David Carty

Case record

Background

David Carty was 18 years old and worked as an employee at Courier Display Systems. Robert Vaughan was 17 years old and worked as a packer in a workshop at Courier Display Systems. Robert Vaughan’s fiancée, Michelle Sadler, was 17 years old.

In the evening before they were discovered, Robert Vaughan and Michelle Sadler did not return home. Their parents informed the police.

Courier Display Systems told the police that Robert Vaughan had asked for permission to work overtime the day before and for Michelle Sadler to help.

It was discovered that another employee at Courier Display Systems had also worked on the Saturday. That employee was David Carty, an 18-year-old West Indian.

The offence

On the morning of Sunday 5th February 1984, a woman walking her dog on open grassland near Southwark Bridge in London noticed something strange in the bucket of a small dumper truck parked nearby. On investigation, she found the almost naked body of a young girl and, beside her lying face down, the clothed body of a young man.

It was quickly established that the bodies were those of Robert Vaughan and his fiancée, Michelle Sadler. They were both 17 years old. Michelle Sadler was sexually assaulted and strangled. Robert Vaughan’s throat had been cut.

Investigation

Forensic teams moved in on the workshop where Robert Vaughan and David Carty worked. The workshop consisted of a single room measuring 60 feet by 20 feet, reached by a corridor eight feet wide and about 60 feet in length.

Near the entrance to the corridor was a men’s toilet fitted with two pedestal cubicles, a double urinal, and three washbasins. The urinal drain was blocked by bloodstained paper. Although the tiling in the urinal had been washed, it still reacted positive for bloodstains. Small spots of blood were found on the back of the urinal door.

From the position of the stains and the fact that Robert Vaughan had been found with his jeans unzipped and his penis exposed, it was deduced that he had been attacked from behind in the urinal and had his throat cut.

Special lighting showed eight partly-bloodstained footprints from a left foot. Stains on the workshop floor proved to be blood mixed with semen and were proved to be from the same group as David Carty.

A screwed-up paper tissue found in a rubbish box similarly tested for semen stains which could have come from David Carty.

When David Carty was told of the evidence building against him, especially that the footprints matched those of his blue suede trainers, he changed his story and admitted that he had disposed of the bodies.

David Carty said that he had left the workshop to go shopping and, on his return, had found the bodies of the young couple. He said that he was afraid that he would be suspected of the murders, and that he had cleaned up the workshop and removed the bodies on a four-wheeled trolley and put them in the dumper truck.

Forensic examination of his shoes showed the presence of blood that could have been consistent with clearing up the scene. It also revealed small spots of blood on the left shoe but not the right. The angle and position of the spots indicated that he had been standing behind, and slightly to one side of Vaughan, when Robert Vaughan’s throat was cut.

Michelle Sadler’s clothing was recovered from the roof of a tea-bar where David Carty said he had thrown them when he was clearing up. Several items tested positive for semen stains that were of the same blood group as David Carty.

Arrest

David Carty was immediately picked up and denied all knowledge of the killings.

Trial

David Carty’s trial began at the Old Bailey on 26th November 1984. He pleaded not guilty but was found guilty of both murders.

Sentencing

He was sentenced to youth custody for life.

Outcome

David Carty was found guilty of both murders and was sentenced to youth custody for life.

Other details

David Carty was described as a West Indian.

Robert Vaughan was found with his jeans unzipped and his penis exposed.