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Britains Countryside Killers - Season 2 - Episode 01: A Fatal Friend Request
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Short filmTranscript
00:01November 2015.
00:03A 15-year-old girl from Leicestershire
00:05stops replying to her parents at a sleepover.
00:09Very tight, small community.
00:11Not a lot happens in Measham.
00:13Rarely serious violent crime, such as homicide.
00:17Hayley doesn't call in as she normally would,
00:19so then her parents are starting to get worried.
00:23Then, a phone call raises serious alarm bells.
00:26Hayley's friend calls and asks if she's there.
00:30The parents thought that Hayley was with her.
00:34Hayley's disappearance is reported to the police,
00:37who look through her social media for clues.
00:40She's exchanged over 2,500 messages with somebody.
00:43She didn't know him. He was a stranger to Hayley.
00:46He just popped up in her inbox saying, hey, how's it going?
00:49Didn't want Hayley to tell anybody else.
00:51It was their secret.
00:53So, she didn't. She kept it to herself.
00:56This just lured her into his trap.
00:59The friends of this kind of video.
01:01Collaborate.
01:02Not she's not that big .
01:11She's片 of this kind of lady.
01:12You know, and and the other person who met her.
01:20She'd believe she had died for her.
01:20In the meantime, she was a dead bird.
01:20And she was a dead one.
01:46Ibstock is a former coal mining village, nestled in the countryside of northwest Leicestershire.
01:54Ibstock is a small village that grew somewhat as a result of its business in making tiles,
02:02making brick.
02:03Ibstock is a nice place in Leicester, it's semi-rural.
02:09Small, scenic, it's got that rustic charm to it, lots of beautiful wooded areas, lots
02:16of beautiful places to walk, and it still has only a population of 10,000.
02:22So all of the amenities that you would want, but with this rustic charm.
02:28In towns similar to Ibstock, you will get burglaries, you'll get shoplift-ins, you'll
02:34get auto crime, stolen vehicles, rarely serious violent crime, such as homicide.
02:41Just a 10 minute drive from Ibstock is the rural village of Meesham.
02:46Meesham is another small community, it's only a few miles away from Ibstock.
02:50It's in the National Forest and it's another rural community.
02:54Very tight, small community, quite a remote place, very popular place to live.
02:59Not a lot happens in Meesham.
03:02It's not an area where there's a huge amount of crime, it's quite low crime rate.
03:09Living in Meesham is 15-year-old Kayleigh Hayward.
03:13Now she came from a very large family.
03:16She had six brothers and sisters, but it was a very stable, very loving home.
03:21She lived with her parents at the family home.
03:23She often played a part looking after the younger ones.
03:26Family was really important to her.
03:30She'd had a little bit of trauma early on because she was bullied at school.
03:36That made Kayleigh withdraw into herself and she spent a lot of time at home
03:40on the social media sites talking to friends, but not personally with them.
03:46Sad to see, but she sort of retreated to her bedroom
03:49and passed her time with her friends on the social media sites.
03:56She did move to a new school and that was a new beginning for her really.
04:00She started to come out of her shell a little bit and put the bullying behind her.
04:06She was really thriving there.
04:09She'd made friends and her family were just delighted that she'd got out of this situation
04:15of being bullied and she was really enjoying life.
04:19Now, a lot of her time, if it wasn't spent with her friends,
04:23it was spent contacting her friends or sharing posts, photographs, selfies,
04:29that kind of thing online.
04:32As most 15-year-olds are, she was very much attached to her phone.
04:40After Kayleigh had changed school and things were getting better
04:44and she got this group of social media friends, if you will,
04:48she did tell her parents that she was actually going to go and stay
04:52with one of those friends.
04:57She was a new friend.
04:58She was somebody that she had met at the new school
05:02and her mum and dad were pleased that she was getting out a little bit
05:04and doing what 15-year-old girls do.
05:10It showed to them that she was making good, solid friendships,
05:16that she was out there in the world, confident, going out,
05:21so they had no concerns and no suspicions
05:24because they really had no reason to question it.
05:27Most 15-year-olds will go and spend time with their friends from school.
05:32The plan is set.
05:34Kayleigh and her friend are going to have a sleepover
05:36on Friday the 13th of November 2015.
05:40Kayleigh's dad gives her a lift out to meet up with her friend.
05:45He drops her off at about six o'clock.
05:48She wanted to be dropped off at a college in Hibstock
05:52and quite understandably given the fact that Kayleigh had been bullied
05:56at her first school and parents now thought she was getting
06:00a real social group of real people and actually meeting them in person
06:05as opposed to just communicating over the internet.
06:09Kayleigh's dad took her and dropped her off at the school
06:12with a view to picking her up after she'd stayed over with the friend.
06:17Quite happy that she's going off to her house for the evening.
06:21And over the course of the evening, Kayleigh's posting pictures on Facebook.
06:25She's taking selfies and just...
