Murder case on Northampton Loop in 1985

[MarkWi72]

Please don't read anymore if this may trigger a bad reaction. A few years ago, I read about this murder on the WCML (Northampton Loop) in March 1985. It is a terrible story, horrific. I don't recall this. RIP Janet Maddocks.

Her Unfinished Journey

The Murder of Mrs Janet Mary Maddocks (1985) The assistance of Detective Superintendent Anthony M. Buckmaster, Northampton Police, in compiling this article is gratefully acknowledged. On Wednes…

www.btphg.org.uk

 

[David57]

I remember this very well...

 

[Future]

That’s absolutely shocking. I am gobsmacked such awful things could’ve happened so recently (and sadly still do to this day in some places). My condolences to any of the family involved there and the police who had to investigate this terrible, terrible incident

 

[greyman42]

Am i right that these units did not have access between the coaches and were considered unsafe for women travelling alone late at night?

 

[Magdalia]

Am i right that these units did not have access between the coaches and were considered unsafe for women travelling alone late at night?

A sad and horrible story.

The 2102 Euston-Birmingham via Northampton train would almost certainly have been a class 310 EMU. These were unusual in that they had open saloons but were only partially gangwayed between cars. There were gangways between cars 1 and 2, and between cars 3 and 4, but not between cars 2 and 3.

At that time various EMUs, both AC and DC, had coaches formed entirely of compartments with no gangway at all. It was these that were regarded as unsafe for women travelling alone at night.

I don't think that a class 310 would have been regarded as unsafe, but it is quite plausible that the murderer and the victim were the only occupants of cars 1 and 2 between Milton Keynes and Rugby.

There was a fast train for Birmingham and Wolverhampton from Euston at 2140.

 

[duncanp]

I can vaguely remember a similar incident on South Eastern trains that had a compartment with no corridor, where the murder was only discovered when the train arrived at Charing Cross.

Following on, all such compartments had a red stripe painted above them, so that anyone could identify and avoid using those compartments.

 

[Trackman]

I remember this very well...

So do I.
Think the murderer was released 20 years later and it wasn't soon later before he was back in Prison.

That’s absolutely shocking. I am gobsmacked such awful things could’ve happened so recently (and sadly still do to this day in some places). My condolences to any of the family involved there and the police who had to investigate this terrible, terrible incident

Indeed, my sentiments too.

At that time various EMUs, both AC and DC, had coaches formed entirely of compartments with no gangway at all. It was these that were regarded as unsafe for women travelling alone at night.

These were bad for anyone, I'm talking about the non-corridor ones which I think what you mean.

 

[AlterEgo]

Looks like this guy did 20 years and became a heroin dealer when he got out.

RAILWAY PSYCHO IS BACK BEHIND BARS; Freed killer is locked up for dealing in heroin. - Free Online Library

Free Online Library: RAILWAY PSYCHO IS BACK BEHIND BARS; Freed killer is locked up for dealing in heroin. by "Daily Record (Glasgow, Scotland)"; News, opinion and commentary General interest Railroads

www.thefreelibrary.com

A SADISTIC killer who raped a woman and threw her body off a train is back in jail after being caught drug dealing.

Evil Jack Roy, 38, was released in November 2005 after serving 20 years for the sexual assault and murder of Janet Maddocks.

The Glasgow-born killer was just 15 when he stabbed the 35-year-old to death on the train from London Euston to Birmingham in 1985.

He was freed from a life sentence just over two years ago and was living under supervision in Edinburgh.

But Roy was jailed yesterday after being caught with almost pounds 1000 worth of heroin last November.

At Edinburgh Sheriff Court, he was sentenced to a year in prison after admitting dealing the Class A drug.

 

[GatwickDepress]

I can vaguely remember a similar incident on South Eastern trains that had a compartment with no corridor, where the murder was only discovered when the train arrived at Charing Cross.

Following on, all such compartments had a red stripe painted above them, so that anyone could identify and avoid using those compartments.

That's the murder of Deborah Linsley in 1988, which took place on a 4EPB between Petts Wood and London Victoria. Still unsolved.

 

[John Luxton]

Interesting but horrifying.

Makes on wonder just who one might be sharing a carriage with especially on a quiet night train.

 

[MarkWi72]

A sad and horrible story.

The 2102 Euston-Birmingham via Northampton train would almost certainly have been a class 310 EMU. These were unusual in that they had open saloons but were only partially gangwayed between cars. There were gangways between cars 1 and 2, and between cars 3 and 4, but not between cars 2 and 3.

At that time various EMUs, both AC and DC, had coaches formed entirely of compartments with no gangway at all. It was these that were regarded as unsafe for women travelling alone at night.

I don't think that a class 310 would have been regarded as unsafe, but it is quite plausible that the murderer and the victim were the only occupants of cars 1 and 2 between Milton Keynes and Rugby.

There was a fast train for Birmingham and Wolverhampton from Euston at 2140.

I've only recently (last few years) come across the story, and don't recall it at the time (I was 13). I think they were the only occupants of the coach, as the previous passenger alighted at Bletchley. As you say it would have been a 310 and not a 304.

Once the blood was discovered, I believe that the pattern and direction of the blood flow, suggested that the murder took place somewhere between Wolverton and Roade, as the gradients between Roade and Northampton are steeper. At least I think that was one theory.

