List of major crimes in the United Kingdom
Multiple murders
Table:
Date

Name

No. of
Deaths

Location

Details

1865
The Edward William Pritchard case
2(+)
Glasgow, Scotland
A doctor who was hanged for murdering his wife and mother-in-law by poisoning. He was also suspected of the murder of a servant but was never tried for it.

1915
The George Joseph Smith case
(Brides in the Bath Murderer)
3
Leicester, East Midlands, England
George Joseph Smith, a con artist and polygamist, murdered three of his wives before being arrested and executed on 13 August 1915.

1951–1952
The John Thomas Straffen case
3
Bath, Somerset, Broadmoor, England
John Thomas Straffen who was the longest-serving prisoner in British legal history. He killed two young girls in the summer of 1951. He was found to be unfit to plead and committed to Broadmoor Hospital; during a brief escape in 1952 he killed again. This time he was convicted of murder and sentenced to death. Reprieved because of his mental state, he had his sentence commuted to life imprisonment and he remained in prison until his death more than 55 years later.

1970–1974
The Ronald Jebson Murders
3
Epping Forest
Greater London. England
Ronald Jebson killed Susan Blatchford (11), and Gary Hanlon (12). Their bodies were discovered in a copse on Lippitts Hill, after they went missing from their homes in Enfield, north London, in March 1970. 30 years after the murders, Jebson confessed to the crimes; he was already serving a life sentence for the 1974 murder of 8-year-old Rosemary Papper. Jebson remained in prison until his death in April 2015.

1985
The White House Farm murders
5
Near Tolleshunt D'Arcy,
Essex, England
The White House Farm murders took place near the village of Tolleshunt D'Arcy, Essex, on 7 August 1985, when Neville Bamber, a farmer and magistrate, his wife June, their adoptive daughter, Sheila Caffell, and her six-year-old twin sons, were shot and killed during the night inside the Bambers' farmhouse. After the murders, the ex-girlfriend of Neville and June's adoptive son, Jeremy Bamber — the only surviving member of the immediate family — told police that Bamber had implicated himself. The prosecution argued that, motivated by a large inheritance, he had killed the family and placed the gun in his unstable sister's hands to make it look like a murder-suicide, which the police had originally treated the crime as, and which had been widely reported in the media immediately afterwards.

1993–2004
The Peter Bryan case
3
East London, England
Peter Bryan is a cannibal who committed several murders between 1993 and 2004.

2011
The Ding Family murders
4
Wootton, Northamptonshire
England
Four members of the Ding family, Professor Jifeng "Jeff" Ding, his wife Helen Chui and their daughters Xing and Alice, were found murdered at their home in Wootton at 6:00 pm on 1 May 2011. They were thought to have been murdered two days earlier between about 3:00 pm and 4:00 pm, 29 April 2011 — the day of the Royal Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton and an additional Public Holiday. Anxiang Du, a businessman from Coventry who had been involved in a legal dispute with the Ding family, was named as the prime suspect in the case. Du fled the murder scene in the Ding's rented car; he drove to London and travelled to Paris by coach. He continued through France, Spain and finally to Morocco, prompting a worldwide manhunt. He lived in a partly built block of flats for 14 months before he was arrested and extradited to the UK. Du was tried at Northampton Crown Court in November 2013. He was found guilty of the murders and was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 40 years.

2014
The Grindr Murders
4
Barking, Essex
Stephen John Port is a convicted serial rapist and serial killer, and is responsible for murdering at least four men and committing multiple rapes. Port received a life sentence with a whole life order on 25 November 2016. Police announced they are now investigating at least 58 deaths connected to the use of gamma-Hydroxybutyric acid (GHB) in response to the Port case.

Considering the provided table along with the context snippets listed at the end.

Solve the question: When did the person guilty for the earliest crime die ? Output only the correct answer as {"answer": "YOUR ANSWER"}.