06:28It all looks like a standard teenage night out with a friend.
06:32They're quite reassured, really.
06:35Her family, her parents, look at these selfies, these posts,
06:38and thinks, well, she's having a great time.
06:41She's having a good time. There's no need to worry about her.
06:44Kayleigh calls in the following morning.
06:47She says, I'm having a good time.
06:48Can I stay over for an extra night?
06:51And, of course, there's no reason, no reason at all,
06:54to say anything other than yes.
06:57Kayleigh doesn't call in as she normally would.
07:01Now, the posts and the contact with her family stop on that morning.
07:07But there's no real reason to worry here
07:10because you would just hope that she was out there doing something
07:14that is more fun than posting on social media.
07:17So, again, another reason for Kayleigh's family
07:20to really be quite happy with the situation.
07:22It wouldn't have crossed their mind that there was anything wrong.
07:26But as it gets later in the day,
07:28Kayleigh is not replying to her parents.
07:33What is this all about?
07:35Normally would have heard from her.
07:37Benefit of the doubt.
07:38But then Kayleigh's friend calls and asks if she's there.
07:43Well, hang on a minute.
07:45The parents thought that Kayleigh was with her.
07:48So, clearly, at this point, they realise
07:51that Kayleigh hasn't been truthful about where she's been staying.
07:55And now alarm bells are ringing.
07:57And alarm bells start to ring even louder
08:00when a builder finds Kayleigh's phone.
08:03It's smashed on the ground.
08:04And he calls the last number that she appears to have called
08:09in order to try and reunite the phone with its owner.
08:12At this point, Kayleigh's family know that there's something very, very amiss.
08:17With Kayleigh's location unknown, and now her phone found broken and discarded,
08:23even more questions are being raised about what really happened that night.
08:27A stranger's found Kayleigh's phone on the street in Ibstock
08:30and got in touch with her new friend.
08:33She's phoned Stephanie to say,
08:35Is Kayleigh with you? Is she all right?
08:37Somebody's found her phone.
08:39Stephanie's surprised to receive this call
08:40because, as far as she's concerned, they are together.
08:43So, she starts questioning her then.
08:45Is she covering for her? What's the story here?
08:47The two of them go backwards and forwards just until it becomes apparent
08:51that neither of them is any the wiser as to where Kayleigh might be.
08:54In amongst this conversation, she tells Stephanie that she hasn't seen Kayleigh since Thursday,
08:59that there was never any plan for Kayleigh to spend the night or the weekend at her house,
09:04and that she just hasn't been there.
09:06This wasn't part of the plan.
09:08So, at that point, Stephanie starts really getting quite worried
09:11and she starts contacting the extended family to see,
09:14has anybody heard from her?
09:15Does anybody know where she is and what's going on?
09:19I think that any parent who has lost their child or doesn't know where their child is,
09:27whether that is for five minutes in a supermarket or, in this case,
09:33doesn't know where she's been all over the weekend,
09:36hasn't heard from her now for 24 hours,
09:39they will understand that feeling of panic and just sickness in the pit of the stomach.
09:47Kayleigh's family were incredibly worried.
09:49They were calling anybody and everybody that they knew.
09:53Nobody knew where Kayleigh was,
09:55and it was apparent that they really needed to call the police at this point,
09:59and that's exactly what they did.
10:05Kayleigh's disappearance is now a high-risk missing persons case,
10:10with police first trying to trace where she went instead of the sleepover.
10:32On Friday, 13th November 2015,
10:3615-year-old Kayleigh Hayward is dropped off by her parents in Ibstock, Leicestershire,
10:41for a sleepover with a friend.
10:43But by the following day, she stops responding to messages,
10:46and when her parents discover she never went to the friend's house,
10:50they call the police.
10:53Kayleigh is only 15, she's a child,
10:56so the police immediately started investigating,
10:58and one of the first people they spoke to was her friend,
11:01where she was supposed to be for the last couple of nights.
11:04The police are instantly concerned about Kayleigh
11:08because this is out of character for her.
11:11The fact that she's not called in in the morning,
11:14as is her habit to do,
11:15the fact that she's not posting on social media anymore,
11:19and clearly there's a mystery surrounding,
11:22well, who has she been with?
11:23And why has she lied to her parents?
11:26Because that's just not typical of her.
11:30And the worry starts to intensify
11:33when they reach out to Kayleigh's friends,
11:36and one of her friends says,
11:38well, she has been talking to somebody,
11:41she's been talking to a boy over the internet.
11:45It's someone that we don't know,
11:47she's only been speaking to him for a matter of weeks.
11:50Now, at this point, the police are very, very keen
11:53to find out who this person is.
11:55And so they're given access
11:57to Kayleigh's social media accounts by her parents.
12:01So the police go straight to Kayleigh's social media
12:04to try and find out who it is that she's been meeting,
12:07and they find on Facebook in her messenger
12:10that over the two weeks previously,
12:12she's exchanged over 2,500 messages with somebody
12:15who went by the name of Luke Funtimes Harlow.
