Paul Dyson

Case record: Paul Dyson

Paul Dyson was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 16 years on November 8, 2005.

The offence

Joanne Nelson (22) was strangled by her boyfriend Paul Dyson (31) on 13th or 14th February 2005 after an argument over housework, with one report indicating the argument may have been over splitting up. Dyson then drove 100 miles to dispose of Joanne’s body and made an elaborate cover up of her disappearance, including an emotional appeal on television.

A prosecution description stated that Dyson felt that she was losing interest in him and that if he was not to have her, then nobody else would. The court heard that Dyson strangled Joanne Jean Nelson “with his bare hands” and that he had “murderous intent”. The court heard that Dyson did not try to resuscitate her, did not summon help from neighbours, and did not call an ambulance.

In court, Dyson admitted murdering Joanne during a three-minute hearing after changing his plea to guilty to murder. The court heard that Dyson made a mistake in confiding in someone he thought was so close a friend that he would not breach his confidence. Paul Dyson told that man that he had killed Joanne; that person contacted Dyson’s mother and Dyson admitted to police that he had lied.

Dyson was described as having a callous and calculated charade from the time he killed Joanne, telling family and police alike that he had left Joanne in bed on Valentine’s Day after they had exchanged Valentine cards and that he had gone to work, only to return that evening to find her missing.

Dyson told police that “She said I couldn't switch on the washing machine...which I couldn't.” Dyson told officers: “She said I could not switch the washing machine on, which I couldn't.” Dyson later said: “Good God! What have I done?” Dyson said to a next door neighbour: “Yes, she's fine.” Dyson appeared on local TV and appealed for help to find Joanne soon after her disappearance was reported. Watching Dyson’s TV performance, Detective Superintendent Ray Higgins found attention drawn to Dyson’s hands and spotted two crescent-shaped cuts on Dyson’s thumbs described as self-inflicted textbook throttling injuries.

Investigation

A huge police hunt followed Joanne Nelson’s disappearance, with hundreds of police officers and volunteers, and even the army. The police search involved three counties. Detective Superintendent Ray Higgins led the six-week search.

When Dyson was arrested, the search for Joanne was expected to end, but the “nightmare lasted 39 days” for Joanne’s family.

After Dyson confessed to killing Joanne, police had to find her body. Dyson only remembered leaving her by a metal gate with some green bottles nearby. Police spent hours driving him around East and North Yorkshire but he could not—or would not—remember where the gate was.

Forensic analysis of Dyson’s clothing found spores and pollen, including a type of yew described as rare in the north of England. Botanical maps were used to find where these plants grow, and this took the operation north of York around Castle Howard. Search efforts were described as being hampered by winter weather.

The breakthrough involved a gate. Detective Superintendent Ray Higgins was driving near Bandsby trying to find a place on which the search teams could focus. He saw a gate. He said:

“We had a steel gate which opens outwards. It is supported by two wooden posts and it had rabbit netting to each side, exactly as Dyson had described it to us,”

He added:

“We had a steel gate which opens outwards. It is supported by two wooden posts and it had rabbit netting to each side, exactly as Dyson had described it to us,” he explained.

Dyson had said Joanne was near the entrance but 30 yards along the track after the gate the detectives had still not found her. Higgins said:

“The first thing I saw was the shape of a bin bag. Looking at it more closely you could see the bin bags had been wrapped with clear tape. I realised then and there that in reality the search was over and we had found Joanne.”

Determinant details were also described as follows: a path from the gate, surrounded with green bottles, led into a wooded area; officers followed a track for about a quarter of a mile, reaching a dip in the ground; moments later they found Joanne’s body wrapped in bin bags and covered in branches.

Detective Superintendent Ray Higgins found Joanne’s remains in Brandsby, near York, during a routine visit to one of his search teams with Detective Constable Phil Gadd.

On March 24, Higgins made a “most spectacular find of his career” when he found a bin bag with the shape of a bent leg inside it.

