Miles Evans

Parties and identities

• Miles Evans was the stepfather of Zoe Evans.
• Zoe Evans was a nine-year-old schoolgirl from Warminster, Wiltshire.
• Paula Hamilton was Zoe Evans’s mother.

Timeline

• 11 January 1997 — Zoe Evans disappeared from her home in Warminster, Wiltshire, in the early hours after being tucked up for the night by her mother, Paula.
• February 1997 — Zoe Evans’s body was found in a badger sett less than half a mile from her home.
• Five days after her disappearance — Miles Evans was arrested when his bloodied T-shirt was found close to the burial scene.
• Two weeks later — the former soldier was charged with murder.
• April 1998 — Miles Evans was convicted in April 1998 at Bristol Crown Court of the murder of Zoe Evans.
• April 1, 1998 — Miles Evans was sentenced to life imprisonment (minimum 17 years).
• February 19, 1999 — Miles Evans lodged an appeal against his conviction.
• May 6, 2001 — A new investigation was described as raising questions about whether the convicted man could be innocent.
• July 10, 2002 — The Court of Appeal ruled that the conviction was “safe” and reached the clear conclusion that it was safe.

Background

In January 1997, nine-year-old schoolgirl Zoe Evans went missing from her home in Warminster, Wiltshire. Her mother, Paula Hamilton, and stepfather Miles Evans appeared at a press conference, begging for her to come home. Unbeknown to Zoe’s mother, the man sitting next to her was responsible for killing her daughter. Evans made an appeal for Zoe’s return with his weeping wife at a news conference days after Zoe’s disappearance.

The offence

Zoe Evans was taken from her bed and sexually assaulted. She was punched in the face and suffocated outside. A post-mortem examination showed she died from asphyxiation. Zoe’s naked body was found later in a badger sett. Her body was found with her crop top stuffed in her mouth. Her T-shirt was pushed into her mouth to stop her screaming. She had been half-buried in a disused badger sett on Battlesbury Hill, just over half a mile from the house.

Investigation and police actions

The disappearance in 1997 sparked what was at the time the biggest ever police search for a missing person in the UK. Police took six and a half weeks to find Zoe’s body. Her body was found less than half a mile from her home.

Police found Evans’s bloodied T-shirt close to the burial scene. When police questioned an identified Youth A shortly after the murder, Youth A denied knowing Zoe but later changed his evidence, conceding that he was familiar with the child because she was a schoolfriend of his sister.

A claim was made that the prosecution suggested a six-week delay because the body was originally fully buried and was only later pulled out by animals. Five weeks before the body was discovered, a team of Metropolitan Police officers with dogs trained to search for bodies was told not to look in the area around the badger sett because it had already been searched.

The new investigation described officers as having been told not to look around the badger sett even though it had not been discovered there yet.

Arrest and charge

Miles Evans was arrested five days after Zoe’s disappearance when his bloodied T-shirt was found close to the burial scene. Two weeks later, the former soldier was charged with murder.

Trial

Miles Evans was found guilty at Bristol Crown Court of killing nine-year-old Zoe in January the year prior. He denied taking Zoe Evans from her bed, assaulting her, and burying her in a badger sett half-a-mile away.

After three days’ deliberation, a jury at Bristol Crown Court returned a guilty verdict by a majority of 10-2. The judge, Mr Justice Eady, said Zoe must have suffered a “terrifying ordeal” and sentenced Evans to life imprisonment.

Verbatim court-related statements

Paula Hamilton said, at the point of tears:

“Today Miles Evans was convicted of the murder of my beloved daughter Zoe,” she said, on the point of tears.
“There has been no doubt in my mind that he would be convicted of this cruel and callous act. However, at this time I cannot help but think that the only suitable punishment for taking the life of such a beautiful girl should be the death penalty.
“Only he knows the suffering he has caused and may it remain with him and burden him for the rest of his life.”

Detective Inspector Trevor Symes, of Wiltshire police, who led the investigation, said:

“Evans showed no emotion as the sentence was read out.”