12:20Police discover that Kayleigh had been messaging
12:22a man named Luke Harlow constantly for the past two weeks.
12:28So Luke Harlow is a 28-year-old man who lived locally.
12:31He'd previously worked in bars and warehouses,
12:34but at the time of Kayleigh's disappearance,
12:37he was unemployed.
12:38He'd reached out to her on social media.
12:40She didn't know him.
12:41He was a stranger to Kayleigh.
12:43He'd just popped up in her inbox saying,
12:45hey, how's it going?
12:46And when Kayleigh's asked, does she know him,
12:48he's introduced himself as a friend of a friend
12:50and really launched a charm offensive from the start.
12:55Initially, Kayleigh had told Harlow that she was 19,
12:58but very quickly, she changed that to the truth
13:02and told him that she was actually 15.
13:05Now, that would normally, on any right-minded person,
13:09stop any further communication,
13:11but with Harlow, it didn't.
13:13He just wasn't bothered.
13:14He just saw it as an opportunity.
13:16The messages seemed light-hearted at first,
13:19but soon turned flirtatious.
13:21It was apparent that they then turned into what we now
13:24would more obviously call grooming,
13:26telling Kayleigh she was special
13:27and that she was beautiful.
13:29Now, we can only imagine the impact that that had on a child,
13:32a girl who'd been bullied previously
13:34and who might have wanted affection from somebody else.
13:38She may have wrongly felt that here was somebody
13:40who really understood her and cared for her,
13:42when really their intent was very malicious, as we now know.
13:46What they find is two and a half thousand messages
13:51that have been exchanged over a period of just two weeks
13:55between Kayleigh and a man called Luke Harlow.
14:00Now, what these messages are, are a masterclass,
14:03a masterclass in grooming.
14:05So that process of manipulation that an offender
14:10will go through with their victim
14:12in order to be able to isolate them, gain access to them,
14:16and ultimately get away with offending against them.
14:21Grooming can be threats, but more often than not,
14:25it's compliments.
14:26And what we see here is two and a half thousand
14:30highly manipulative messages
14:33that are lover boy technique.
14:37That's what I would call it.
14:38Starts out quite innocently with,
14:41hi, how are you?
14:44And then it's, I'm a friend of a friend
14:47and I just wanted to reach out to you
14:49because, well, you're so lovely, you're so attractive.
14:52And then it moves on to, can we take this somewhere more private?
14:57So even more private than direct messaging on Facebook,
15:01can we now text each other?
15:03And then from there, Kayleigh's love-bombed.
15:06You're gorgeous, I want to see you.
15:08Oh, by the way, I'm a bit older than you
15:11and so people wouldn't necessarily understand our relationship,
15:14so keep it to yourself.
15:16Keep it private.
15:18We didn't want Kayleigh to tell anybody else.
15:20It was their secret.
15:21So she didn't, she kept it to herself.
15:25She thought she was going to meet someone special
15:27but didn't tell her parents.
15:29And this just lured her into his trap.
15:32Soon Harlow is pressuring Kayleigh to meet him.
15:35He's offering her treats, he's offering her a lovely evening,
15:38putting that pressure on,
15:39but in a way that might not be obvious to a child.
15:43You can drink alcohol at my place
15:45because I understand that even though you're 15,
15:48you are older in your maturity than in your years.
15:54Again, other people won't understand that,
15:57so don't let them know.
15:58But come over, we can eat chocolate together,
16:01we can cuddle on the sofa together,
16:04you can drink vodka at my house, that's no problem,
16:08and we'll just have a really nice time.
16:10You're my princess.
16:11You know, this could be the start of a beautiful relationship,
16:15just a beautiful relationship that you need to keep secret.
16:18To Kayleigh, this is the older, more sophisticated boyfriend
16:23who treats her like an adult
16:25and seems to be really, really into her.
16:28That's intoxicating for a 15-year-old.
16:31The police immediately wanted to question Harlow.
16:34The police made their way to Harlow's house and put him under arrest.
16:39Back at the police station, Luke Harlow tells detectives his version of events.
16:45He quite readily admitted that he'd been with Kayleigh,
16:48he'd spent time with her,
16:50that there'd been sexual activity between the two of them,
16:52even though she was 15.
16:55The Friday night passes and Kayleigh contacts her parents on the Saturday
16:58asking to stay another night.
17:00But as the Saturday rolls on and it gets into the Saturday evening,
17:03they run out of alcohol.
17:06Harlow goes to speak to his neighbour, Stephen Biedman,
17:09to see, has he got any alcohol, has he got any vodka or anything else?
17:12But he doesn't, so the two of them set off together to go to the off-licence.
17:17While they're walking to the off-licence,
17:21Harlow mentions to Biedman
17:22that he's got a bird back at his house, in his words,
17:26and that once they've been to the shop,
17:28he's more than welcome to come back and carry on drinking
17:30with the two of them back at the flat.
