted and murdered by convicted child sex offender Roy Whiting in Littlehampton , West Sussex , in July 2000 . Her body was found 15 miles away just over two weeks later . Whiting was found guilty of her murder in December 2001 and sentenced to life imprisonment , with the judge saying that it was a rare case in which a life sentence should mean life . The trial judge 's recommendation was later replaced by a 50-year minimum term by the Home Office , just before politicians were stripped of their powers to decide when or if a life sentence prisoner could apply for parole . Whiting 's sentence has since been set at a 40-year minimum term by the High Court , which means that Whiting can not be considered for parole until the age of 82 . At the end of the trial , it was revealed that he already had a previous conviction for abduction and indecent assault on an eight-year-old girl in 1995 , and that he was on the sex offenders register
2000 Murder of Damilola Taylor 1 Peckham , London While on his way from Peckham Library , 10-year-old Nigerian-born Damilola Taylor was found with a cut to his left thigh and bled to death within a half hour before arriving at a local hospital . Four teenagers were tried for murder in 2002 but cleared . A second trial in 2006 saw two other suspects - brothers Ricky and Gavin Preedie - found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to eight years in prison , but both were released within four years
2001 Torso in the Thames case 1 River Thames , London A human torso discovered floating in the River Thames on 21 September 2001 was eventually revealed to be the remains of a recently arrived Nigerian boy , between the ages of four and seven . Although the child is thought to be a victim of a ritual killing , the London Metropolitan Police Service have yet to apprehend those responsible . The identity of the torso has never been established
2001 Murder of Danielle Jones 1 East Tilbury , Essex , England The conviction of 15-year-old Jones ' uncle Stuart Campbell primarily relied upon forensic authorship analysis of text messages sent on the victim 's mobile phone . Jones was last seen alive on 18 June 2001 . Her body has never been found . Five months after her disappearance , police charged Campbell with murder . He was found guilty in December 2002 and sentenced to life imprisonment as well as 10 years for abduction . After the trial , controversy arose when it was revealed Campbell had prior convictions for indecent assault on other girls of similar ages . The use of forensic authorship analysis of text messages in the case provoked research into its use in other cases . Police also found bloodstained stockings , which had traces of DNA belonging to Campbell and his niece , in the loft of Campbell 's house in Essex
2002 Murder of Amanda Dowler 1 Walton-on-Thames , Surrey , England 13-year-old Amanda Dowler went missing on her journey home from school . Her body was discovered six months later in Yateley , Hampshire . The investigation gained national media coverage and was the largest investigation undertaken by Surrey police . Levi Bellfield , who had been convicted of two other murders and an attempted murder ( all committed after Amanda 's disappearance ) in February 2008 , was found guilty of the murder in June 2011 and received an additional life sentence . Shortly after Bellfield 's trial , it was revealed that her mobile phone had been hacked by News of the World reporters a while after she went missing , and they had deleted text messages from her inbox , giving her parents false hope that she was still alive ( it is believed that she died the same afternoon or evening that she went missing ) . These revelations , along with numerous other phone-hacking allegations , contributed to the newspaper 's closure . Rupert Murdoch , owner of the News of the World , later awarded the Dowler family £3 million in compensation
2002 Soham murders 2 Soham , Cambridgeshire , England Two ten-year-old girls , Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman , were murdered by local school caretaker Ian Huntley after luring them into his home on 4 August 2002 . The search for the two girls was one of the longest undertaken by British authorities . Their bodies were found two weeks after their disappearance and Huntley was jailed for life for the murders in December 2003 . In September 2005 , his minimum term was set at 40 years by the High Court , meaning that he can not be considered for parole until at least 2042 at the age of 68 . His partner , Maxine Carr , had been found guilty of perverting the course of justice and received a prison sentence of three-and-a-half years . She was released under a new identity in May 2004
