Ronald Jebson

Case identification

Ronald Jebson (born 1939) was a convicted pedophile who was also known as Ronald Harper.

Timeline

• 1958 — Jebson joined the army and was discharged on medical grounds.
• 1960 — Jebson enlisted again and, within months, went absent without leave and was discharged again.
• March 1970 — Susan Blatchford (11) and Gary Hanlon (12) disappeared from their neighbourhood of Enfield in North London.
• 1 April 1970 — It snowed in Enfield.
• June 17, 1970 — A 20-year-old man out walking his Labrador Retriever found the badly decomposed bodies of Susan Blatchford and Gary Hanlon in a copse of trees at the edge of Epping Forest.
• June 17, 1970 — The children’s remains were taken for medical testing; the cause of death was recorded as “unascertainable”.
• 1973 — Jebson was released from prison.
• 1974 — Jebson killed eight-year-old Rosemary Papper and was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum 20 year term.
• Early March 1970 — Jebson was released from prison and taken in by an old school friend in Hatfield, not far from Epping Forest.
• Four days after killing the children — Jebson enticed an 11-year-old boy from Nottinghamshire into his car, took the boy into nearby woods, and sexually assaulted him.
• Four years — After 1996, detectives and exhumation of Susan’s body took four more years to force Jebson to confess.
• 1974 — At sentencing, Mr Justice Kenneth Jones recommended he serve at least 20 years for the murder of Rosemary Papper.
• 1996 — Jebson contacted detectives from Wakefield prison claiming the Pappers were Susan and Gary’s killers; police reopened the case and later exhumed Susan’s body.
• 1998 — Jebson confessed to the murders.
• May 9, 2000 — Jebson admitted both murders at the Old Bailey and received two further life sentences.
• Tuesday, 9 May, 2000 — Judge David Stokes told him: “Thirty years ago you abducted, sexually assaulted and brutally murdered two young children. What they went through before they died does not bear thinking about.”

Background

Susan Blatchford was an 11-year-old from Enfield. Gary Hanlon was a 12-year-old from Enfield.

Jebson was an alcoholic and amphetamine addict, and he had a history described as going back 15 years involving sexual assaults of children. He was discharged from the army in 1958 on medical grounds, and he enlisted again in 1960 but was discharged after going absent without leave.

Jebson was separated from his wife and had a 15-year-old daughter. He was described as an illegitimate child brought up by foster parents. After adoption by the Jebson family, he claimed to have been rejected by his adoptive parents and for many years reverted to his birth name of Harper. After a sex-crime conviction, he returned to the name Jebson, believing his adoptive parents would be “blighted” by his use of the name.

Jebson once told a prison psychiatrist that “he was evil” and that “he was afraid of himself.” He also said: “If I get a few drinks and poppers, nothing would stop me.” He opted not to receive treatment while in prison, believing it was simply a “feel-good” response by politicians and that it would not help him.

The offence

Disappearance and deaths of Susan Blatchford and Gary Hanlon

Susan Blatchford and Gary Hanlon disappeared from their neighbourhood of Enfield in North London during March 1970. Their bodies were found in Epping Forest after they disappeared.

On March 31, 1970, Susan spent the last morning of her life teaching her younger niece and nephew how to fly a kite. Around 4:30 p.m., she stopped by the home of her best friend, Gary Hanlon, and invited him out to play. They were last seen that day walking down a quiet lane in their North London suburb, holding hands and laughing. Gary was supposed to be home in time for his dinner, and when he failed to show up by 8 p.m., his parents, Frank and Beryl, contacted police.

Susan’s parents were Lionel and Murial Blatchford. In the days after they disappeared, police were contacted and searches began. In 1970 children did not go missing in Enfield, and the night of March 31 turned bitterly cold with the temperature falling below freezing. On April 1, it snowed in Enfield. Susan and Gary were described as wearing light coats that would not have protected them from the elements.

Their bodies were found in a copse of trees at the edge of Epping Forest on June 17, 1970. They were badly decomposed and lay in the stand with their arms around each other, with their clothes askew.

What Jebson admitted in court

Jebson admitted to murders of Susan Blatchford (11) and Gary Hanlon (12) at the Old Bailey on May 9, 2000. In a description of the admissions at trial, Jebson was said to have driven in the area and enticed the children into his car, plied them with drink and cannabis in Epping Forest near London, sexually assaulted Susan, and then turned his attentions to Gary. When Gary tried to fight him off, Jebson strangled both children and dumped their bodies in a hide he had built in the woods. Jebson kept Susan’s tights, bra and underwear as “trophies.”