17:32And Biedman says that he'll come round to have a look at this bird.
17:38Now, as far as I'm concerned,
17:40this was a sexual predator bragging about who he'd managed to ensnare,
17:47and Stephen Biedman went round to his house
17:51in the knowledge that Kayleigh shouldn't have been there in the first place,
17:56and fully with the intent of having some form of sexual contact with her.
18:00We don't know a great deal about Stephen Biedman.
18:03Of course, he was the next-door neighbour and friend of Harlow.
18:07He was a landscape gardener,
18:09and you might think that he's fairly unremarkable.
18:13Harlow's claim is that after Biedman came back to the house
18:16and was drinking with them, Harlow went to bed,
18:19woke up in the morning, so this is now Sunday morning,
18:22the house was empty.
18:23No sign of either Biedman or Kayleigh.
18:27Biedman's obviously somebody that the police really need to speak to,
18:30so they start looking for him,
18:31and they find him at a relative's house in Colville
18:34and bring him in for questioning.
18:37Now police have both men in custody.
18:40Will either of them reveal what's happened to Kayleigh?
18:45The police were immediately aware, just from looking at Biedman,
18:48that something wasn't right.
18:49He had visible injuries all over his face.
18:52They were particularly concerned as to where they came from.
18:55So Biedman, at first he says that he's never met Kayleigh,
18:59and then later he says that he has met her,
19:02he'd met her on the night of the 14th
19:04after he'd been invited back by Harlow,
19:06that he'd gone back and that he'd joined them for a drink
19:08and stayed for a few hours,
19:09but that he'd gone home about midnight
19:11and left Harlow and Kayleigh together.
19:13So when the police interviewed Biedman,
19:16what he did say was that when he drinks,
19:19he becomes a different person, he becomes very violent,
19:22and he was probably putting that forward
19:24as some kind of mitigation or defence
19:27that he might choose to rely on later on.
19:30We've got a case of, well, nothing to do with me,
19:34there's nothing to see here,
19:35because we've got, on one hand,
19:37Biedman says he left at midnight, all was well,
19:40and Harlow says he was in bed by midnight,
19:43he'd left Biedman and Kayleigh together,
19:46he heard nothing, saw nothing, slept through it all,
19:50and as far as he's concerned, nothing to do with him.
19:54They're not quite pointing the finger at one another,
19:56but each one of them has got a story
19:59of how they are not involved.
20:01Now, it seems that midnight is a significant time,
20:05because we've got Biedman saying that he left at midnight,
20:09we've got Harlow saying that he was sound asleep at midnight,
20:13and neither of them know what happened after that.
20:17But prior to this, around 10 o'clock at night,
20:21neighbours had heard banging, consistent loud banging,
20:25as though somebody was having some sort of fight,
20:28or something was going on.
20:30So what happened before midnight?
20:34This magic time when seemingly both parties say they were asleep
20:39or at their own home, and everything was calm.
20:42Harlow and Biedman's stories do not add up,
20:45suggesting they are hiding what really happened that night.
20:48Police believe Kayleigh has been harmed,
20:50and their priority is to uncover the truth so they can find her.
21:14Luke Harlow and Stephen Biedman, both in police custody,
21:17are linked to the disappearance of 15-year-old Kayleigh Hayward,
21:22who has not been heard of since Saturday, November 14th.
21:25Their stories conflict,
21:27and investigators suspect they are withholding crucial information.
21:31Their top priority is to uncover the truth and locate Kayleigh.
21:37There's a huge search for Kayleigh.
21:40So over 300 police were involved,
21:43and a huge number of the community turned out
21:46to see if they could help,
21:48because they were just shocked by her disappearance.
21:51And, of course, they were really concerned
21:53about what was known at that point,
21:55about where she'd spent her last nights.
21:58So everybody's looking for her.
22:00There's drones all over the place.
22:02One of the local community find a bra on a piece of land.
22:07It's not where you would expect to find a bra.
22:10And, of course, knowing about this case,
22:12they do the sensible thing and they contact police.
22:16When police show Kayleigh's mum a photograph,
22:19it matches a bra.
22:21It's the same size as a bra that Kayleigh had
22:24and that's no longer in the home.
22:27Well, I can't imagine what must have been going through
22:30Kayleigh's mum's mind.
22:31No doubt at that point she had thought that
22:35some sort of foul play has taken place.
22:37So that is a horrific moment for Kayleigh's family,
22:40but it's quite a breakthrough in the investigation for the police.
22:46Police suspect Beatman's injuries
22:48could have been sustained from defensive wounds
22:50and follow that line of inquiry.
22:53The police searched this flat to see had Kayleigh been there
22:56and they found no evidence that she had.
22:58But something that was a noticeable feature
23:00was that he had some facial injuries
23:02which he said he'd sustained working on a farm in Belton.
