00:00This is the Express and Start with Detective Inspector Phil Paul who led the investigation
00:04into the murder of Harold Monk in Wolverhampton. This week Paul Topham will be sentenced
00:10and Phil how did the investigation start and finish? So initially we received a 999 call
00:19from one of Harold's next door neighbours who heard a disturbance in his flat. Bravely that
00:24neighbour in the early hours of the morning went to investigate what had happened where he saw
00:29Paul Topham on top of Harold assaulting him quite significantly. The neighbour attempted
00:34to intervene and quite rightly withdrew himself from the situation and relayed the relevant
00:39information to the police who attended quickly, were able to give first aid to Harold and arrested
00:46Paul Topham on a roof nearby after a short standoff. Harold survived the initial attack and he went
00:57to hospital and could you tell me some of the details about the officers when they were
01:03speaking to him in the hospital? Yeah, this is obviously an unusual case for a murder in that
01:09we were able to speak to Harold prior to him sadly passing away. That was really key to our investigation
01:17because despite Harold's significant level of injury he was still able to give a very very detailed
01:23account of what happened to him and that detailed account was instrumental in securing a conviction
01:29against Paul Topham at Wolverhampton Crown Court earlier this year.
01:33And what kind of man was Harold? Harold was a very active 94 year old, a very intelligent man if you
01:40listen to his family. The highlight of his day was actually completing the Express and Star crossword. He had a number of grandchildren, children and great grandchildren who he absolutely adored and his loss has been absolutely devastating to the family.
01:59And Paul Topham pleaded guilty to manslaughter but tried to get away with murder. Are you glad that he got convicted of murder?
02:10Yeah, we obviously went through the painstaking process of gathering lots of evidence in the investigation. It was really clear to me as the senior investigating officer that Paul Topham was actually clearly responsible for Harold's murder and that was supported by pathology and a whole raft of other evidence that we had.
02:28We gathered in that investigation. Paul Topham attempted to minimise what he'd done by giving evidence during the trial and I actually think he came across as quite a callous and cowardly individual and clearly the jury saw through his lies and convicted him of murder.
02:51Thank you, much appreciated.
