Albert Goozee

Case overview

Albert William Goozee was a British murderer and paedophile. His crimes inspired the 1996 film Intimate Relations.

Timeline

• January 1955 — Albert Goozee became a lodger at 5 Alexandra Road, Parkstone, Dorset.
• 17 June 1956 — Goozee took Lydia Leakey and her daughter out for a picnic at Bignell Wood near Cadnam in the New Forest, using the Wolseley car which Mrs. Leakey had purchased for him.
• 19 June 1956 — Goozee was charged with indecently assaulting Norma Leakey.
• 25 June 1956 — Goozee was discharged from the hospital and was charged with both murders.
• 6 December 1956 — Goozee was sentenced to death by hanging.
• 14 January 1957 — Goozee’s appeal against conviction was dismissed by Baron Goddard, the Lord Chief Justice, Mr. Justice Cassels and Mr. Justice Lynskey.
• 25 January 1957 — Rab Butler, the Home Secretary, recommended Goozee be reprieved on grounds that he had been "provoked beyond reason", and the sentence commuted to life imprisonment.
• 1971 — Goozee was released on licence from Broadmoor, aged 48.
• 1973 — Goozee was imprisoned for theft and "going equipped for theft."
• 1977 — Goozee was dismissed by GEC when fellow workers refused to work with him because of his previous conviction and his aggressive behaviour.
• 1982 — Goozee was convicted of wounding a neighbour after stabbing him with a Stanley knife and was sentenced at Stafford Crown Court to 18 months imprisonment and recalled to his life sentence.
• 1985 — Goozee supported a campaign for the return of capital punishment and "volunteered to meet the hangman to take the punishment originally prescribed for him for the murders of 1956."
• 1993 — Goozee was released again, aged 70, and relocated to Chatham, Kent where he was provided with sheltered housing.
• 25 December 1995 — Goozee lured two girls aged 12 and 13 into his home where he gave them alcohol and then indecently assaulted them.
• December 1996 — Goozee was tried at Maidstone Crown Court; the jury cleared him of the rape of one of the girls but found him guilty of indecent assault; Mr. Justice Gower sentenced him to 6 years imprisonment.
• 2009 — Goozee was given a compassionate release and was moved into Cedar Court nursing home in Wigston, Leicester.
• 25 November 2009 — Goozee died after refusing food and medication.

Background

Albert William Goozee served as a merchant seaman. In January 1955, at age 33, he became a lodger at 5 Alexandra Road, Parkstone, Dorset.

Goozee lodged in the home of Lydia Margaretta "Greta" Leakey, 53, who lived there with her disabled husband Thomas Vincent Leakey and their 14-year-old daughter Norma Noreen Leakey. Mr. Leakey had one of his legs amputated during World War II and was described in court as living almost a separate life from Mrs. Leakey; the two slept in separate bedrooms.

Within a few weeks of moving in, Goozee started an affair with Mrs. Leakey. At trial, Goozee claimed that he was seduced by the daughter and had conducted an affair with her also. Mr. Leakey left the home for a while after apparently discovering the affair between Goozee and his wife, but in early June 1956 returned and demanded that Goozee leave. Goozee moved out and took up lodgings on Sunnyhill Road, Parkstone.

Goozee was diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic. He was detained at Broadmoor high-security psychiatric hospital and held there until released on licence in 1971, aged 48.

In 2009, Goozee was terminally ill and was given compassionate release, being moved into Cedar Court nursing home in Wigston, Leicester.

The offence

Murders in June 1956

On 17 June 1956, Goozee took Lydia Leakey and her daughter out for a picnic at Bignell Wood near Cadnam in the New Forest, using the Wolseley car which Mrs. Leakey had purchased for him.

Goozee was later found by the side of the road bleeding from a stab wound to his abdomen. Police found the bodies of Lydia and Norma Leakey a short distance away.

Lydia had died from a fractured skull and multiple stab wounds. Her daughter was killed by a single stab wound which had penetrated her heart. A post mortem examination revealed that Norma had also been indecently assaulted.

The murder weapon was described as a double-edged Fairbairn-Sykes Fighting Knife with a 7 inch blade, and it was found concealed in Goozee's car. Goozee’s injury was determined to be self-inflicted.

Offence in December 1995 and 1996 trial

On 25 December 1995, Goozee lured two girls aged 12 and 13 into his home. He gave them alcohol and then indecently assaulted them.

The attacks came to light after the girls contacted ChildLine, a telephone counselling service for children provided by the NSPCC.

In December 1996, Goozee was tried at Maidstone Crown Court. The jury cleared him of the rape of one of the girls but found him guilty of indecent assault. Mr. Justice Gower sentenced him to 6 years imprisonment and said that Goozee's "horrifying" record should be considered if it was felt he should be released in the future.

Investigation

A trail of blood led to the bodies of his landlady and her daughter.

The murder weapon was found concealed in Goozee's car. The post mortem examination showed that Norma had also been indecently assaulted.

Goozee was treated at the Royal South Hampshire Hospital and held under police guard.