Edward William Pritchard ( 6 December 1825 - 28 July 1865 ) was an English doctor who was convicted of murdering his wife and mother-in-law by poisoning them . He was also suspected of murdering a servant girl , but was never tried for this crime . He was the last person to be publicly executed in Glasgow .
Glasgow ( /ˈɡlæzɡoʊ/ , also UK : /ˈɡlɑːzɡoʊ , ˈɡlɑːsɡoʊ/ , US : /ˈɡlæsɡoʊ , ˈɡlæskoʊ/ ; Scots : Glesga [ ˈɡlezɡə ] ; Scottish Gaelic : Glaschu [ ˈkl̪ˠas̪əxu ] ) is the most populous city in Scotland , and the third most populous city in the United Kingdom , as of the 2017 estimated city population of 621,020 . Historically part of Lanarkshire , the city now forms the Glasgow City council area , one of the 32 council areas of Scotland ; the local authority is Glasgow City Council . Glasgow is situated on the River Clyde in the country 's West Central Lowlands . It is the fifth most visited city in the UK . Inhabitants of the city are referred to as Glaswegians or , informally , as Weegies . Glasgow is also known for the Glasgow patter , a distinct dialect of the Scots language that is noted for being difficult to understand by those from outside the city . Glasgow grew from a small rural settlement on the River Clyde to become the largest seaport in Scotland , and tenth largest by tonnage in Britain . Expanding from the medieval bishopric and royal burgh , and the later establishment of the University of Glasgow in the fifteenth century , it became a major centre of the Scottish Enlightenment in the eighteenth century . From the eighteenth century onwards , the city also grew as one of Great Britain 's main hubs of transatlantic trade with North America and the West Indies . With the onset of the Industrial Revolution , the population and economy of Glasgow and the surrounding region expanded rapidly to become one of the world 's pre-eminent centres of chemicals , textiles and engineering ; most notably in the shipbuilding and marine engineering industry , which produced many innovative and famous vessels . Glasgow was the Second City of the British Empire for much of the Victorian era and Edwardian period , although many cities argue the title was theirs . In the late 19th and early 20th centuries , Glasgow 's population grew rapidly , reaching a peak of 1,127,825 people in 1938 .
George Joseph Smith ( 11 January 1872 - 13 August 1915 ) was an English serial killer and bigamist . In 1915 , he was convicted and subsequently hanged for the murders of three women , the case becoming known as the Brides in the Bath Murders . As well as being widely reported in the media , the case was significant in the history of forensic pathology and detection . It was also one of the first cases in which similarities between connected crimes were used to prove deliberation , a technique used in subsequent prosecutions .
Leicester ( /ˈlɛstər/ ( listen ) LEST-ər ) is a city and unitary authority area in the East Midlands of England , and the county town of Leicestershire . The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National Forest . It is to the north-east of Birmingham and Coventry , south of Nottingham , and west of Peterborough . The 2016 mid year estimate of the population of the City of Leicester unitary authority was 348,300 , an increase of approximately 18,500 ( 5.6% ) from the 2011 census figure of 329,839 , making it the most populous municipality in the East Midlands region . The associated urban area is also the 11th most populous in England and the 13th most populous in the United Kingdom . Leicester is at the intersection of two major railway lines - the north-south Midland Main Line and the east/west Birmingham to London Stansted CrossCountry line ; as well as the confluence of the M1/M69 motorways and the A6/A46 trunk routes . Leicester is the home to football club Leicester City and rugby club Leicester Tigers .
The East Midlands is one of nine official regions of England at the first level of NUTS for statistical purposes . It consists of Derbyshire , Leicestershire , Lincolnshire ( except North and North East Lincolnshire ) , Northamptonshire , Nottinghamshire and Rutland . The region has an area of 15,627 km2 ( 6,034 sq mi ) , with a population over 4.5 million in 2011 . There are six main urban centres , Derby , Leicester , Lincoln , Mansfield , Northampton and Nottingham . Others include Boston , Chesterfield , Corby , Grantham , Hinckley , Kettering , Loughborough , Newark-on-Trent , Skegness , and Wellingborough . Relative proximity to London and its position on the national motorway and trunk road networks help the East Midlands to thrive as an economic hub . Nottingham and Leicester are each classified as a sufficiency-level world city by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network . The region is primarily served by East Midlands Airport , which lies between Derby , Loughborough and Nottingham .
