Sandra Court

Sandra Court was found murdered in a water-filled ditch on the Avon Causeway near Christchurch in Dorset on 3 May 1986.

She had been strangled, however, her post mortem examination showed that she had been strangled with minimum force.

The police said that they thought she had been strangled with some kind of ligature, but noted that her injuries were not severe.

She had vanished after going out to celebrate her last day as an employee at Ambassador Life after which she was going to be a nanny in Majorca in Spain.

The general outline of events are:

• Evening of 2 May 1986: Sandra Court attends office party at Ambassador Life.
• 10.30pm 2 May 1986: Sandra Court left party, saying goodbye to her sister, saying she was going somewhere for more drinks.
• 2.30am to 2.45am 3 May 1986: Sandra Court seen drunk at Steppes nightclub and a taxi was called for her.
• 3am 3 May 1986: Sandra Court dropped off at her sister's home, but she was not in.
• 3am 3 May 1986: Sandra Court believed to have started walking to her parents’ house a mile away in Moordown.
• 3am to 4am 3 May 1986: Sandra Court possibly seen walking along Castle Lane in Bournemouth by two teenage girls.
• 7pm 3 May 1986: Sandra Court's body found in the ditch on the Avon Causeway.

She had first gone to an office party held for her by colleagues at their place of work, but left at 10.30pm, telling her sister she was going somewhere else for drinks.

Her night culminated at Steppes nightclub in St Swithun’s Road, a short distance away where she was seen between 2.30am and 2.45am.

A detective said:

The taxi driver took her to her sister’s home in Downton Close, Throop, at just about 2.45am, however, her sister was still out and she told the taxi-driver that she would wait outside for her, adding that she would get in eventually.

Although that was the last confirmed sighting of her, it was reported that the police received a number of reports of her being near her parents’ home in Moordown, and the police said that they were fairly certain that after being driven to her sister's house that she had then started on the one mile walk to her parents’ house at 3am, possibly carrying her stiletto shoes.

Her 26-year-old sister said that when she last saw her after leaving the club Sandra Court said to her:

She added that Sandra Court had also told her that she had been going somewhere else to have more drinks.

They had both been at the nightclub but had left separately.

Two teenage girls later came forward in July 1986 to say that they had seen Sandra Court just before 4am walking along Castle Lane in Bournemouth. They had been 16 and 17 years old and had said that they had been too frightened to come forward before as they had slipped out of their homes to go to a party without telling their parents.

The police said:

The girls told them that Sandra Court had looked the worse for drink, her eyes were glazed, she had been walking barefoot and had been carrying her jacket over her arm.

Her parents had said that they were not worried when Sandra Court didn't return home as she often stayed with friends, but that they became worried after she failed to arrive for Sunday lunch.

However, she was next found dead in the ditch at about 7pm on 3 May 1986 by some teenagers on a Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme walk between Burn and Sopley. The people that found her were also often referred to as hitchhikers.

She was found fully clothed except for her shoes, in the water-filled ditch seven miles away from her home.

It was reported that she had been thrown 10ft into the ditch, probably from a bridge over a country road.

She had been wearing a white blouse, wide black belt and black ski trousers.

The police noted that an unusual aspect of the case was that her two gold earrings were also missing, but that there was no sign of them having been wrenched off violently.

Her handbag, £20, credit cards and jewellery were missing, although some of the items were found in the next few days at various locations some distance away.

It was also reported that her kidney donor card and access card were also missing as well as her pink jacket.

The items found were:

1. Her necklace, found half-a-mile away.
2. Her jacket, found near Bransgore.
3. Plastic handbag, found on the side of the road about two miles away.
4. Her cosmetic bag, found nearby at a New Forest car park.
5. Her photo card, found near Stoney Cross.
6. One of her black stiletto shoes, her ripped up Barclaycard and her personalised chequebook were found at Picket Post near Ringwood. Her other shoe was never found.

The police said that the position of some of the recovered items could indicate that her killer could have been making his way to the Bournemouth area.

Sandra Court had lived in Columbia Road but had been staying with her parents in Forest View Road in preparation for her trip to Spain.

The police said that they had found no motive for her murder, stating that there was no evidence of sexual interference or that valuable items or large sums of money were missing. It was later reported that it appeared that she had been murdered for the £20 that she was thought to have had on her at the time.

On 8 May 1986 the police said that they had found a vital piece of evidence that might help them identify the killer. The item was found near the ditch that Sandra Court was dumped in. The police said that it wasn't the material used to strangle her, but added:

During the initial investigation the police said:

However, following a police appeal, it was reported on 14 May 1986 that several people had been named as possible murder suspects.

It was also reported that mediums and spiritualists had also come forward with offers of help.

Following the discovery of her body, firemen were called in to drain the ditch and tracker dogs brought in with the hope of finding any of her possessions in the water meadows and woodland near the Avon causeway.

On 21 May 1986 the police said that they received a 75 word letter that might have been from the killer, noting that they believed it to be genuine. The letter had been postmarked Southampton and dated 16 May 1986. The police didn't disclose the precise text of the letter, but said that it could have been from someone either very close to the killer, or from the person that murdered Sandra Court. The police said:

However, on Thursday 29 May 1986 the police published the letter, which read:

The police said:

They said that they believed the letter was genuine, but that the handwriting could have been disguised.  They noted that the letter was being studied by forensic scientist, psychologists and handwriting experts for clues.

A senior detective later said:

In August 1986 it was reported that on 30 July 1986 the police launched a massive operation to fingerprint about 1,000 people in a bid to catch her killer. The police disclosed that they had found:

During the early stages of the inquiry a short distance from where her body was found that was sent for forensic examination.

It was also reported that the police had spoken to about 10,000 people during their investigation.

Sandra Court was a former Queen's Guide and had been known as Sandy.

Her 54-year-old father, a bricklayer, said that Sandra Court had been living life to the full and that she had bought a house in Bournemouth, but let it out to two Australian girls after deciding to take the job in Spain.

Sandra Court's funeral took place on Friday 6 February 1987 at Bournemouth Crematorium. There were said to have been about 100 mourners and that the chapel was so crowded that people had to stand in the porch to listen to the simple service.

A serial rapist who was convicted of the murder of Shirley Banks in 1988 was thought to have been a possible suspect, as well as a suspect in the murder of Suzy Lamplugh after he was alleged to have told a prison visitor that the person who killed Shirley Banks also murdered Suzy Lamplugh and another woman. Shirley Banks was murdered in Bristol in October 1987.