23:05The police went to look at this farm and they found Beatman's lock-up.
23:09When they went and had a look inside,
23:10they found some blood-stained clothing.
23:12When they looked at the CCTV from the off-licence,
23:15where Beatman and Harlow had been to buy more alcohol,
23:19they realised that the clothing that was in the lock-up,
23:22the blood-stained clothing,
23:24matched the clothing that he'd been wearing
23:25when he went to the shop that night.
23:27And it is placed onto what appears to be a bonfire
23:32that is just ready to be lit.
23:35Now, when that clothing is analysed,
23:38the blood comes back.
23:40It's not Beatman's, it's not Harlow's,
23:43but it does match Kayleigh's.
23:47So when the police were searching the lock-up,
23:50they found in their nearby skip a purse
23:53and then in bin bags they found a cardigan and a bag.
23:57They were later confirmed to be Kayleigh's.
24:00With that evidence there,
24:02Beatman admitted that, yes, he had killed Kayleigh
24:05and he took the police to the place that Kayleigh's body was.
24:09So on the 18th of November,
24:11Beatman gave the information about Kayleigh's body
24:15and the police went and found her buried in the undergrowth.
24:18She only had a sock on.
24:20She was otherwise naked.
24:28This is a moment of closure to some degree for the family
24:36in that she's found.
24:38She is no longer lost to them,
24:40but she's not found alive.
24:44And they have to deal with the fact that this,
24:47this fear that they've held for the last five days
24:51is actually, is real.
24:53They're not going to see their daughter again.
24:57So after Beatman's admitted that he has killed Kayleigh,
25:01he tells the police that Kayleigh had tried to escape.
25:04She'd tried to run out of the flat
25:05at about three o'clock in the morning.
25:07And he's run after her.
25:09She's, at this point she's naked from the waist down,
25:11but he runs after her to try and stop her from,
25:14from getting away.
25:16Beatman described a scuffle outside on the street.
25:19Now what he didn't know was that neighbours had observed this.
25:22They'd actually seen this scuffle,
25:23but because Beatman was wearing some sort of high vis clothing,
25:26you know, the yellow that you might see on a policeman or a workman,
25:30they thought that something untoward wasn't going on
25:32and that it could have been a policeman arresting somebody.
25:35So unfortunately, they didn't act.
25:37Around the same time, another witness came forward
25:41and said that they'd heard somebody screaming,
25:43Mummy, which, in hindsight,
25:45was probably Kayleigh in her last moments.
25:49While they were still observing this scuffle outside,
25:53the neighbours saw both people stand up and walk off together.
25:56So they quickly thought that actually,
25:58this might not be a police incident,
25:59but it seems to be two people who'd had a bit of an argument
26:02and now everything was OK.
26:04So again, they didn't act.
26:07What was actually happening there was that
26:09Beatman was dragging Kayleigh off where he raped her.
26:12Kayleigh was putting up a good fight.
26:14She picked up a rock and she hit him with it,
26:17which explained the injuries to his face.
26:19But enraged by this,
26:22Beatman then took the rock and beat Kayleigh so badly that he killed her.
26:27So after killing Kayleigh, he took her to some woodland
26:31by the side of the A447 and disposed of Kayleigh's body.
26:35She's so badly beaten around the face and neck
26:40that she has to be identified via dental records.
26:46Kayleigh's family are warned that Kayleigh doesn't look like Kayleigh.
26:51She's been so badly beaten.
26:55She's got so many facial and neck injuries.
26:57And of course she's been dead for five days now.
27:01That maybe they might not want to go and view her body,
27:04but they do decide that they do want to do that.
27:08And so they go and they spend their final moments with Kayleigh holding her hand.
27:13Those few moments are so precious. They really are.
27:19But the fact that all they could do is hold her hand is...
27:25..is so tragic. So tragic.
27:29After Kayleigh's body is found,
27:31it is time for 29-year-old Stephen Beatman
27:34and 28-year-old Luke Harlow to be officially charged with their crimes.
27:39I was telephoned by somebody from the CPS,
27:44which is the Crown Prosecution Service,
27:45about the case,
27:47because they wanted my advice on charging.
27:51Now, that's not unusual,
27:52but some charges had already been laid,
27:55and they wanted my advice in conference
27:58as to whether there should be additional charges.
28:01What you need to understand when you have a serious case like this is
28:05what other offences might be disclosed on the papers.
28:09So we all know what a murder is.
28:11One person kills another, they intend to do it,
28:14or they intend to cause really serious harm.
28:16That's pretty much standard.
28:18In this case, we didn't just have a murder.
28:21We had a rape.
28:22We had what we call grooming.
28:24We had sexual activity with a child.
28:28But we also had one of the perpetrators
28:30who had done more than that.
28:32And the question for me was,
28:34what else should we charge him with,
28:37and whether we should charge the murderer
28:39with anything additional to what he was already charged with?