John Thomas Straffen ( 27 February 1930 - 19 November 2007 ) was an English serial killer who was the longest-serving prisoner in British legal history . Straffen killed two young girls in the summer of 1951 . He was found to be unfit to plead and committed to Broadmoor Hospital ; during a brief escape in 1952 , he killed again . This time , Straffen was convicted of murder and sentenced to death . Reprieved because of his mental state , Straffen had his sentence commuted to life imprisonment , and he remained in prison until his death more than 55 years later .
Bath is the largest city in the county of Somerset , England , known for and named after its Roman-built baths . In 2011 , the population was 88,859 . Bath is in the valley of the River Avon , 97 miles ( 156 km ) west of London and 11 miles ( 18 km ) southeast of Bristol . The city became a World Heritage site in 1987 . The city became a spa with the Latin name Aquae Sulis ( the waters of Sul ) c. 60 AD when the Romans built baths and a temple in the valley of the River Avon , although hot springs were known even before then . Bath Abbey was founded in the 7th century and became a religious centre ; the building was rebuilt in the 12th and 16th centuries . In the 17th century , claims were made for the curative properties of water from the springs , and Bath became popular as a spa town in the Georgian era . Georgian architecture , crafted from Bath stone , includes the Royal Crescent , Circus , Pump Room and Assembly Rooms where Beau Nash presided over the city 's social life from 1705 until his death in 1761 . Many of the streets and squares were laid out by John Wood , the Elder , and in the 18th century the city became fashionable and the population grew . Jane Austen lived in Bath in the early 19th century . Further building was undertaken in the 19th century and following the Bath Blitz in World War II . The city has software , publishing and service-oriented industries .
Somerset ( /ˈsʌmərsɛt/ ( listen ) or locally /ˈzʌmərzɛt/ ; archaically , Somersetshire ) is a county in South West England which borders Gloucestershire and Bristol to the north , Wiltshire to the east , Dorset to the south-east and Devon to the south-west . It is bounded to the north and west by the Severn Estuary and the Bristol Channel , its coastline facing southeastern Wales . Its traditional border with Gloucestershire is the River Avon . Somerset 's county town is Taunton . Somerset is a rural county of rolling hills , the Blackdown Hills , Mendip Hills , Quantock Hills and Exmoor National Park , and large flat expanses of land including the Somerset Levels . There is evidence of human occupation from Paleolithic times , and of subsequent settlement by the Celts , Romans and Anglo-Saxons . The county played a significant part in Alfred the Great 's rise to power , and later the English Civil War and the Monmouth Rebellion . The city of Bath is famous for its Georgian architecture and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site .
Broadmoor Hospital is a high-security psychiatric hospital at Crowthorne in Berkshire , England . It is the oldest of the three high-security psychiatric hospitals in England , the other two being Ashworth Hospital near Liverpool and Rampton Secure Hospital in Nottinghamshire . The hospital 's catchment area consists of four National Health Service regions : London , Eastern , South East and South West . It is managed by the West London NHS Trust .
In the law of England and Wales , fitness to plead is the capacity of a defendant in criminal proceedings to comprehend the course of those proceedings . The concept of fitness to plead also applies in Scots and Irish law . Its United States equivalent is competence to stand trial .
Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse , especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought . This state of mind may , depending upon the jurisdiction , distinguish murder from other forms of unlawful homicide , such as manslaughter . Manslaughter is a killing committed in the absence of malice , brought about by reasonable provocation , or diminished capacity . Involuntary manslaughter , where it is recognized , is a killing that lacks all but the most attenuated guilty intent , recklessness . Most societies consider murder to be an extremely serious crime , and thus that a person convicted of murder should receive harsh punishments for the purposes of retribution , deterrence , rehabilitation , or incapacitation . In most countries , a person convicted of murder generally faces a long-term prison sentence , possibly a life sentence ; and in a few , the death penalty may be imposed .