Sentencing

The judge, Mr Justice Eady, sentenced Miles Evans to life imprisonment after the conviction. The case also reflects that his sentence was life imprisonment (minimum 17 years) on April 1, 1998.

Appeals

Miles Evans lodged an appeal against his conviction.

Court of Appeal decision (leave to appeal)

Miles Evans lost his application for leave to appeal against his conviction for murdering his nine-year-old stepdaughter. The Court of Appeal ruled that the conviction of Miles Evans, 28, was “safe”.

Mr William Clegg QC, representing Evans, told the hearing in London that:

“No-one could have conceivably described this as a strong case,” he said.

He told judges Lord Justice May, Mr Justice Cresswell and Sir Richard Rougier:

“We advance two linked grounds of appeal. We submit that this is one of those rare and unusual cases where the court would have a lurking doubt about the safety of the conviction. We also submit that the circumstances surrounding another potential suspect must be looked at in the framework of whether there be a lurking doubt or not.”

Lord Justice May said:

“We have given very anxious consideration to this application.
“We have reached the clear conclusion that this conviction is safe.”

Later attempt described as involving new evidence

A new investigation was described as indicating vital evidence not heard during one of the most notorious child murder cases in recent years could prove that the man convicted of the crime was innocent and that the true killers were still at large. Evans continued to insist on a full retrial to clear his name.

The investigation pointed to two other possible suspects whose names were withheld from the original trial because of lack of evidence. It would attempt to prove that Zoe’s body was only placed in the badger sett a few days before it was discovered by police. It was described that this could clear Evans’s name if successful.

The investigation also described that Evans’s movements from the morning after Zoe’s disappearance were fully accounted for, and that if the body was put there after that point, he could not have been responsible for the murder.

Steve McDonnell, editor of the Meridian Television Focus programme, was quoted:

“The prosecution claimed the six-week delay was because the body was originally fully buried and was only later pulled out by animals.”

John Ashton was quoted:

“Evans’s movements from the morning after Zoe’s disappearance were fully accounted for,” added Ashton.
“So, if the body was put there after that point, he could not have been responsible for the murder.”

Other details

• Evans was described as a former soldier and as an army driver.
• Evans was described as 24-year-old at the time of trial coverage and as 25 in separate coverage, and as 27 at the time of Zoe’s disappearance; the materials also describe him as 28 at the time of the Court of Appeal decision coverage.
• Evans was planning an appeal after sentencing.
• Zoe’s disappearance ended what was described as the largest-ever police search for a missing person in Britain when her body was discovered.
• Zoe’s body was found with her crop top stuffed in her mouth.
• Evans always denied killing Zoe.
• Evans took the little girl from the family home, punched her face and suffocated her outside, then half-buried her in a disused badger sett on Battlesbury Hill.
• Evans’s mother, Sandra, maintained a belief in her son’s innocence.
• Evans’s mother, Sandra, was quoted:

• Mike Schwarz, Miles Evans’s lawyer, was quoted:

• A local hairdresser, Loretta Pritchard, described seeing men disposing of a full bin liner in bushes:

• She was quoted about seeing someone resembling Youth A again:

“He came back and deposited something else in the same place,” she said.
“He was very furtive.”

“The men were acting very suspiciously,” said Loretta Pritchard, a local hairdresser.
“They had a bin liner that they were trying to deposit in the trees and one was walking off while the other was looking around, making sure that no one was watching them.”

“Evidence has now come to light that poses serious questions about the movements and activities of Youths A and B on the night of Zoe's murder. The jury should have heard about those questions and, if they had done, they might have had another account consistent with Miles Evans's innocence.”

“It takes a very clever person to lie for four years and to keep that lie going and not to crack,” she said.
“I'm his mother and I can say that he's not the brightest person but he has not changed his story from the day he was arrested. That takes a clever person. And I don't think he would be able to do it.”

• Youth A was described as having a conviction for indecent assault. Youth A was described as familiar with Zoe because she was a schoolfriend of his sister. Another figure was described as Youths A and B, and the materials referenced two youths roaming around Warminster on the night of Zoe’s disappearance who were later accused of raping a young woman that same night.