Christopher Laverack

Christopher Laverack was sexually assaulted and beaten to death and then dumped in a beck.

At the time he had been left to babysit his half-sister's home at 7 Harpham Grove, Hull, but vanished on 9 March 1984.

His body was later found two days later wrapped up in a carpet underlay bag and plastic sheeting weighed down with an ornamental brick in Beverley Beck near Beverley.

The police later said that they were sure who killed him but that the suspect had since died in 2008. The suspect had been a relative and a convicted sex offender.

Christopher Laverack had been baby-sitting his 15-month-old nephew at the time. He had been dropped of at the house at 6.50pm to baby sit which he did every Friday. It was heard that his parents would make sure he arrived earlier enough to watch his favourite TV show, The Fall Guy.

He was described as a happy kid,  shy and sensible lad who loved motorbikes and watching TV. he had been getting on well at school and had recently joined the local church choir.

His half-sister was then driven off to The Crown where she worked as a barmaid at 7.50pm, leaving Christopher Laverack at the house with his half-sister's husband and the child he was to baby-sit.

When Christopher Laverack's half-sister was dropped off, his mother and step-father went in for a drink and then left to visit other relatives.

Later that evening, about 9.15pm Christopher Laverack's half-sister's husband decided to go out to The Crown, and left Christopher Laverack watching television and his own child asleep in bed. It was noted that that was the last reported sighting of Christopher Laverack.

Later in the evening, a neighbour in Harpham Grove noticed an unfamiliar parked car parked outside her house that had been left with its headlights on. She said that she also heard someone outside 7 Harpham Grove calling out for the father, saying that he wanted to talk to him. The neighbour said that she then heard the front door being opened, but that it all then went quiet and so she went off to bed. then, a few minutes later she heard the car pulling away.

It wasn't known what make the car was exactly, but the police prepared a sihouette of the car based on its description. However, the car was never traced.

When the father returned to 7 Harpham Grove he found his baby crying, and noticed that Christopher Laverack wasn't there and that it was strangely quiet, and then noticed that his television was missing, it having been ripped out, the power cable being torn from the set.

THe police were then called. It was noted that Christopher Laverack had never run away before and his mother said she had no idea where he was.

THe police then began a search for him, scouring wasteland and water bodies nearby.

However, Christopher Laverack's body was found by a dog walker at 11.20am on 11 March 1984 10 miles away in Beverly Beck wrapped up in a Tredaire Underlay carpet back.

His body was found to have suffered massive head injuries caused by a blunt instrument and to have been sexually assaulted.

The police later said that the main suspects car matched the description of the car seen in Harpham Grove on the night Christopher Laverack vanished, and that later examination of Christopher Laverack's clothing found enough pollen spores to link him to the main suspects garden. They also, a brick wrapped up with the body was also linked to the main suspects garden.

During the early stages of the investigation, the police said they were focussing their enquiries around 7 Harpham Grove and a nearby pub, The Crown in Marfleet Lane were Christopher Laverack's sister had been working.

The police appealed for anyone that might have seen someone throwing anything into the beck, as well as anyone that might have abandoned a carpet underlay bag similar to the one that Christopher Laverack was found wrapped up in.

The police said that they were still searching for the murder weapons.

Although it was later stated that pollen spores found on Christopher Laverick's body linked him to the main suspects garden, their initial enquiries indicated that Christopher Laverick had died in a field that had contained growing wheat or barley.

The police said that they thought that Christopher Laverack's body must have been taken to Beverly Beck in a car, and that it was thought that the car possiblty stopped on a bridge over the back nearby and then got out and taken the body wrapped up in the carpet back and thrown it in the water, and the police appealed for anyone that might have seen a vehicle parked up on the bridge to come forward. however, it was also noted that there was a smaller road that went along side the beck where the car could have stopped.

The police also appealed for any information about the television set that was stolen from the house, noting that someone might have one or seen one with an unusually short cable. It was also thought that the television set might have been dumped in a field of whaet or barley. The television had been an ITT brand.

The main suspect was later convicted of a number of sex offences involving children in 2003 and jailed for seven-and-a-half years. He was arrested in connection with Christopher Laverick's murder in 2006, but he died in Hull prison in February 2008 from cancer.

The main suspect had lived in Grantley Grove, Hull at the time of the murder.

The police said that they thought that they would have had a realistic chance of a conviction in court and described their evidence against him as conclusive.

Christopher Laverack's murder was dubbed The Carpet Bag Murder in the news.