A pardon is a government decision to allow a person to be relieved of some or all of the legal consequences resulting from a criminal conviction . A pardon may be granted before or after conviction for the crime , depending on the laws of the jurisdiction . Pardons can be granted in many countries when individuals are deemed to have demonstrated that they have paid their debt to society , or are otherwise considered to be deserving of them . Pardons are sometimes offered to persons who were either wrongfully convicted or who claim that they were wrongfully convicted . In some jurisdictions of some nations , accepting a pardon may implicitly constitute an admission of guilt ; the offer is refused in some cases . Cases of wrongful conviction are in recent times more often dealt with by appeal rather than by pardon ; however , a pardon is sometimes offered when innocence is undisputed in order to avoid the costs that are associated with a retrial . Clemency plays a critical role when capital punishment is applied . Pardons are sometimes seen as a mechanism for combating corruption , allowing a particular authority to circumvent a flawed judicial process to free someone that is seen as wrongly convicted . Pardons can also be a source of controversy . In extreme cases , some pardons may be seen as acts of corruption by officials in the form of granting effective immunity as political favors .
Life imprisonment ( also known as imprisonment for life , life in prison , whole-life order , a life sentence , a life term , lifelong incarceration , life incarceration or simply life ) is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted persons are to remain in prison either for the rest of their natural life or until paroled or otherwise commuted to a fixed term . Crimes for which , in some countries , a person could receive this sentence include murder , attempted murder , conspiracy to commit murder , blasphemy , apostasy , terrorism , severe child abuse , rape , child rape , espionage , treason , high treason , drug dealing , drug trafficking , drug possession , human trafficking , severe cases of fraud , severe cases of financial crimes , aggravated criminal damage in English law , and aggravated cases of arson , kidnapping , burglary , or robbery which result in death or grievous bodily harm , piracy , aircraft hijacking , and in certain cases genocide , ethnic cleansing , crimes against humanity , certain war crimes or any three felonies in case of three strikes law . Life imprisonment ( as a maximum term ) can also be imposed , in certain countries , for traffic offenses causing death . The life sentence does not exist in all countries : Portugal was the first to abolish life imprisonment , in 1884 . Where life imprisonment is a possible sentence , there may also exist formal mechanisms for requesting parole after a certain period of prison time . This means that a convict could be entitled to spend the rest of the sentence ( until that individual dies ) outside prison . Early release is usually conditional on past and future conduct , possibly with certain restrictions or obligations . In contrast , when a fixed term of imprisonment has ended , the convict is free . The length of time served and the conditions surrounding parole vary . Being eligible for parole does not necessarily ensure that parole will be granted . In some countries , including Sweden , parole does not exist but a life sentence may - after a successful application - be commuted to a fixed-term sentence , after which the culprit is released as if the sentence served was that originally imposed . In many countries around the world , particularly in the Commonwealth , courts have the authority to pass prison terms which may amount to de facto life imprisonment .
The Babes in the Wood murders is a name which has been used in the media to refer to a child murder case in which two bodies were found concealed in woodland . The bodies of Susan Blatchford ( aged 11 ) , and Gary Hanlon ( aged 12 ) , were discovered in a thicket of trees on Lippitts Hill , Epping Forest , south-east England , after they went missing from their homes in Enfield , north London , on 31 March 1970 . The case remained unsolved for 30 years until 61-year-old Ronald Jebson , already serving a life sentence for the 1974 murder of eight-year-old Rosemary Papper , confessed to their sexual assault and murder on 9 May 2000 . Jebson , who was never paroled from his sentence and spent more than 40 years in prison , died in secrecy at University Hospital North Durham on 17 April 2015 , reportedly from kidney failure . Accounts of his death began to circulate in the UK media on 27 April 2015 . This case is not to be confused with the Wild Park Babes in the Wood murders of two nine-year-old girls , Nicola Fellows and Karen Hadaway , in Brighton , East Sussex , 16 years later .
Epping Forest is a 2,400-hectare ( 5,900-acre ) area of ancient woodland between Epping in Essex to the north , and Forest Gate in Greater London to the south , straddling the border between London and Essex . It is a former royal forest , and is managed by the City of London Corporation . An area of 1,728 hectares ( 4,270 acres ) is a Site of Special Scientific Interest and a Special Area of Conservation . It gives its name to the Epping Forest local government district , which covers part of it . The forest is approximately 19 kilometres ( 12 mi ) long in the north-south direction , but no more than 4 kilometres ( 2.5 mi ) from east to west at its widest point , and in most places considerably narrower . It lies on a ridge between the valleys of the rivers Lea and Roding . It contains areas of woodland , grassland , heath , rivers , bogs and ponds , and its elevation and thin gravelly soil ( the result of glaciation ) historically made it unsuitable for agriculture .
