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Andrew Cunningham

Age: 52

Sex: male

Date: 9 Dec 2008

Place: Windmill Business Centre, Riverside Road, Earlsfield, Tooting, South West London

Andrew Cunningham was stabbed to death in his caravan.

He had been stabbed multiple times in the back of his neck, chest and arms and also had stab injuries to his genitals. He was found naked under his bed clothing which was blood soaked, lying on his right-hand side.

It was thought that his murder might have been a vigilante attack because of his history as a paedophile and rumours that he had sexually molested a two-year-old child.

The day before he was murdered, 8 December 2008, at about 4.30pm, he had been entertaining three teenage girls aged 13 to 14, although there was no suggestion of any sexual activity. His inquest heard that they used to go round and see him after school and he would give them alcohol.

The next day he was found dead by his employer.

He was last seen alive at 6pm on the Tuesday 9 December 2008 and found dead the next day at 8am.

There was no sign of a break in at his caravan and it was thought that he had known his attacker and had let them in, however, his caravan had been ransacked and cupboards from above his bed had been searched. When his employer went to find him he found the door to his caravan open.

Andrew Cunningham worked as a lorry driver for Riverside Haulage on the Windmill Business Centre and lived in a caravan there.

In 2001 he was convicted for having sex with a 15-year-old girl and sentenced to four months in prison. He had been put on the sex offenders' register after that but was removed from the register in March 2008.

There were also rumours in the local pub, the Corner Pin, that he had sexually assaulted a two-year-old girl and it was thought that his murder might have been a revenge attack.

£6k and a Scottish £100 note was also missing from his caravan and it was thought that the motive might have been robbery. Police said that there was no evidence of a hate campaign against him or any graffiti and that the wounds to his genitals might have been a red herring to put police off the scent. However, it was noted that it was thought that he had previously been the victim of a mob attack at the industrial estate. He had also had a bag of rubbish set fire to outside his house in 2003 after he was arrested and then released for suspected child grooming while he was living in Wandsworth.

He also had a conviction for common assault from 2006.

Three men were arrested in relation to his murder but no charges were made.

Police recovered DNA evidence but were not able to match the DNA to any known suspect. They said that they found four unidentified DNA profiles as well as fingerprints.

It was noted at his inquest that the CCTV at the Corner Pin pub that Andrew Cunningham used to drink at had been turned off. It had been turned off at 4pm on 9 December 2008 and turned back on the next day. However, the pub management claimed that it had been an accident. It was also noted that there was no CCTV evidence available elsewhere even though the area was quite well covered.

More than 800 people were interviewed in relation to his murder.

Andrew Cunningham had had five children although he was separated from his partner.


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