Home / Crime and Justice / Officer Recalls Horrific 1975 Kidnapping Discovery
Officer Recalls Horrific 1975 Kidnapping Discovery
4 Jun
Summary
- A detective found the kidnapped heiress Lesley Whittle tethered like a dog.
- The 1975 kidnapping was carried out by Donald Neilson, known as the Black Panther.
- A BBC podcast about the case has garnered over one million listens.
In January 1975, Lesley Whittle, an heiress from Highley, Shropshire, was kidnapped from her home. The perpetrator, Donald Neilson, known as the Black Panther, left ransom notes and a warning against involving the police.
Phil Maskery, a detective constable with Staffordshire Police at the time, made the dreadful discovery of Whittle. He found her tethered like a dog at the bottom of an old mine shaft, an image he described as the most horrific he had ever seen.
The case, which deeply affected journalists and the local community, has recently been the subject of a five-part BBC podcast. Titled "The Cop, The Kidnap and The Killer," the series has garnered over a million listens since its launch and is now in contention for an industry award.
Neilson, a career criminal originally from Bradford, died in prison in 2011. The podcast aims to retell Whittle's tragic story with the respect it deserves, fifty years after the events transpired.