Greater London is a ceremonial county of England that makes up the majority of the London region . This region forms the administrative boundaries of London and is organised into 33 local government districts - the 32 London boroughs and the City of London , which is located within the region but is separate from the county . The Greater London Authority , based in Southwark , is responsible for strategic local government across the region and consists of the Mayor of London and the London Assembly . The City of London Corporation is the principal local authority for the City of London , with a similar role to that of the 32 London borough councils . Administratively , Greater London was first established as a sui generis council area under the Greater London Council between 1963 and 1986 . The county of Greater London was created on 1 April 1965 through the London Government Act 1963 . The area was re-established as a region in 1994 . The Greater London Authority was formed in 2000 . The region covers 1,572 km2 ( 607 sq mi ) and had a population of 8,174,000 at the 2011 census . The Greater London Built-up Area is used in some national statistics and is a measure of the continuous urban area and includes areas outside the administrative region . There is about 420 parks in this region and 69 of them are at the southern region as of 2020/02/02 .
The White House Farm murders took place near the village of Tolleshunt D'Arcy , Essex , England , during the night of 6-7 August 1985 . Nevill and June Bamber were shot and killed inside their farmhouse , along with their daughter , Sheila Caffell , and Sheila 's six-year-old twin sons , Daniel and Nicholas Caffell . The only surviving member of June and Nevill 's immediate family was their adopted son , Jeremy Bamber , then 24 years old , who said he had been at home a few miles away when the shooting took place . The police at first believed that Sheila , diagnosed with schizophrenia , had fired the shots then turned the gun on herself . But weeks after the murders Jeremy Bamber 's ex-girlfriend told police that he had implicated himself . The prosecution argued that , motivated by a large inheritance , Bamber had shot the family with his father 's semi-automatic rifle , then placed the gun in his unstable sister 's hands to make it look like a murder-suicide . A silencer the prosecution said was on the rifle would have made it too long , they argued , for Sheila 's fingers to reach the trigger to shoot herself . Bamber was convicted of five counts of murder in October 1986 by a 10-2 majority , sentenced to a minimum of 25 years , and informed in 1994 that he would never be released . The Court of Appeal upheld the verdict in 2002 . Bamber protested his innocence throughout , although his extended family remained convinced of his guilt . Between 2004 and 2012 , his lawyers submitted several unsuccessful applications to the Criminal Cases Review Commission . They argued that the silencer might not have been used during the killings , that the crime scene may have been damaged then reconstructed , that crime-scene photographs were taken weeks after the murders , and that the time of Sheila 's death had been miscalculated .
Tolleshunt D'Arcy is a village and civil parish in the county of Essex in the East of England . The parish has a parish council , and lies within the area of Maldon District Council .
Essex ( /ˈɛsɪks/ ) is a county in the southeast of England , northeast of London . One of the home counties , it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north , Hertfordshire to the west , Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south , and London to the southwest . The county town is Chelmsford , the only city in the county . For government statistical purposes Essex is placed in the East of England region . There are three definitions of the extent of Essex , the widest being the Ancient County , the more usual being the smaller Ceremonial County and smallest being the administrative county - the area administered by the County Council and which excludes the two unitary authorities of Thurrock and Southend-on-Sea . The Ceremonial County occupies the eastern part of what was , during the Early Middle Ages , the Kingdom of Essex . As well as rural areas , the county also includes London Stansted Airport , the new towns of Basildon and Harlow , Lakeside Shopping Centre , the port of Tilbury and the borough of Southend-on-Sea .