Arrest

Dyson was arrested four days after Valentine’s Day. A report also described that the police arrested Dyson, aged 30, after searching the house he shared with Joanne in Hotham Road North, Hull.

Trial

Dyson had admitted manslaughter at an earlier hearing. Shortly before trial was due to begin, he changed his plea to guilty to murder. He eventually pled guilty to Joanne’s murder.

Prosecution at sentencing was described as conducted by Paul Worsley QC. Dyson appeared in court for a three-minute hearing where he spoke only to confirm his name and enter his plea. A muffled cry of “yes” was heard from the public gallery as he accepted responsibility for the more serious offence.

Sentencing

On November 8, 2005, Judge Tom Cracknell sentenced Dyson at Hull Crown Court to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 16 years before being considered for parole.

Judge Tom Cracknell told Dyson he must serve 16 years before being considered for parole and condemned Dyson for causing Joanne’s family “grief and torment that is scarcely imaginable”. The judge criticised Dyson for going on television to make an appeal for help in finding his fiancee.

Outcome

Dyson was sentenced to life imprisonment (minimum 16 years) on November 8, 2005.

Aftermath

The Nelson family issued a statement reading:

“We don't feel sorry for ourselves. We feel sorry for Joanne and the life that she will miss out on. We, her parents, her sisters and all those who loved her have been cheated. Justice can never be done because Joanne can't come home. But we do consider ourselves lucky and privileged to be able to call Joanne our daughter and our sister.”

Several members of Joanne’s family were crying in the crowded public gallery as the prosecution case was given to the court.

Other details

Dyson’s mother contacted police with her concerns after Dyson told a friend he had strangled Joanne; the friend then told Dyson’s mother.

Joanne Nelson was reported missing from the home she shared with Dyson at Hotham Road North, in Hull on Valentine’s Day. One account described Joanne’s body being found in woods near Malton, North Yorkshire on March 24.

The court heard that Dyson went to a nearby corner shop and bought bin bags, rubber gloves, and disinfectant spray to conceal Joanne’s body and any traces of the killing at their home. The court also heard Dyson drove to his mother’s and collected a garden fork to bury the body. After returning from his mother’s, he chatted to a next door neighbour and inquired whether she had had a good holiday and told her they were getting another cat; when asked if Joanne was all right, he replied “Yes, she’s fine.” The court heard that inside his house he used string to tie together the hands and feet of the lifeless Joanne, bundled her body into bin liner bags, and secured them with tape. Dyson drove from Hull to Howden to fill up with petrol and from there took the body 75 miles away to isolated woodland near Hovingham in North Yorkshire, where he carried her body around 250 yards until he found a concealed dip in the pine trees. For almost 40 days the body was described as lying undiscovered and decomposing.

A further narrative described that Dyson appeared anguished on television and spoke of the deep bond of love he shared with Joanne. He told reporters he “loved her to bits” and “could never hurt her”. He described that on Valentine’s Day morning they exchanged cards and shared a cuddle, and that he had gone to work and returned home to find her gone. Detective Superintendent Ray Higgins was described as having found attention drawn to Dyson’s hands during this performance.

Joanne Nelson’s family members included her parents Charlie and Jean, and her sisters Katie (19) and Janie (16). One account described her funeral in May and that 200 mourners packed Hull crematorium. Katie (19) gave a tribute:

“Anyone who knew Joanne knew she was a wonderful person,” “She was fun-loving, high on life and bubbly. She was always the good one, so it’s hard to understand why something like this has happened to her. She was my big sister, always looking out for me and taught me what was right and wrong. I didn’t always take notice of her but she was always right.”

In tears she added:

“I miss you so much. I wish I could give you one last kiss, one last hug, but I will be kissing you and hugging you forever.”

Joanne Nelson had been accepted by Voluntary Service Overseas to work in Ghana, but later took a role at a JobCentre in Hull. She had spent time training to be a nurse and was working at the Hull JobCentre at the time of her death.

