Phyllis Smith-Millward

Phyllis Smith-Millward was attacked at her ground floor flat in Birch House, Hope Street in Sheerness on the night of 12 January 1984 and later died in hospital.

She had been disabled and was attacked as she lay in bed in the front room of her flat. It was thought that she had been murdered sometime between3.30pm on Thursday 12 January 1984 and 8.50am the next day.

She was found at 8.45am by her home help. She was covered with blood and had deep gashes to her head.

Nothing was stolen from her property, with £50 in her purse being left untouched.

The front door had been forced, and had been seen slightly open by the milkman and a paperboy at 6.45am.

After she was found she was taken to Medway Accident Centre and then transferred to the Brook Hospital in Woolwich. She had been suffering from head injuries and never regained consciousness and died on 24 January 1984 after spending 11 days on life support.

It was found that she had been hit by a blunt piece of metal.

The initial investigation into her murder had involved 70 officers who had interviewed 10,000 people. Almost every house in Sheerness was visited by the police, with occupiers required to fill out a questionnaire about their movements on the night of the attack, including details as to what they had been wearing and whether anyone could verify their statement.

It was noted that at one point a man called the police in Sheerness to say that he knew who killed her, but he never came forward. A detective said that they believed that the man had known enough to pin-point the killer, and offered to meet him any time, anywhere.

Six people were arrested in relation to her murder in May 1992, but no one was convicted. Five of the men had been from Sheppey whilst the sixth had been from Swale. The arrests were made the police received new information via a tip-off, resulting in them reopening the case.

A file was sent to the Crown Prosecution Service following questioning, but nothing more is known.

Phyllis Millward had been a grandmother. She had suffered from multiple sclerosis and had been wheelchair bound. She had lived alone with a budgie called Joey.