Jeremy Nevill Bamber ( born Jeremy Paul Marsham ; 13 January 1961 ) is an Englishman who was convicted of the White House Farm murders . He was found guilty in October 1986 of the August 1985 shooting of his parents , his sister , and his sister 's six-year-old twin sons at his parents ' farmhouse in Essex . Returning a majority verdict , the jury found that , after committing the murders to secure a large inheritance , Bamber had placed the rifle in the hands of his 28-year-old sister , who had been diagnosed with schizophrenia , to make the scene appear to be a murder-suicide . Bamber is serving life imprisonment without the possibility of parole . As of November 2016 he was one of 70 prisoners in the UK subject to a whole-life order , and is the only such prisoner to assert his innocence . Bamber has repeatedly applied unsuccessfully to have his conviction overturned or his whole life tariff removed ; his extended family remain convinced of his guilt . The Criminal Cases Review Commission ( CCRC ) referred the case to the Court of Appeal in 2001 , which upheld the conviction in 2002 . The Court of Appeal ordered full disclosure of evidence to the defence , but this did not take place . The appeal was rejected and the CCRC rejected further applications from Bamber in 2004 and 2012 , having not identified any new evidence or legal argument capable of raising a real possibility that the court of appeal would quash the conviction . In December 2019 Bamber 's lawyers made a further application for the disclosure of withheld evidence in relation to Bamber 's phone call to the police on the night of the killings and a silencer .
A murder-suicide is an act in which an individual kills one or more people before ( or while ) killing oneself . The combination of murder and suicide can take various forms :
Peter Bryan is an English serial killer and cannibal who committed three murders between 1993 and 2004 .
The East End of London , often referred to within the London area simply as the East End , is the historic core of wider East London , east of the Roman and medieval walls of the City of London , and north of the River Thames . It does not have universally accepted boundaries to the north and east , though the River Lea is sometimes seen as the eastern boundary . Parts of it may be regarded as lying within Central London ( though that term too has no precise definition ) . The term East of Aldgate Pump is sometimes used as a synonym for the area . The East End began to emerge in the Middle Ages with initially slow urban growth outside the eastern walls , which later accelerated , especially in the 19th century , to absorb pre-existing settlements . The first known written record of the East End as a distinct entity , as opposed its component parts , comes from John Strype 's 1720 Survey of London , which describes London as consisting of four parts : the City of London , Westminster , Southwark , and That Part beyond the Tower . The relevance of Strype 's reference to the Tower was more than geographical . The East End was the urbanised part of an administrative area called the Tower Division , which had owed military service to the Tower of London since time immemorial . Later , as London grew further , the fully urbanised Tower Division became a byword for wider East London , before East London grew further still , east of the River Lea and into Essex . The area was notorious for its deep poverty , overcrowding and associated social problems . This led to the East End 's history of intense political activism and association with some of the country 's most influential social reformers . Another major theme of East End history has been migration , both inward and outward .
The 2011 murder of the Ding family occurred in Wootton , a suburb of Northampton , England , in late April . Four members of the Ding family - Professor Jifeng Jeff Ding , his wife Helen Chui and their daughters Xing and Alice - were found murdered at their home in Wootton at 6:00 pm on Sunday , 1 May 2011 . They were thought to have been murdered two days earlier between about 3:00 pm and 4:00 pm on Friday , 29 April 2011 - the day of the Royal Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton which was an additional Public Holiday in the United Kingdom . Northamptonshire Police named Anxiang Du , a businessman from Coventry who had been involved in a legal dispute with the Ding family , as the prime suspect in the case . Du fled the murder scene in the Ding 's rented car ; he drove to London and travelled to Paris by coach . He continued through France , Spain and finally to Morocco , prompting a worldwide manhunt . He lived in a partly built block of flats for 14 months before he was arrested and extradited to the UK . Du was tried at Northampton Crown Court in November 2013 . He was found guilty of the murders and was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 40 years .
Wootton is a former village about 3 miles ( 4.8 km ) south of Northampton town centre that is now part of the Northampton Borough Council area . Wootton is separated from Hardingstone by the Newport Pagnell Road the B526 , formerly part of the A50 road . Part of Wootton is alongside the A45 dual carriageway from the M1 to Wellingborough which is seen and heard from that part of the area .
