Sabrina Brett

Sabrina Brett was found dead in the Grand Union Canal in Milton Keynes on 11 May 1995.

A man that was said to have been her pimp was tried for her murder but acquitted after the Crown Prosecution Service offered no evidence.

She had been strangled and then thrown into the canal near the Three Locks pub at Stoke Hammond.

Her post mortem showed that she had died a few days before her body was thrown into the canal.

She had sustained injuries to her head, face and neck.

She was last seen working the redlight district in Northmapton. The police said that she was often seen wearing a distinctive white t-shirt with a pink fluffy heart on the front.

It was heard that Sabrina Brett often worked in the red light district of Luton but that she also went to Whitechapel in London and that on the night she vanished she had been dropped off at the Milton Keynes train station at about 11.30pm and had taken to a train to Northampton where she was last seen alive.

Sabrina Brett had been a teenage prostitute and following the discovery of her body the police said that they were planning to contact kerb crawlers in Northampton's red light district whre she worked. The police said that they wanted to speak to all men whose cars had been spotted in and around the Grafton Street industrial area around the time of Sabrina Brett's disappearnce in May 1995. the police said that anyone that had been in the area should call them immediately, else warned they would be calling at their homes if neccessary.

It was reported that the main clue regarding her murder was the sighting of her in Arundel Street on he Grafton Street industrial estate at 1am on the Sunday with a man with a silver Japanese sports car, possibly a Nissan 2X or Toyota Supra with pop-up headlights.

He was described as:

• Early 20s.
• Average height.
• Shortish hair.
• Casual tidy appearance.

Sabrina Brett's body was found in the Grand Union Canal near the Three Locks pub beuaty spot in Solbury, four days after she was last seen alive on 7 May 1995.

What was described as a concrete clue by the police in June 1995, was a broken pair of specacles that were found by them during a fingertip search of the area around Three Locks pub, and they said that they could not rule out that they had belonged to the murder, and appealed for anyone that could otherwise identify them to come forward.

They also appealed to opticians that might recognise their own handiwork to come forward.

THe police also appealed for a mystery woman that had been spotted with Sabrina Brett a few days before her murder to come forward. The woman was described as being about 20 years oold with dark shoulder length hair, and to have been seen with Sabrina Brett at the Esso garage on the H6 near Fishermead on either the Friday 5 May or Saturday 6 May, between 10pm and 11pm.

Sabrina Brett was described as having been a pleasent schoolgirl until she ran off with a 28-year-old man and became involved in prostitution.

She had grown up on Luton's Marsh Farm estate, but since meeting the older man had gone to live with him in a three bedroom rented home in Milton Keynes.

It was heard that she was first arretested by the vice squad in Luton's red light district in September 1994, four months before her 17th birthday, and given a caution. however, she was caught again two more times in the following months and then on 5 April 1995 she was arrested in Crawley Road and charged with loitering with intent. She had been due to appear at Luton Youth Court on 22 May 1995, but by then she was dead.

It was reported that some local teenageers had been stopped in the street one time late at night and told that they could have sex with Sabrina Brett for £30. One of the teenagers said:

They also said that they were offered drugs. They said that they felt sorry for her.

They added:

They also noted that they had seen her with a black eye, but that she didn't say how she got it.

It was also note dthat the police were called to her home in Stamford Avenue on night a few weeks before her murder at about 2am after complaintes were made over her screaming and shouting in the street.

A neighbour said:

It was noted that the row continued for so long that the police were called.

The neighbour added:

The police later arested her boyfriend and he was cahrged with her murder, however, the case was dropped after the Crown Prosecution Service offered no evidence at a plea and directions hearing.

Afterwards, the CPS said:

Her boyfriend had initially been arrested after Sabrina Brett was found dead, but released him on bail and didn't charge him for another three months.

He had denied having been her pimp, claiming that she had already been involved with drugs and working the streets when he met her and claimed that he had begged her to give it up.

Following his acquittal, it was heard that his mothers house in Hockwell Ring was shot at and that he moved to the US to avoid any further attacks.