Michael Sams

Case record: Michael Sams

Status

Michael Sams was sentenced to life in prison in 1992.

Background

Michael Sams (born August 11, 1941) was an English rapist, kidnapper and extortionist murderer.

He was known to be serving four life sentences. His minimum term had never been made public, though he was still behind bars 16 years after his arrest.

Several years before killing Julie Dart and abducting Stephanie Slater, Sams had been found guilty of car theft.

Sams was a competitive middle distance runner before contracting the disease that caused him to lose his leg.

Since going to prison, Sams continued to offend, attacking a female probation officer with a metal spike. He received an addition of eight years to his term for this act.

He won £4,000 (approx. $USD 7,867) damages when the prison service lost his artificial leg when moving him from one prison to another.

He had attempted to sue Slater for libel claiming that he never raped her.

He also brought a civil case because he thought that his prison bed was too hard.

Sams made the news again in April 2007 when, in a letter to Inside Time, he claimed that "OAPs in prison are far better off than those in the community."

Sams was one of several convicted kidnappers and murderers whose name had been mentioned in connection with the disappearance of Suzy Lamplugh, who vanished from London in July 1986 and was believed to have been murdered. It was also asked whether it was possible that Michael Sams was the Mr Kipper who was thought to be behind the disappearance of Suzy Lamplugh.

In 2003, Bob Taylor hosted a kind of Reality TV programme entitled The Murder Game. In one episode broadcast on Saturday 12th April 2003, Anita made an appearance working in a chemists in Witham High Street.

The offence

Julie Dart

Around the 4th July 1991, 18-year-old Julie Dart, who was working as a prostitute in the Chapeltown area of Leeds, West Yorkshire, vanished without trace.

On Friday 12th Julie's boyfriend received a peculiar letter from her. He took it to Julie's mother Lynn. The letter stated that she, Julie, had been kidnapped. A ransom was demanded and the Police, under Detective Superintendent Bob Taylor, were brought in.

On 19th July 1991, Julie Dart's body was discovered in a field in Lincolnshire. She had received three blows to the back of her head and strangled.

Julie Dart was struck repeatedly with a hammer and then strangled on July 10, 1991.

Stephanie Slater

On Wednesday 22nd January 1992, Stephanie Slater disappeared while she was showing a prospective client, who called himself "Mr. Southwell", around a house in the Great Barr area of Birmingham. Stephanie Slater worked for Shipways Estate Agents in Birmingham.

Ransom letters soon confirmed that Stephanie had been kidnapped by the same person who had murdered Julie Dart.

For the next week Stephanie was kept against her will, locked inside a wheelie bin every night, and her kidnapper raped her.

His ransom demand of £175000 was agreed by the police. The demand included that the money should be dropped off by a work colleague of Staphanie, Kevin Watts, on Friday 31st January.

Plans were put into place to track Mr. Watts, but they went awry, and the kidnapper escaped undetected with the money. He did keep his promise and drove Stephanie back to her home that very evening.

Once Stephanie's release had been ensured, the police set out to capture her kidnapper.

The jurors were told that Miss Slater, his second victim, was held for eight days in a coffin-like box while Sams, who seized her after posing as a prospective house-buyer, demanded a £175,000 ransom.

Attack on Julie Flack (probation officer hostage incident in prison)

Sams was convicted of holding Julie Flack after a four-day trial at Durham Crown Court.

Sams was cleared of attempting to murder a probation officer yesterday, but jailed for a further eight years for holding her hostage with a metal spike in his prison cell.

He was already serving four life sentences for murdering Julie Dart, a prostitute, and abducting the estate agent Stephanie Slater.

Mrs Flack was the wife of the Rt Rev John Flack, Bishop of Huntingdon. Mrs Flack was attacked as she held a surgery at Wakefield Prison, South Yorks, on Oct 23, 1995.

Mr Justice Morland told Sams:

"Although I accept that you never intended to harm her, you threatened to kill her unless she did as you said and you armed yourself with a metal object, sharpening it to terrorise her. You also had tape to bind her. She was petrified, traumatised and in a state of shock."

The jurors were told only at the end of the trial that Sams was already serving four life sentences.

Sams was cleared of trying to murder Mrs Flack.

During the trial, Mrs Flack recalled how Sams had lunged at her within moments of warning her:

"Touch that alarm button and you're dead."

Sams said that his intention had merely been to shock Mrs Flack. He said:

"I had said the same thing to Stephanie Slater. "I threatened her with a knife and she froze and did everything I told her. She might have said in her book that she struggled, but she never."

It was stated that Sams had carried out the attack on Mrs Flack partly to focus attention on his claim that the Prison Service had prevented him from suing Miss Slater for accusing him of raping her. It was also stated that he was angry about a refusal to let him sell his paintings for charity.

After the case, Det Supt Bob Taylor said of Sams:

"Sometimes what he does is for fame. During the latest incident the Rose West trial was on, and I suspect he didn't like being knocked off the front page. He has nothing to lose by playing his games - he's got nothing else to amuse him."

Mrs Flack spoke of her relief that the case was over. She said:

"This week has been a considerable ordeal, but nevertheless it was important for me, as part of my own recovery process, to be part of it. Although he is already serving a life sentence, it was right that he was prosecuted for an attack which did threaten my life. His conviction gives a message to anybody working in prisons that the law will uphold the right not to face intimidation or assault from violent prisoners."

Mrs Flack said that, although she would be prepared to return to working in a prison:

"that is not up for discussion at the moment".

Sams spent this week's trial handcuffed and flanked by four prison officers.

Mr Justice Morland acknowledged that Sams had "genuine grievances" against the Prison Service.

Investigation

On the February edition of Crimewatch UK three weeks later, the police played a recording of his voice taken from a telephone conversation.

It was heard by Susan Oake, who telephoned giving details of her ex-husband, Michael Sams.

Arrest

Sams was traced to his workshop in Newark, Nottinghamshire, the place where both Julie Dart and Stephanie Slater had been held captive.

He was arrested.

Trial

Sams conducted his own defence.

He was cleared of trying to murder Mrs Flack.

Sentencing

Sams was jailed for life in 1993.

Sams received an additional eight years to his term for holding Julie Flack hostage with a metal spike in his prison cell.

Appeals

No appeal details were provided in the material.

Outcome

Michael Sams was serving four life sentences and had additional imprisonment for the hostage incident involving Julie Flack.

Aftermath

Sams continued to pursue legal matters, including an attempt to sue Slater for libel claiming that he never raped her and a civil case about his prison bed being too hard.

He also commented in a letter to Inside Time in April 2007 that "OAPs in prison are far better off than those in the community."

Nigel Bunyan reported that Sams received further 8 years for cell attack on Friday 14 February 1997.