Northamptonshire ( /nɔːrˈθæmptənʃər , -ʃɪər/ ; abbreviated Northants . ) , archaically known as the County of Northampton , is a county in the East Midlands of England . In 2015 it had a population of 723,000 . The county is administered by Northamptonshire County Council and by seven non-metropolitan district councils . It is known as The Rose of the Shires . Covering an area of 2,364 square kilometres ( 913 sq mi ) , Northamptonshire is landlocked between eight other counties : Warwickshire to the west , Leicestershire and Rutland to the north , Cambridgeshire to the east , Bedfordshire to the south-east , Buckinghamshire to the south , Oxfordshire to the south-west and Lincolnshire to the north-east - England 's shortest administrative county boundary at 20 yards ( 19 metres ) . Northamptonshire is the southernmost county in the East Midlands region . Apart from the county town of Northampton , other major population centres include Kettering , Corby , Wellingborough , Rushden and Daventry . Northamptonshire 's county flower is the cowslip .
Stephen Port ( born 22 February 1975 ) is a British convicted serial rapist and serial killer . He is responsible for murdering at least four men and for committing multiple rapes . Port received a life sentence with a whole life order on 25 November 2016 , meaning he will not become eligible for parole and is unlikely to ever be released from prison .
A serial rapist is someone who commits multiple rapes , whether with multiple victims or a single victim repeatedly over a period of time . Some serial rapists target children . The terms sexual predator , repeat rape and multiple offending can also be used to describe the activities of those who commit a number of consecutive rapes , but remain unprosecuted when self-reported in research . Others will commit their assaults in prisons . In some instances , a group of serial rapists will work together . These rapists can have a pattern of behavior that is sometimes used to predict their activities and aid in their arrest and conviction . Serial rapists also differ from one time offenders because serial rapists more often involved kidnapping , verbally and physically threatening the victims , and using or threatening the use of weapons .
A serial killer is typically a person who murders three or more people , usually in service of abnormal psychological gratification , with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them . Different authorities apply different criteria when designating serial killers . For example , while most authorities set a threshold of three murders , others extend it to four or lessen it to two . The Federal Bureau of Investigation ( FBI ) defines serial killing as a series of two or more murders , committed as separate events , usually , but not always , by one offender acting alone . Although psychological gratification is the usual motive for serial killing , and most serial killings involve sexual contact with the victim , the FBI states that the motives of serial killers can include anger , thrill-seeking , financial gain , and attention seeking . The murders may be attempted or completed in a similar fashion . The victims may have something in common , for example , demographic profile , appearance , gender or race . A serial killer is neither a mass murderer , nor a spree killer , although there may be conceptual overlaps between serial killers and spree killers .
Murder is an offence under the common law of England and Wales . It is considered the most serious form of homicide , in which one person kills another with the intention to cause either death or serious injury unlawfully.The element of intentionality was originally termed malice aforethought , although it required neither malice nor premeditation . Baker ( Glanville Williams Textbook of Criminal Law ; London : Sweet & Maxwell , 2015 ) , chapter 14 states that many killings done with a high degree of subjective recklessness were treated as murder from the 12th century right through until the 1974 decision in DPP v Hyam . Because murder is generally defined in law as an intent to cause serious harm or injury ( alone or with others ) , combined with a death arising from that intention , there are certain circumstances where a death will be treated as murder even if the defendant did not wish to kill the actual victim . This is called transferred malice , and arises in two common cases :
Rape is a statutory offence in England and Wales . According to the law , rape is sexual penetration of the vagina , anus , or mouth of another person , with or without force , by a sex organ , other body part , or foreign object , without the consent of the victim . If a victim is forcefully penetrated with an object , this is classed as Assault by Penetration ( section 2 ) . If the victim is made to penetrate another , the act can be prosecuted as Causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent ( section 4 ) . The offence is created by section 1 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 :
