| Flowers in Gods Garden
- Articles |
27/10/92
- The BMX killer
Daily Mail Reporter
Daily Mail
A KILLER described by detectives as 'pure evil' was
jailed for life yesterday for strangling seven-year-old
Paul Pearson. Richard Blenkey murdered the boy after
luring him into an allotment hut as he cycled home on
his red BMX bike.
As the 32-year-old bachelor began his sentence with
a recommendation that he serves a minimum 20 years,
Paul's parents spoke of the tragedy that shattered their
lives. Although his father Ken bitterly regrets letting
him out to play that fateful day, his mother Julie believes
it was the natural decision.
'You cannot wrap children up in cotton wool 24 hours
a day,' she said. 'They have to be allowed to grow up
and leam new experiences for themselves. 'We teach children
to be frightened of strangers but they can also be hurt
by people they know.
'Blenkey wasn't a stranger to my son. He had known Paul
for about two weeks and made a point of befriending
him by giving him vegetables. 'Parents should warn their
kids never to let themselves get in a position where
they are alone with someone no matter who it is.
'I met Blenkey myself while walking with the children
past the allotments. They were looking at the chickens
and he told the children they had laid plenty of eggs.'
Mr and Mrs Pearson, of Saltbum, Cleveland, have tried
to be honest with their other children Kevin, 11, Clare,
seven, and Christopher, five about what happened to
Paul and say they have coped well.
For the man who murdered Paul, the couple both aged
31 feel only hatred and anger. 'If the death penalty
existed, the world would be a safer place to bring up
children,' said Mrs Pearson.
Within weeks of the family moving to Saltbum last summer,
Blenkey had noticed Paul regularly cycling along a footpath
to a friend's house in Marske and set about befriending
him. On the day of the killing, he called Paul into
his hut as he hurried home to ask permission to stay
with his friend for tea.
The boy was stripped, beaten and strangled before being
dumped in a ravine. Police say he was probably sexually
assaulted. Teesside Crown Court was told that Blenkey,
who admitted murder, had originally blamed a fictitious
Mr Punk.
But his fingerprints were found on the handlebar of
Paul's bike. The court heard that Blenkey, of Diamond
Street, Saltbum, was of limited intelligence but there
was no evidence of mental illness or personality disorder.
Sentencing him, Mr Justice Blofeld said: 'Paul Pearson
had his whole life in front of him. In your hands he
suffered a terrifying experience.' After the case, Detective
Chief Inspector Alan Walls said: 'I gained the impression
that Blenkey is a very evil man pure evil.'
The killer, who lived with his widowed mother, had been
regarded with suspicion for years by locals. A father
once caught him walking off with his son and punched
him. |
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