Keep safe late at night, should be the takeaway and it really brings home how unsafe unguarded trains can be. Condolences to all involved in this awful story.

 

[778]

The article mentioned that the train stopped at Hampton-in-Arden. I thought that stopping at the smaller stations between Coventry and Birmingham only started when Silverlink/Central Trains took over the route? I travelled on the line in the 90s when Network South East used 321s on the service, and can only remember stopping at Rugby, Coventry and Birmingham International after the train rejoined the main line.

I don't think an incedent like this could happen on modern trains. He would not have been able to have thrown her body off the train and CCTV would have captured the crime, so he probably would not have attempted it on a train with automatic doors.

I wonder if he is sorry for what he did nearly 40 years on?

 

[Magdalia]

The article mentioned that the train stopped at Hampton-in-Arden. I thought that stopping at the smaller stations between Coventry and Birmingham only started when Silverlink/Central Trains took over the route? I travelled on the line in the 90s when Network South East used 321s on the service, and can only remember stopping at Rugby, Coventry and Birmingham International after the train rejoined the main line.

In 1985 that happened during the day but not in the evening. The West Midlands local trains finished at the end of the evening peak so the evening service was just the slow Eustons calling all stations.

 

[Taunton]

it really brings home how unsafe unguarded trains can be.

Surely if it was a 310 it would have a guard.

 

[Lucan]

Surely if it was a 310 it would have a guard.

Maybe, but according to the article in OP's link, there was not continuous access throughout the train.

Although the murder carriage was an open saloon, there was no corridor connection from at least one end of it. At one intemediate station it was reported that Roy (the murderer) opened a door and stood on the platform in front of it, apparently to deter anyone else from entering his carriage, and to watch if anyone got in at the other end of it (in which case he might have done a runner), getting back in only when the whistle blew.

 

[edwin_m]

Once the blood was discovered, I believe that the pattern and direction of the blood flow, suggested that the murder took place somewhere between Wolverton and Roade, as the gradients between Roade and Northampton are steeper. At least I think that was one theory.

That's covered in the OP's linked document, but I find that part rather unconvincing. Acceleration and deceleration for a station stop or speed restriction would create a similar effect to a slope 1 in 20 or more in the floor of the train, so would be far more likely to induce the movement of the blood than an actual gradient which is less than 1 in 200* over the section in question.

*Possibly excepting one short section where my gradient profile book is illegible.

 

[David57]

I recall from contemporary reports at the time in the local paper (Northampton Chronicle and Echo) that the gradients did play a part in the investigation.

 

[Hadders]

I remember this case as I was living in Northampton at the time and the front page of the Northampton Chronicle & Echo had a massive headline saying 'Murder on the 21:06'.

Absolutely awful.

 

[LOL The Irony]

That's the murder of Deborah Linsley in 1988, which took place on a 4EPB between Petts Wood and London Victoria. Still unsolved.

After this one, didn't several EMUs undergo rebuilds to provide corridor connections throughout and those that couldn't were relegated to peak time workings only?

 

[thedbdiboy]

After this one, didn't several EMUs undergo rebuilds to provide corridor connections throughout and those that couldn't were relegated to peak time workings only?

Nothing was rebuilt, but the BR-SR pattern 4 coach Class 415s which until then had been formed of three semi-open and one full non-corridor compartment vehicle were reformed so that units used throughout the day were formed of four semi-open vehicles; whilst those used to supplement the service in peak hours only contained two full non-corridor compartment coaches, each with a red stripe at cantrail height so that they could easily be identified and avoided by those that didn't want to sit in them.

 

[Springs Branch]

During the same period as the murder, I made several journeys on overnight Anglo-Scottish expresses to Glasgow (in the seats on the Bristol - Glasgow/Edinburgh Sleeper, rather than from Rugby as per the murderer).

Every time, when the train arrived in Glasgow Central at stupid-o'-clock, we stumbled off, dry-mouthed and bleary-eyed looking for a cup of tea, and never saw hide nor hair of a ticket collector. I think we generally arrived on the open Inter-City platforms on the eastern side, and even if not, BR staff were all busy unloading stuff from the train (mail & parcels?) and not manning barriers or collecting tickets.

Therefore, it's very lucky that the detectives who spent five hours searching through the 3,000 collected tickets managed to find the killer's return half with the correct ticket number and bloodstains.

 

[Surreytraveller]

Surely if it was a 310 it would have a guard.

Everything would have had a guard on it at that time

 

[SargeNpton]

Everything would have had a guard on it at that time

But the guard did not have to all vehicles within the 4-car set. In a 310 cars 1 and 2 were inter-connected. There was no connection between 2 and 3 due to the presence of the luggage area, the power cables from the pantograph to the motors, and the guard's compartment. There was then an inter-connection between 3 and 4.

My memory is not good enough to remember whether the guard had a door from his compartment into the passenger saloon of car 3.

 

[jfollows]

But the guard did not have to all vehicles within the 4-car set. In a 310 cars 1 and 2 were inter-connected. There was no connection between 2 and 3 due to the presence of the luggage area, the power cables from the pantograph to the motors, and the guard's compartment. There was then an inter-connection between 3 and 4.

My memory is not good enough to remember whether the guard had a door from his compartment into the passenger saloon of car 3.

Nor is my memory, but I looked it up at https://web.archive.org/web/2016030...k/BRBDocuments/Diagram_Book_210_for_Issue.pdf and there is no door.