28:45Harlow was the chap that groomed Kayleigh online
28:49and got her to meet him.
28:51Biedman was his neighbour,
28:53who was the man that actually raped and killed her.
28:56But although we thought that Biedman would plead guilty to the murder,
29:01the circumstances of what happened to Kayleigh were quite important,
29:05and I was very keen that the defendants, the two of them,
29:10didn't concoct a scenario which benefited them
29:14and wasn't telling the truth about what really happened to Kayleigh.
29:17And that was a very unusual thing to do,
29:19to look at a murder case and say,
29:21well, are we going to charge him with something else?
29:23And if so, what? And why?
29:26And is it in the public interest to do so?
29:28And finally, what did the family think about this?
29:31Do they want to go through a trial where we never know,
29:35where Kayleigh's name could have been dragged through the mud?
29:39Or do they just want to take, if you like, the easy win
29:42and make it all go away?
29:44So there's all sorts of considerations
29:46which I have to take on board as lead counsel.
29:50The prosecutor considers how Harlow's grooming
29:53set off the sequence of events that led to her murder.
29:58The grooming in this case was fast.
30:01It went from, you're very pretty, have you got a boyfriend?
30:04Oh, well, a girl like you should have a boyfriend
30:07in the first couple of days.
30:09To within a week, I want to take you to bed.
30:12I want to get you drunk.
30:13I know you're only 15, but, you know,
30:15all the things he wanted to do with her.
30:17And of course, I've got to stand up in court
30:18and read all this horrible stuff out.
30:21Right up to him basically saying, before he met her,
30:25as soon as she gets through the door of his flat,
30:27he's going to have all her clothes off and, yeah,
30:29I don't need to explain what he said after that.
30:32It's pretty graphic.
30:33I'm used to reading that sort of thing out.
30:35I do this sort of thing all the time.
30:37But you've got jurors who are sitting there listening
30:40to what he was saying to a girl he knew was underage.
30:45His eventual story was that she was happy to be with him.
30:49She wanted to meet him.
30:51She was happy to engage in sexual encounters with him.
30:54She was happy when Biedman came round.
30:57He brought some more drinks.
30:58And she was all quite happy with all of that.
31:01And Harlow's account was all happy, happy, happy.
31:04Sexual encounter with her, all consensual.
31:07He then fell asleep and had no idea what happened thereafter.
31:12That was our line in the sand.
31:16Prosecution case was that there came a point where she wanted to go.
31:20And the two of them kept her there.
31:23And we had what we called ear witnesses.
31:27They heard a kerfuffle going on in the flat.
31:31Furniture being tipped over, that sort of thing.
31:33And indeed, there were some elements of a struggle still visible
31:36when the police turned up.
31:38Harlow's flat was found to be in a state of disarray.
31:42Now, this is not to do with his housekeeping skills.
31:45This looks like there's clearly been a struggle.
31:48There's been some sort of fracas here.
31:50Now, bearing in mind what the neighbours have heard,
31:53there are speakers on the floor which might account
31:55for the banging and crashing.
31:57There's been some almighty row here.
32:01And it appears that what is happening is that Kayleigh is trying to get out of the house.
32:08And she's been prevented from doing that by not one, but two adult grown men.
32:16And our case was that she tried to make a break for it.
32:19The flat that she was staying in was a sort of funny sort of up and down.
32:25It had a bathroom downstairs, but the main living was upstairs.
32:29And what we think happened, this was our theory, was that she asked to go to the loo.
32:33And when she went downstairs to go to the loo, she bolted.
32:36She made a run for it.
32:38Not dressed properly.
32:39Bear in mind this is mid-November.
32:41It was wet and it was horrible.
32:44Bra, T-shirt.
32:45And she made a bolt for it out of the flat and along the roadway by the side of the
32:51flats.
32:54The initial charges, as I've said, were murder, rape and sexual offences for Beedman
32:59and sexual offences for Harlow.
33:01When we had the large conference, by then I'd been provided with the downloads
33:07of Beedman's phone, Harlow's phone and Kayleigh's laptop.
33:12And what we discovered, myself and the police, going through Harlow's electronic devices,
33:19was that Kayleigh wasn't the only girl he had been grooming.
33:23We found two, possibly three more.
33:26Certainly two of the quality of messages that I would be able to use in evidence.
33:32One of them we actually charged him with.
33:35The other one was what I would call preparatory.
33:38So it was the introducing of himself pretending to be younger to another young girl.
33:43But he didn't do anything which we could hook onto an offence.
33:49It was insidious and it was nasty.
33:51And I was prepared to tell the jury about it.
33:53And the judge allowed me to tell the jury about it.
33:55But it didn't meet that standard of actually getting to offending.
34:00However, we contacted the girls and their parents and one of them cooperated.
34:07The other one still thought that he was her boyfriend and wanted to support him.
34:11And indeed came to court to support him.