Previous and additional offences involving Jebson

Jebson was serving a life sentence for the murder of eight-year-old Rosemary Papper. He had been imprisoned for life in 1974 for that murder of Rosemary Papper.

Four days after killing Susan and Gary, Jebson enticed an 11-year-old boy from Nottinghamshire into his car, took the boy into nearby woods and sexually assaulted him. For that crime, he was convicted and sentenced to five years in prison.

In early March 1970, Jebson was released from prison and taken in by an old school friend in Hatfield, not far from Epping Forest. While living with his friend, a man named Robert Papper with a five-year-old daughter was mentioned in connection with the subsequent events involving Rosemary Papper.

Jebson was described as kidnapping and killing Gary and Susan while the Papper family was taken in by the convict. Jebson later told police of his gift for “making people feel sorry for me so I can manipulate them.”

Investigation

A massive investigation took place following the disappearance in March 1970. It involved calling in Scotland Yard, and it involved 600 police officers who interviewed more than 15,000 people and searched nearly 4,500 homes.

Lead Detective Chief Superintendent Leonard “Nipper” Read was involved in the murder inquiry. Officers searched the area and searched nearly 4,500 homes. Officers with dogs combed vast tracts of country, while frogmen investigated the River Lee, the King George V reservoir and flooded gravel pits.

Searches included the vast wilderness known as Epping Forest, about a half-hour walk from the homes of Susan and Gary. That search was fruitless.

One person interviewed was a convicted pedophile, Ronald Jebson. He spoke to police on two occasions but had an alibi for the evening and police did not follow it up.

By summer 1970, police ran out of leads and the investigation was bogged down. The case was later reopened in 1996.

Medical and coroner’s findings at the time

The children’s remains were taken for medical examiner testing and a battery of tests. The medical examiner was unable to ascertain the cause of death and “unascertainable” was entered as the cause of death.

At the coroner’s inquest, the coroner speculated that the clothes had been torn up and that Susan’s bra and underclothes had been “removed by foxes.” Their bodies were so badly decomposed that the coroner recorded an open verdict because scientific tests at the time could not tell if the pair had died from exposure or foul play. One description also said Susan’s corpse was still dressed in her overcoat, blouse and corduroy pants, and only her underclothes were missing.

Arrest and confession

In 1973, Jebson was released from prison, and Rosemary Papper’s family events were described in the narrative: he was taken back into the home but was asked to leave in early 1974. Jebson was described as vowing revenge, saying: “I’ll get even with both of you,” and “I will do something you’ll regret.”

At some point, Jebson was arrested the next day after he picked up Rosemary Papper from school, bought her some candy, and raped her; he then drove her around for several hours before strangling her with twine. Jebson confessed to the murder. He was convicted and sentenced to life in prison with a minimum 20 year term.

Twenty years into his life sentence, Jebson contacted police and said he had information about the deaths of Susan and Gary. Nipper Read had retired, and the case was headed by Detective Chief Inspector Declan Donnelly of Scotland Yard. In 1996, Jebson contacted detectives from Wakefield prison claiming the Pappers were Susan and Gary’s killers. Donnelly disproved his story and became convinced it was Jebson himself.

It took four more years and exhumation of Susan’s body to force Jebson to confess to the murders. Jebson told a chilling, horrific tale of their last hours. The narrative included: “The only thing he wouldn’t do was go into the copse again,” and it also included a statement about ghosts: “He told us he didn’t want to run into their ghosts.”

In his account, Jebson said he randomly selected his victims as he drove home after visiting an employment office in Enfield. High on drugs of choice, he selected his victims and took the children to a field where he raped Susan. When Gary told him he wanted to go home, he told him: “You’re not going anywhere.” Jebson then beat and raped him, before strangling both children and keeping Susan’s tights, bra and underwear as “trophies.”

Trial proceedings at Old Bailey

At the Old Bailey on May 9, 2000, Jebson admitted both murders. His mother-related accounts included that both mothers were in court. Their statements and reactions were recorded in the narrative.

Judge David Stokes told Jebson: “Thirty years ago you abducted, sexually assaulted and brutally murdered two young children.

In the narrative about media statements, Detective Chief Superintendent Leonard “Nipper” Read said outside court: “I always knew the children had been murdered but I had almost given up hope that the case would be solved. Jebson is a very very sad man.”

The Crown prosecutor also said at sentencing that Jebson confessed because he felt he would be dying soon and did not want their deaths on his conscience.

