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Abroad

Veteran Member
The murder of a woman in a Glasgow park in December is to feature for a second time on BBC's Crimewatch programme, in a renewed effort to find her killer.

Police launched a murder inquiry after the body of Jean Campbell, 53, was found in Cranhill Park on 14 December.

The officer leading the investigation will appear on Crimewatch to renew appeals for information.

In January, CCTV images of Mrs Campbell in a local shop and walking her dog were broadcast on the programme.

Police said they received a number of calls after the show but who killed her and why she was killed are still unknown.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-27180075
 
A Police Scotland spokesman said "Following a police operation in Glasgow, Friday July 11, a 21-year-old man has been detained and subsequently arrested in connection with her death. He is presently detained in police custody."

"A second man, aged 22 years, also from Glasgow, was detained and has been arrested in connection with allegedly attempting to pervert the course of justice in relation to this investigation. He too is presently detained in police custody."

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/jean-campbell-murder-man-arrested-3846014

Paul Ward, 21, is accused of the murder and Thomas Leyden, 22, is accused of perverting the course of justice.
http://news.stv.tv/west-central/282...y-park/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
 
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The man accused of murdering Jean Campbell at a park in Glasgow has been deemed unfit to stand trial.

At the High Court in Glasgow, judge Lord Matthews set an examination of facts to take place.

Paul Ward, 21, who is accused of the murdering Mrs Campbell on 13 December 2013, at Cranhill Park, will be not be present at the hearing.

The hearing, which is not a trial, is expected to last two weeks and will take place without a jury.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-31381556
 
A man accused of murdering a woman in a Glasgow park hated her for the way she treated her dog, a court has heard.

Yvonne Leyden, 54, was a neighbour of Jean Campbell, who was fatally injured in Cranhill Park on 14 December 2013.

Ms Leyden, whose son knew accused Paul Ward, said Mr Ward told her: "She's always hitting the dog. How would she like that if I did that to her?"

[...]

Ms Leyden told the hearing at the High Court in Glasgow that she heard a scream and then a dog barking on the night before Mr Campbell found his wife.

Ms Leyden said: "It was a kind of angry scream as if they were angry with someone and then I heard a dog barking."

She was asked by advocate depute Alex Prentice QC, prosecuting, if this was unusual in Cranhill on a Friday night and replied: 'I thought it was a bit unusual, but I still thought nothing about it."

Ms Leyden said that minutes after she heard the sounds, Mr Ward, who was a friend of her son Thomas Leyden, 23, rang her doorbell.

She said: "He had a DVD in his left hand and he was out of breath."

Defence QC Donald Findlay showed Ms Leyden a questionnaire she filled in just 48 hours after the death of Mrs Campbell in which she said she never heard anything untoward that night.

Mistaken time
She said that was a mistake, but agreed that when she did tell police about hearing a scream and a dog barking that it happened between 8pm and 10pm rather than 11pm.

Mr Findlay said: "At the time you thought that was the correct time?" and she replied: "Yes."

The defence QC also showed Ms Leyden a statement in which she stated that Mr Ward was in her flat when she heard that scream and barking and she agreed she had said that at the time.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-31415306
 
A man accused of murdering a woman in a Glasgow park told a friend he had walked past her on the night she was attacked, a court has heard.

Thomas Leyden, 23, told the High Court in Glasgow that he spoke to Mr Ward after hearing that Mrs Campbell's body had been found in the park.

[...]

Mr Leyden agreed that he told police: "Paul said 'I seen her last night. I walked past her. I saw a crowd of boys so I walked though the park to avoid them. I walked past Jean at the back of the Beacon Centre'."

He added: "Paul never said he spoke to Jean or anything, just that he walked past her."

He was asked by prosecutor Alex Prentice QC why Ward had kept this information to himself and he replied: "He said he was going to tell the police and I said 'don't be daft. They'll pin it on you'.

"I never thought this would happen. I thought he would be excluded from this and they would find the person who done it."

The court heard that Mr Leyden was originally charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice, but the charge had been dropped.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-31446222
 
A woman who was murdered in a Glasgow park while walking her dog had suffered 11 broken ribs and a broken thigh bone, a judge has been told.

Forensic scientist Marjorie Turner told a hearing that many of Jean Campbell's injuries could have been caused by being assaulted with a dog lead.

Paul Ward, 21, denies killing Mrs Campbell by striking her with a dog lead in Cranhill Park in December 2013.

He has been deemed unfit to stand trial because of mental health issues.

Mrs Campbell's body was found in Cranhill Park at about 07:40 by her husband John. Her German Shepherd dog Kai was nearby.

The examination of facts hearing is taking place with no jury and Mr Ward is not present.

The evidence is being heard by judge Lord Matthews who will make a determination either to acquit Mr Ward or find that he committed the acts.

The judge cannot convict as that can only happen at a criminal trial where the accused is deemed fit to be tried.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-31456484
 
A judge has heard closing submissions in the case of a man accused of murdering Jean Campbell at Cranhill Park in Glasgow.

Advocate depute Alex Prentice QC urged Lord Matthews to find that the 53-year-old was killed by Paul Ward.

But defence QC Donald Findlay said there was "not a scrap of evidence" that Mr Ward had killed Mrs Campbell.

The 21-year-old is accused of murdering Mrs Campbell by repeatedly striking her on the head and body with a dog lead.

He is also accused of inflicting further injuries on her in the park on 13 December, 2013.

He said the Crown insisted that Mrs Campbell was not sexually assaulted, although she had an injury to her private parts and her pyjama bottoms had been removed.

Mr Findlay said: "The Crown have left open the possibility that this was sexually motivated for no other reason than why pull off her lower clothing."

Judge Lord Matthews said: "I have to approach this as a jury. "

He said that he would have to be satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt before he could determine that Ward had killed Mrs Campbell.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-31553321
 
Got to admit, I did not see this coming......

A 21-year-old man has been cleared of murdering a woman in a Glasgow park.

Paul Ward had been deemed mentally unfit to stand trial over the murder of 53-year-old Jean Campbell in Cranhill Park on 13 December 2013.

After an examination of facts hearing at the High Court in Glasgow, in the absence of a jury, judge Lord Matthews found Ward had not killed Mrs Campbell.

The judge said the case against Mr Ward was weak and none of the evidence presented by the Crown was compelling.

"There was proof of a possible, albeit tenuous motive. The accused potentially had the opportunity.

"There are a number of suspicious circumstances in this case and the accused might have committed the acts referred to in the indictment, but that is not the test."

CCTV footage played in court showed Mr Ward walking towards the communal entrance to number 5 Crowlin Crescent, where the Leyden's lived, at 23:06.

But, crucially, there was no footage to show where Mr Ward had come from.

He could have walked through the park and encountered Mrs Campbell, but equally he could have gone a number of other ways to get to Crowlin Crescent.

No forensic evidence was found linking Mr Ward to the assault on Mrs Campbell, who had fought for her life against her attacker and had defensive injuries to her hands and arms.

He also had no signs of cuts or scratches on him.

Mrs Leyden, her son and his then girlfriend, Shelby McPhail, 19, said that when Mr Ward arrived in Crowlin Crescent just after 23:00 he was his normal self and there was no sign of blood or mud on his clothing.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-31657659
 
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