34:13And I had to have quite a difficult conversation with her and her parent, explaining that she would not be
34:20allowed to speak to him.
34:22And he was in fact somebody who had participated in a very awful offence.
34:26We had a big team meeting.
34:29I had the consent of the parents to charge anything that I felt was appropriate.
34:35We as a team decided that we would charge the men with false imprisonment.
34:40Which is the offence of keeping somebody where they don't want to be.
34:44We couldn't prove that both sexually assaulted her together in the flat.
34:48But we felt false imprisonment was made out by the state of the flat, the ear witnesses and the escape.
34:56We felt that was solid.
34:58That was the thing that we added to the charge which they fought at court.
35:05Luke Harlow is charged with grooming, sexual activity with a child and false imprisonment.
35:11Stephen Biedman is charged with rape, false imprisonment and murder.
35:16How will they plead?
35:32In the early hours of Sunday the 15th of November 2015, 15-year-old Kaylee Hayward was raped and murdered
35:40before her body was dumped in a woodland area near Ibstock, Leicestershire.
35:44Two men, Stephen Biedman and Luke Harlow, face serious charges in relation to her death
35:50and appear in court to enter their pleas in April 2016.
35:56Harlow admitted that he'd had sexual contact with Kaylee, when of course she's underage.
36:03But what he wasn't prepared to admit to was kidnap and holding her in his home against her will.
36:12When we got to court, Harlow admitted the grooming and the sexual offences in relation to Kaylee.
36:20Beedman admitted the murder and the rape.
36:22They both disputed the false imprisonment.
36:25And the barristers on the other side, when we had our preliminary hearing said,
36:29oh, well, you won't be going ahead with that, will you? You've got enough.
36:32And I basically said to them, no, I have the full support of the family.
36:37We will try you.
36:38Either you plead or we try you.
36:41And that's what we did.
36:42It was an emotional trial.
36:44It was an emotional trial.
36:44You can't get away from that.
36:45But you don't bring emotion into your job if you can possibly help it.
36:50So you simply tell the jury, this is our case.
36:54This is how we present it.
36:55This is what we're going to prove to you.
36:57We presented the case in a very logical progression.
37:02We told the story.
37:03We have audio visual aids these days.
37:06We have maps.
37:06We have drone presentations, moving clips, as much as we can,
37:12to try and bring it alive to the jury.
37:15Obviously, it was very much alive to me
37:17because I had walked the walk that Kayleigh had done with Biedman.
37:22So I knew what it was like.
37:23I knew how far it was.
37:24I knew how cold it was.
37:26I knew what the field was like.
37:28It was a ploughed field.
37:29It was muddy.
37:30It was nasty.
37:31So I was able to, if you like, tell the story better
37:35because I'd been there.
37:38The defendants were pretty deadpan.
37:43I try not to look at them when I'm in court.
37:46I don't think it does anybody any good.
37:48Harlow was, I wouldn't say cocky, but he wasn't...
37:52He was...
37:53I think he thought he'd get off.
37:56Biedman was troubled
37:58and then eventually he refused to come altogether.
38:01I would have been hugely surprised
38:03if either of them had been acquitted.
38:05The trial lasts a few weeks
38:07during which neither of the men show signs of remorse.
38:11Throughout the trial for the false imprisonment,
38:14the pair were just emotionless.
38:16There was no sign of any remorse or anything from them.
38:20Harlow, when he was convicted of false imprisonment,
38:23glared at the jury in quite a hard, hardened way.
38:30Both defendants admitted their part in what happened to Cayley.
38:37Harlow admitted sexual activity with a minor and grooming
38:40and he denied but was convicted of false imprisonment as well
38:45after a trial.
38:46Biedman admitted that he'd murdered Cayley.
38:49They were both handed down custodial sentences.
38:53Harlow was sentenced to 12 years
38:54and Biedman was sentenced to life with a minimum of 35 years.
38:59That means that Biedman would have to spend 35 years in prison
39:03before eligible for the parole board to consider his case
39:06and he would only be reviewed if they were satisfied
39:09that the public were not at risk from him.
39:12However, Biedman didn't serve much of that sentence
39:15because in 2021 he killed himself in custody.
39:20Biedman's account of what happened indicates to me someone who's impulsive,
39:25someone who can't manage their own anger
39:27and has negative attitudes about women and girls.
39:30Through a combination of these factors and poor emotion management
39:33and possibly sexual arousal,
39:35he was able to overcome any inhibitors
39:37to assaulting a child, vulnerable child and murdering her.
39:41For me, Biedman is a coward.
39:45He's someone that monopolises the vulnerability of a child.
39:49He's someone that can't control his temper,
39:52probably doesn't like being challenged.
39:54I would just describe him as a despicable individual.
40:00Harlow is a predatory, concerted groomer.
40:05I think he's somebody who had very little going on in his life
40:10and he is somebody who had decided
40:13that he was going to make friends with girls
40:16maybe as young as 13 over the internet.