In England and Wales , life imprisonment is a sentence which lasts until the death of the prisoner , although in most cases the prisoner will be eligible for parole ( officially termed early release ) after a fixed period set by the judge . This period is known as the minimum term ( previously known as the whole life tariff ) , usually a few years . In some exceptionally grave cases , however , a judge may order that a life sentence should mean life by making a whole life order . Murder has carried a mandatory life sentence in England and Wales since capital punishment was suspended in 1965 . There is currently no first degree or second degree definition . However , there were two degrees of murder between 1957 and 1965 , one carrying the death penalty and one life imprisonment . Life imprisonment is only applicable to defendants aged 21 or over . Those aged between 18 and 20 are sentenced to custody for life . Those aged under 18 are sentenced to detention during Her Majesty 's pleasure for murder , or detention for life for other crimes where life imprisonment is the sentence for adults ; however , regardless of age all defendants including those under 18 sentenced to a life sentence can theoretically be held in custody for their whole life if required and a life sentence can only end if quashed by a judge or the person serving the sentence dies . In addition to the sentences mentioned above , until 2012 there were two other kinds of life sentence , imprisonment for public protection ( for those over 18 ) and detention for public protection ( for those under 18 ) . These were for defendants whose crimes were not serious enough to merit a normal life sentence , but who were considered a danger to the public and so should not be released until the Parole Board had decided that they no longer represented a risk . These sentences were abolished by the Legal Aid , Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 , although a number of prisoners remain imprisoned under the former legislation .
In England and Wales , life imprisonment is a sentence which lasts until the death of the prisoner , although in most cases the prisoner will be eligible for parole ( officially termed early release ) after a fixed period set by the judge . This period is known as the minimum term ( previously known as the whole life tariff ) , usually a few years . In some exceptionally grave cases , however , a judge may order that a life sentence should mean life by making a whole life order . Murder has carried a mandatory life sentence in England and Wales since capital punishment was suspended in 1965 . There is currently no first degree or second degree definition . However , there were two degrees of murder between 1957 and 1965 , one carrying the death penalty and one life imprisonment . Life imprisonment is only applicable to defendants aged 21 or over . Those aged between 18 and 20 are sentenced to custody for life . Those aged under 18 are sentenced to detention during Her Majesty 's pleasure for murder , or detention for life for other crimes where life imprisonment is the sentence for adults ; however , regardless of age all defendants including those under 18 sentenced to a life sentence can theoretically be held in custody for their whole life if required and a life sentence can only end if quashed by a judge or the person serving the sentence dies . In addition to the sentences mentioned above , until 2012 there were two other kinds of life sentence , imprisonment for public protection ( for those over 18 ) and detention for public protection ( for those under 18 ) . These were for defendants whose crimes were not serious enough to merit a normal life sentence , but who were considered a danger to the public and so should not be released until the Parole Board had decided that they no longer represented a risk . These sentences were abolished by the Legal Aid , Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 , although a number of prisoners remain imprisoned under the former legislation .
gamma-Hydroxybutyric acid or γ-Hydroxybutyric acid ( GHB ) , also known as 4-hydroxybutanoic acid , is a naturally occurring neurotransmitter and a psychoactive drug . It is a precursor to GABA , glutamate , and glycine in certain brain areas . It acts on the GHB receptor and is a weak agonist at the GABAB receptor . GHB has been used in a medical setting as a general anesthetic and as a treatment for cataplexy , narcolepsy , and alcoholism . It is also used illegally as an intoxicant , as an athletic performance enhancer , as a date rape drug , and as a recreational drug . It is commonly used in the form of a salt , such as sodium γ-hydroxybutyrate ( Na.GHB , sodium oxybate , or Xyrem ) or potassium γ-hydroxybutyrate ( K.GHB , potassium oxybate ) . GHB is also produced as a result of fermentation , and is found in small quantities in some beers and wines , beef and small citrus fruits . Succinic semialdehyde dehydrogenase deficiency is a disease that causes GHB to accumulate in the blood .