Arrest and charges

On 19 June 1956, Goozee was charged with indecently assaulting Norma Leakey.

After being discharged from the hospital on 25 June 1956, Goozee was charged with both murders.

When the case came to trial, the prosecution, led by Norman Roy Fox-Andrews Q.C., elected to proceed on the charge of Norma's murder only, with the murder of Mrs. Leakey to remain on file.

Trial

Trial at Winchester, Hampshire

The trial took place in Winchester, Hampshire. After deliberation, the jury of seven men and five women returned a verdict of guilty as charged.

On 6 December 1956, Mr. Justice Havers sentenced Goozee to death by hanging.

Appeal

Goozee appealed against the conviction. The appeal was heard by Baron Goddard, the Lord Chief Justice, Mr. Justice Cassels and Mr. Justice Lynskey, and it was dismissed on 14 January 1957.

Sentencing

On 6 December 1956, Mr.

Rab Butler, the Home Secretary, recommended that Goozee be reprieved on 25 January 1957, four days before he was due to be executed, on grounds that he had been "provoked beyond reason". The sentence was commuted to life imprisonment.

Mr. Justice Gower later sentenced Goozee in December 1996 to 6 years imprisonment for indecent assault.

Appeals

Goozee’s appeal against conviction was heard by Baron Goddard, the Lord Chief Justice, Mr. Justice Cassels and Mr. Justice Lynskey and was dismissed on 14 January 1957.

Outcome

Goozee was sentenced to death by hanging on 6 December 1956, and the sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment in 1957. He was held at Broadmoor, later released on licence in 1971, and was subsequently convicted of further violent crimes.

In 1996, Goozee was convicted of indecently assaulting two girls aged 12 and 13; the jury cleared him of the rape of one of the girls.

Goozee died on 25 November 2009.

Aftermath

Release and later life

After his release from Broadmoor in 1971, Goozee relocated to Hawksmoor Road, Stafford, Staffordshire, and took up employment at the nearby General Electric Company works.

In 1973, he was imprisoned for theft and "going equipped for theft." In 1977, he was dismissed by GEC when fellow workers, who had learned his identity in 1975, refused to work with him because of his previous conviction and his aggressive behaviour.

Around this time, he was imprisoned for possession of an offensive weapon after threatening a police officer with an iron bar.

In 1982, by which time he had moved to Stonydelph, Tamworth, Staffordshire, Goozee was convicted of wounding a neighbour after stabbing him with a Stanley knife. He was sentenced at Stafford Crown Court to 18 months imprisonment and recalled to his life sentence.

In 1985, Goozee supported a campaign for the return of capital punishment and "volunteered to meet the hangman to take the punishment originally prescribed for him for the murders of 1956."

Goozee was released again in 1993, aged 70, and relocated to Chatham, Kent where he was provided with sheltered housing.

Media and film

A 1996 black comedy film titled Intimate Relations and based on Goozee's murders was released. Starring Julie Walters and Rupert Graves, the film sympathetically portrayed Goozee as a "forlorn young man trapped in a love triangle."

Lydia Leakey's surviving daughter Margaret Haywood criticized the filmmakers for attempting to "make a star out of the man who had murdered her mother and sister."

Predating a July 2000 campaign for Sarah's Law, the News of the World highlighted the case as an example of why the government should allow controlled access to the Sex Offenders Register, so parents with young children could know if a sex-offender was living in their area.

One of the girls’ mothers said: "He was put into the community by the authorities, and none of the parents around here knew that he was a child killer. When I found out what he had done in the past it made me feel physically sick. We could have been burying our kids instead of just trying to rebuild their lives after an horrific ordeal. I hope he rots."

The second mother said: "We should have been told this 'sweet old man' was really a child murderer."

Compassionate release and death

In October 2009, Goozee became the subject of media interest when it was discovered that he had been released on compassionate grounds into the care of a nursing home for the elderly in Wigston, Leicester.

While in the nursing home, Goozee began a hunger strike and refused all food and medication. After developing a blood clot in his heart and complications from diabetes, Goozee died on 25 November 2009.

The coroner recorded a verdict of death by natural causes. Coroner Catherine Mason said: "As a dying man, his needs were recognised so much that he was granted compassionate release. He was permitted to die with dignity in an appropriate setting."

The victims

• Lydia Margaretta "Greta" Leakey, 53, landlady and mother of Norma Noreen Leakey; died from a fractured skull and multiple stab wounds.
• Norma Noreen Leakey, 14, daughter of Lydia Leakey; killed by a single stab wound which had penetrated her heart; post mortem examination revealed she had also been indecently assaulted.

Other details

Trial descriptions and prosecution details

At trial, the prosecution was led by Norman Roy Fox-Andrews Q.C.

The prosecution proceeded on the charge of Norma's murder only, with the murder of Mrs. Leakey to remain on file.

The jury returned a verdict of guilty as charged after deliberation.

Defence claims

In his defence regarding the killings, Goozee claimed Norma had gone to pick bluebells and that on her return she had found him with Mrs. Leakey and axed her mother, who went wild with a knife.

Hospital and police guard