40:19He was going to bring them over to his home
40:23where he would ply them with alcohol
40:25so that they're not able to resist him
40:28and he was going to sexually abuse them
40:32and keep them there
40:33until he felt that he was satisfied.
40:37Though both men are behind bars,
40:39nothing can ease the pain of Kayleigh's loss
40:41and her community has forever changed.
40:46When a crime of this magnitude
40:49occurs in a really small town or a small village,
40:52it has a significant impact
40:54on the sense of safety of the community.
40:59People behave differently.
41:00They stop going about their normal routines.
41:04Their lives change.
41:06Possibly not forever,
41:07but certainly in that interim,
41:09that short period of time,
41:11people behave differently.
41:13Less willing to go out late at night.
41:15They certainly keep an eye on the children.
41:17They chaperone them more.
41:19They're probably more guarded.
41:21Everything changes when a murder happens
41:23in a small place.
41:25And only time can heal that
41:27where they can get back to some sense of normality.
41:31I've been involved in law enforcement for 36 years
41:34and I've seen a steady decline
41:36in willingness of people to get involved
41:39in supporting police
41:42or even reporting incidents to police
41:45that on the face of it
41:46are really out of the ordinary.
41:48So, whilst there are still people
41:51who will get involved
41:53and will stand up
41:54and become even witnesses in a trial,
41:58it is getting increasingly so
41:59and very frustratingly so
42:01that there are more people
42:03that won't get involved
42:04and won't pick the phone up.
42:06And I've seen that growing over the years.
42:12Kayleigh was a child.
42:16She was a 15-year-old girl.
42:18And so, there is absolutely no blame
42:23to be placed on Kayleigh.
42:26She did what I think
42:29many, many 15-year-old girls would do.
42:32You could say that she's naive,
42:34but that was probably part of her charm and beauty.
42:39She was a 15-year-old girl
42:41who had been brought up well
42:43and had no reason to believe
42:45that such hideous predators
42:49with such nefarious intentions
42:53should exist in the world.
42:57She had everything to give
42:59and all of that has been taken from her
43:03because two men wanted to indulge
43:07their sexual fantasy
43:10and proclivities
43:11for having an underage girl
43:15at their disposal.
43:18With the support of Kayleigh's family,
43:21Leicestershire police decide to use her story
43:23to spread awareness.
43:26The case really highlights
43:29how quickly online grooming
43:31can escalate.
43:33And Kayleigh's story
43:35was actually made into a short film,
43:37Kayleigh's love story,
43:38to really show people
43:40how things can go from
43:42a quick hi-how-you-doing message
43:45to within weeks,
43:47things have gone very intense
43:49and tragically,
43:51you've got a 15-year-old girl
43:52who's lost her life.
43:54The very first time it was shown
43:57in a school two children
43:59went up to a teacher afterwards
44:01and made reports
44:02which led to inquiries being started.
44:05And that was just the first time
44:06and I know it's been shown
44:08countless times since
44:09and I just hope
44:10that with the rollover of children
44:13it continues to be shown
44:15in secondary schools.
44:17This case unfortunately
44:19is a really sad reminder
44:20of the vulnerability
44:21that young people have online
44:22to people who are trying
44:23to prey on them.
44:24This tells us more about violence
44:26against women and girls.
44:27It takes a different form online
44:29but ultimately results in violence
44:31and significant harm.
44:33This could happen to any child.
44:35Somebody could approach them,
44:36try to get them to meet
44:37and they might have sexual
44:39or even violent motivations
44:41as in this case.
44:42So it really reminds us
44:43as parents,
44:45as people who've got relatives,
44:46friends,
44:47people who, you know,
44:48have young people in their lives,
44:50we really need to look out for them
44:51and ensure that people
44:52are aware of the dangers.
44:54Talk to your children
44:56about which sites they're on,
44:58what conversations they are having,
45:00who with,
45:02and generally that conversation
45:03can open doors.
45:05But it's really important
45:07to understand what they're doing.
45:10Have that communication
45:11with your child
45:12and you can read on the internet
45:15things to look for.
45:16But for me,
45:17it's that dialogue.
45:18Social media is taking over
45:20so many young people's lives.
45:22They don't do anything
45:23without posting it on
45:25whichever site it might be.
45:27But just try and understand
45:28what the motivators are
45:30for your children
45:32and seek the advice.
45:36It's really sad
45:37that a girl from a loving family
45:40fell prey to somebody like this.
45:42She wasn't an outsider.
45:43She was a family girl
45:45with friends
45:46and a life
45:47and a future.
45:49And by
45:51listening to what somebody said
45:53who was a liar
45:54and a paedophile,
45:57she ended up in a situation
45:58that she really tried
45:59to get herself out of
46:01but wasn't able to.
46:02And that's what's so sad about this.
46:04She really did try and escape.
46:08But just be so careful
46:10with who you speak to online.
46:43So as I said
46:49that
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