Detective Chief Inspector Declan Donnelly did not believe Jebson’s explanation and was quoted after Jebson was sentenced to two life terms: “Jebson is a fixated, sadistic pedophile,” and “I do not think he confessed to clear his conscience. There is a certain element of status building in prison. We have seen justice done but we have also boosted his ego.”

Sentencing

On May 9, 2000, Jebson was sentenced to two further life sentences at the Old Bailey after admitting the murders of Susan Blatchford (11) and Gary Hanlon (12).

Judge David Stokes told him: “Thirty years ago you abducted, sexually assaulted and brutally murdered two young children. What they went through before they died does not bear thinking about.” The narrative also described that he told him: “You are a truly wicked and perverted man.”

Earlier sentencing for Rosemary Papper was described as taking place in 1974 at St Albans Crown Court. The judge at that sentencing was Mr Justice Kenneth Jones. Mr Justice Kenneth Jones recommended he serve at least 20 years for the murder of Rosemary Papper.

The narrative included Mr Jones’s sentencing remarks:

“You took this small child aged eight and you committed these sexual offences on her and as you could not afford to take her home you took her life,” Mr Jones said. “The mind recoils from the horror and enmity of the offences you committed. “This was a vicious, ruthless, sexual murder for which I can find nothing to be said in mitigation. “I regard you as an extremely dangerous man indeed.”

Jebson had already been serving a life sentence for the murder of Rosemary Papper when he received two further life sentences in 2000.

Appeals

No appeals were described in the provided material.

Outcome

Jebson admitted the murders of Susan Blatchford and Gary Hanlon at the Old Bailey and received two further life sentences on May 9, 2000.

In the narrative, it was stated that he was still in prison and media sources had stated that he was unlikely ever to be released.

Aftermath

Statements by family members and supporters

Muriel Blatchford and Beryl Hanlon were in court when Jebson was sentenced in 2000. Both had been widowed between their children’s disappearance and Jebson’s pleas and both blamed the stress of the loss for their husbands’ deaths.

Muriel Blatchford’s quote included:

“I was working in the afternoons and I remember being in such a rush that I never got to kiss her goodbye,” she said. “Can you imagine that? I never got to kiss her goodbye.”

The narrative also included Muriel Blatchford’s earlier statement at the time of discovery:

“The only animal that could remove Susan’s bra, pants, and tights is a human animal.”

The narrative further included Detective Chief Superintendent Leonard “Nipper” Read being quoted: “Many senior officials at Scotland Yard tried to dissuade me and insisted that it was simply a tragic accident that the children had become lost and died of exposure in each other’s arms.”

Support for the families included Norman Brennan, of the Victims of Crime Trust, who was quoted:

“The torment and torture that the families of these victims have gone through for 30 years is beyond words. “Jebson should never be allowed the opportunity of freedom again.”

The narrative included a quote from Gary Hanlon’s sister, Sharon Meger:

“We never believed that accident story.”

Norman Brennan’s statements and Muriel’s statements were part of the post-sentencing aftermath.

Earlier witnesses and background details in the narrative

The narrative described Susan as a tomboy who loved horses and climbing trees. Susan’s dog Blackie clawed at the floor after she disappeared, and Muriel Blatchford had commented before Susan’s body was discovered: “Blackie knows something.”

The narrative stated that Gary had been cheerful and home-loving and had asked permission from his mother before going out. He was told not to go far as a meal was being prepared.

Other details

Jebson had kept his “secret” for three decades in the narrative.

When Jebson was released from prison in early March 1970, he was taken in by an old school friend in Hatfield near Epping Forest. He was described as joining that friend and living there at the time.

In 1974, the narrative described that Jebson had been staying with Rosemary Papper’s parents but they told him he was no longer welcome. Jebson swore revenge, and neighbours recalled the phrase: “I will do something you will regret.”

Jebson’s previous offences were listed in the narrative:

• 1968: Jailed for two years for indecently assaulting a girl aged six.
• 1970: Murders Susan, 11, and Gary, 12.
• 1970: Jailed for three years for sexually assaulting a boy aged 11.
• 1973: Released from prison and lives with Rosemary Papper’s family.
• 1974: Murders Rosemary, eight.
• 1974: Jailed for life.
• 1996: Tells police he knows Babes’ killers.
• 1998: Confesses to murders.

A statement in the narrative also referred to Jebson as “Ronald Jebson, 61,” and separately “Ronald Jebson, 62,” at the time of the Old Bailey proceedings on May 9, 2000.