2003 Murder of Jodi Jones 1 Dalkeith , Midlothian , Scotland Jodi Jones was a 14-year-old girl who was murdered by her teenage boyfriend , Luke Mitchell . She was brutally attacked and stabbed . He was subsequently jailed for life
2004 Murder of Kriss Donald 1 Glasgow , Scotland Kriss Donald was a white 15-year-old boy abducted , tortured and murdered by an Asian gang in a racist attack . Daanish Zahid became the first person in Scotland to be convicted of racially motivated murder in relation to the attack . Imran Shahid , Zeeshan Shahid , and Mohammed Faisal Mushtaq were also given life sentences . Zahid Mohammed received a 5-year sentence for abduction
2007 Death of Baby P 1 London Borough of Haringey , North London Peter Connelly ( also known as Baby P , Child A and Baby Peter ) was a 17-month-old boy who died in London after suffering more than 50 injuries over an eight-month period , during which he was repeatedly seen by Haringey Children 's Services and NHS health professionals . His real first name was revealed as Peter on the conclusion of a subsequent trial of the child 's mother 's boyfriend on a charge of raping a two-year-old . His full identity was revealed when his killers were named after the expiry of a court anonymity order on 10 August 2009 . His mother has since been released from prison . The case caused shock and concern among the public and in Parliament , partly because of the magnitude of Peter 's injuries , and because he lived in the London Borough of Haringey , under the same child care authorities that had already failed ten years earlier in the case of Victoria Climbié . This had led to a public enquiry which resulted in measures being put in place in an effort to prevent similar cases happening
2007 Murder of Rhys Jones 1 Liverpool , England 11-year-old Rhys Milford Jones was murdered on 22 August 2007 in Liverpool , England , when he was fatally shot in the neck . A local 18-year-old , Sean Mercer , received a life sentence for the murder in December 2008 and the trial judge recommended he should not be considered for parole for at least 22 years
2008 Murder of Ben Kinsella 1 Islington , London Ben Michael Kinsella , aged 16 , was murdered by a gang of black teenagers in Islington after an argument in which he was described as blameless . The significant media attention around his murder ( the 17th stabbing death of a teenager in London during 2008 ) led to a series of anti-knife crime demonstrations , a raised profile for the government 's anti-knife crime maxim Operation Blunt 2 , and a review and change of UK knife crime sentencing laws . The members of the gang were later jailed for life . His sister , Brooke Kinsella , an actress whose credits include a role in EastEnders , has since been at the centre of a media campaign against knife crime
2010 Murder of Tia Rigg 1 Manchester , England Tia Rigg was a 12-year-old girl who was murdered by her uncle , John Maden , who had an 'obsessive interest ' in pornography depicting paedophilia , rape and torture . On 3 April 2010 , Maden called Tia 's mother on the pretext of having Tia come over to his house and babysit his 10-year-old daughter . When Tia arrived at Maden 's home , he drugged her with Olanzapine , a powerful antipsychotic tranquilliser . He then inflicted a 'horrific catalogue of sexual injuries ' on Tia before stabbing her in the stomach and strangling her with a ligature made from a guitar string . Maden then dialled 999 to admit the killing ; when asked why , he said because I felt like it . Arrested and charged with rape and murder , he pleaded guilty on 4 October 2010 and was sentenced to life ; and was told that , due to the sheer depravity of his crime and the agony and terror Tia must have suffered , he should never be released
2012 Murder of Daniel Pełka 1 Coventry , West Midlands , England Pełka , aged 4 , died of a head injury on 3 March 2012 . His mother , Magdalena Łuczak and her partner , Mariusz Krężołek , both Polish nationals , were found guilty of his murder in 2013 and jailed for life , with a minimum term of 30 years . Łuczak and Krężołek starved the child , beat him , locked him in a room , force-fed him salt and waterboarded him . He weighed only 1st 3lbs ( 7.7 kg ) - a similar weight to a baby less than a year old - when he died . A serious case review was held , as Social Services failed to act sufficiently on complaints from individuals , including staff at Daniel 's school , who were concerned that he was being deprived of food . Both Łuczak and Krężołek died in prison within three years of their conviction