A former wife, Jenny Clark, was described as divorced and as the mum of Dyson’s five-year-old daughter, Chloe’s age described as five-year-old daughter and Chloe’s birth described as October 2000. Jenny Clark said:

“I knew when I first saw Joanne she'd have difficulty standing up to him. She looked the timid type. "He was a bully and I hope she didn't go through hell while with him. Paul could be aggressive. The threat of violence and him losing his temper was always in the background. "It's ironic that he's gone on to kill, just like his father. He thought the world of him.”

Jenny Clark also said:

“He was very troubled when we met. I had had enough after a year and a half of him. I knew when I first saw Joanne she would have difficulty standing up to him. He was a bully. “He told me about his dad a long time after I had met him. It just came out. Paul said he had done his time and paid the price. I did not know what to make of it. It was a shock.”

She also said their daughter Chloe sometimes asked, “Where’s daddy? Where’s Joanne, my best friend”, and she told her that her father had gone away.

Dyson’s prior violence included an attack on his former wife on their wedding night, described as strangling her to the point of unconsciousness. One report described that he had previously admitted manslaughter and, while on remand, slashed his wrists and scrawled “sorry” in his blood on his cell wall.

Dyson’s father Peter Dyson was described as convicted of manslaughter in 1967, jailed for six years. Peter Dyson stabbed to death John Dickinson, who was 22, with a kitchen knife during a fight over suspicion regarding John Dickinson’s sleeping with Peter Dyson’s wife. A separate incident described Peter Dyson as involved in a fatal hit-and-run accident after visiting his then two-day-old son in hospital. Another account described Peter Dyson driving into Gordon Kell (47) who was walking home after celebrating his silver wedding anniversary, leaving Gordon dying in the road. Peter Dyson died of a heart attack in Saudi Arabia aged 55 in 2000 and escaped prosecution.

Dyson was described as born in Hull in August 1974 to parents Christine and Peter Dyson, with one younger sister and a half-brother. He was described as educated at Sydney Smith Comprehensive School until 16, attended Hull College obtaining a diploma in civil engineering, and later Bishop Burton agricultural college obtaining a national diploma in horticulture. He spent several months in Saudi Arabia at 17 working in general maintenance. He worked as a gardener and as a machinist for M&K Pine of Hull. On December 2, 2004, he started working for Bayram Timber in Somerdon Road as a crosscut operative and was working at the time of his arrest.

Dyson was described as a kickboxing and bodybuilding enthusiast, and as using anabolic steroids injecting them straight into his system. At 15 he was introduced through his father to martial arts expert Colin Allen, trained Dyson to brown belt standard, and in 1995 Dyson was a reserve for the British team in the World Kickboxing Championships. Dyson’s nickname “Psycho” was described as coming from working as a club doorman.

A person described as gym trainer Colin Allen was described as being the person Dyson confided in about Joanne’s murder. Colin Allen wrestled with the knowledge before telling Dyson’s mother, who eventually told police.

A report described a relationship history: in 1993 Dyson met Kerry Thompson while attending Bishop Burton agricultural college; Kerry Thompson told police that during arguments he would pace up and down, hitting walls, and grabbing her to stop her leaving. In June 1999 Dyson met his ex-wife Jenny Marie Clarke and proposed after two weeks. Dyson fathered a daughter, Chloe, born in October 2000. The couple separated in 2002 and filed for divorce later that year. Dyson later met Joanne Nelson.

A residential detail described Joanne and Dyson living in Hull in Hotham Road North. Another narrative described that after Joanne’s parents insisted they did not live together, they moved in with Dyson’s mother before setting up home in the Cottingham district in Hull.

An account also described closed-circuit TV footage from the store across the road from their home in Hotham Road North showing Dyson buying bin bags and rubber gloves at around the time of Joanne’s death, wrapping her body in the sacks, carrying it to her car, and driving into the countryside to dump her body. It described that the next day he went to work and behaved as though nothing had happened.

Determinant details included mention that Dyson said he left Joanne near a metal gate with some green bottles nearby, and that he described distinctive trees at the scene, tentatively identified as western hemlock, birch, and hornbeam, all common in North Yorkshire.