2012 Allenton house fire 6 Allenton , Derby , Derbyshire , England The Allenton house fire occurred on 11 May 2012 in 18 Victory Road , a residential street in Allenton . Six siblings were killed in the fire . The children 's parents , Mick and Mairead Philpott , were later arrested and charged with murder , along with their friend Paul Mosley . In December 2012 their charges were downgraded to manslaughter . On 2 April 2013 , Mick Philpott and Paul Mosley were found guilty by unanimous verdicts , while Mairead Philpott was found guilty by a majority verdict . Mosley was jailed for 11 years and the Philpotts both received life sentences
2012 Murder of Tia Sharp 1 New Addington , London Borough of Croydon Tia Sharp was a 12-year-old girl who was reported missing from the home of her grandmother , Christine Sharp , in New Addington , on 3 August 2012 . When police discovered her body in the loft of the house seven days later , they arrested Christine Sharp and Stuart Hazell on suspicion of murder . Hazell was Christine Sharp 's partner and a former boyfriend of Tia 's mother , Natalie . Sharp was quickly eliminated from inquiries but Hazell was then charged with Tia 's murder and five days into his trial at the Old Bailey the following year , changed his plea to guilty . He was sentenced to life imprisonment with a 38-year minimum term . It is believed that Hazell had become 'sexually fixated ' with Tia , and that he smothered or strangled her when she said she was going to tell her mother after he tried to make sexual advances towards her
2012 Murder of April Jones 1 Machynlleth , Powys , Wales April Jones , a five-year-old girl from Machynlleth , disappeared on the evening of 1 October 2012 , after being sighted willingly getting into a vehicle near her home . Her disappearance generated a large amount of press coverage , both nationally and internationally . Five days after she was last seen , a local man , Mark Bridger , was charged with April 's abduction and murder . He was found guilty of all charges on 30 May 2013 . He was sentenced to life imprisonment with a recommendation that he should never be released . April 's body has never been found , but police found skull fragments and blood in Bridger 's home , which was matched to April Jones and indicated that she had suffered unsurvivable injuries at the hands of 47-year-old Bridger
2014 Murder of Breck Bednar 1 Grays , Essex , England Breck Bednar was a 14-year-old boy who was murdered on 17 February 2014 in a flat at Rosebery Road in Grays , Essex . Lewis Daynes , 19 , was due to stand trial at Chelmsford Crown Court on a charge of murder but admitted the offence before the jury was sworn . Daynes , a computer engineer , was believed to have met Bednar while playing online video games . In January 2015 , he was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 25 years
2014 murder of Alice Gross 1 Hanwell , London Alice Gross was a 14-year-old girl from Hanwell , west London , who went missing on 28 August 2014 . The search for her was the largest deployment of Metropolitan Police officers in a search operation since the 7 July 2005 London bombings , involving 600 officers from eight forces . Police subsequently identified Latvian immigrant Arnis Zaļkalns as the prime suspect . He went missing from Ealing , London , on 3 September . Gross ' body was found in the River Brent on 30 September . Four days later , Zalkalns ' body was found in dense woodland in Boston Manor Park . The cause of his death was hanging . It was revealed that he had a previous conviction for murder in Latvia
2015 Murder of Becky Watts 1 Bristol , England Rebecca 'Becky ' Watts was a 16-year-old student from Crown Hill in the St. George area of Bristol , who went missing on 19 February 2015 and whose dismembered body was found on 2 March in Barton Court
Child killings -- 2000s–present
This is a list of major crimes in the United Kingdom that received significant media coverage or led to changes in legislation. Legally each deliberate and unlawful killing of a human being is murder; there are no crimes of assassination or serial killing as such, for example.