Lorraine Thorpe

Case record: Lorraine Thorpe

Background

Lorraine Thorpe was 15 at the time of the killings and was later 16.

Desmond Thorpe was 43, and was described as a chronic alcoholic and a “vulnerable” alcoholic. He was found dead in Limerick Close, Ipswich.

Rosalyn Hunt was 41 and was described as vulnerable and a long-term alcoholic. She was found dead in her flat in Victoria Street, Ipswich.

Lorraine Thorpe was described as on the run from social services after absconding from a children’s home, though this was denied by social services.

Lorraine Thorpe’s parents split up when she was 12; she initially lived with her mother before going to look after her father at 13. She and her father moved “from one squalid flat to another”, sometimes living in tents.

She stopped going to school and stopped taking medication needed to treat her attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Social services were unable to keep track of her, and when she was placed in a school she escaped and went back to her father.

Lorraine Thorpe and Desmond Thorpe were described as “loved each other very much.”

Thorpe’s upbringing was described in sentencing remarks as not being a proper upbringing, and the judge said it left her as a violent young woman and a highly manipulative young woman.

Defence counsel Graham Parkins QC said Lorraine Thorpe was vulnerable herself, both physically and in terms of her emotional well-being, and that it was highly inappropriate for this young girl to be playing a role of carer to her drunken and frail father. Parkins said she never really had much of a chance in life, and that there seemed to have been little supervision and she had been left to her own devices.

The offence

Lorraine Thorpe and Paul Clarke were convicted of murdering Desmond Thorpe and murdering Rosalyn Hunt.

Lorraine Thorpe and Paul Clarke also committed the murders in the context of a street-drinking community in Ipswich.

Mrs Hunt and Mr Thorpe were both members of the street-drinking community in Ipswich and spent time with fellow drinkers at Paul Clarke’s flat in Mountbatten Court or at Mrs Hunt’s flat in Victoria Street.

The jury was told that Mrs Hunt had been killed after Paul Clarke blamed her for his dog attacking a child, and that Des Thorpe was murdered to silence him after he threatened to tell the police about what had happened to Mrs Hunt.

Lorraine Thorpe and Paul Clarke denied murdering Mrs Hunt between August 1 and 10 and denied murdering Mr Thorpe on August 10.

Violence against Rosalyn Hunt

Two days before she was killed, Rosalyn Hunt was tortured by Clarke and Lorraine Thorpe after Clarke accused her of hitting his dog.

Witnesses described Rosalyn Hunt being repeatedly kicked and punched in the head, being whipped with a dog chain, having her hair set alight with a cigarette lighter, and having salt rubbed in her open wounds.

On the day of her death, Clarke and Lorraine Thorpe subjected Rosalyn Hunt to further violence, which led to her death after Clarke was furious following his dog attacking a child in Ipswich town centre.

A post-mortem examination found Rosalyn Hunt died from a heavy blow to her neck/chest area. She also had multiple external injuries and nine broken ribs.

Lorraine Thorpe was described in sentencing remarks as “stubborn, wilful, highly manipulative and bright but also immature and childish even for her young age,” and as having played a “full part” in the murder of Mrs Hunt and an attempt to cover it up.

The sentencing remarks stated:

“She appeared to have glorified in it and described to a friend how she stamped on Rosie's head.”

The sentencing remarks also stated:

“She was responsible for protracted kicking, punching and stamping on Rosalyn, who was not fit to defend herself effectively from the outset. By the end of those attacks she was completely helpless. Far from being sorry, Lorraine appears to have gloried in it, describing to her friends at one stage how she stamped on Rosalyn's head.”

Violence against Desmond Thorpe

After Rosalyn Hunt’s death, Paul Clarke and Lorraine Thorpe collected Desmond Thorpe from Mountbatten Court and went with him to a friend’s flat in Limerick Close, Ipswich.

Lorraine Thorpe and Desmond Thorpe were described as him being her father and she being his carer.

Desmond Thorpe was found with a faint, patterned mark on his forehead which could have been caused by the imprint of a shoe. There were cuts to his upper lip caused by contact with his teeth, and a pathologist concluded he had been smothered.

The sentencing remarks stated Desmond Thorpe died by being smothered to death, with fear that he would go and tell the police about what had happened to Rosalyn Hunt.

The sentencing remarks stated:

“The only possible explanation for his death can be the fear that he would go and tell the police what happened to Rosalyn Hunt.”

Investigation and arrest

Detectives named a woman and a man found dead in their homes in Ipswich.

Rosalyn Hunt, 41, was found in her flat in Victoria Street, Ipswich, on Sunday. A post-mortem examination found the cause of death as trauma to the body.

Desmond Thorpe, 43, was found in Limerick Close, Ipswich, the next day. Post-mortem tests were inconclusive.

On Monday, a man aged 41 and a girl aged 15 were arrested on suspicion of murder. A 27-year-old man was also arrested. Investigations were ongoing at the properties in Victoria Street and Limerick Close, Ipswich.

Trial

Lorraine Thorpe and Paul Clarke were convicted at Ipswich Crown Court in August 2010.

At Lorraine Thorpe and Paul Clarke’s trial, jurors heard evidence from a young friend of Thorpe who said the girl had confessed to being a murderer.

A prison padre also told the jury she had spoken of her father’s killing on the anniversary of his birthday.

During the trial, lawyers for Thorpe and Clarke told the Court of Appeal that the convictions for Desmond Thorpe’s murder were unsafe and should be overturned. Their lawyers claimed that evidence was inadmissible.

During the trial Paul Clarke admitted kicking Mrs Hunt twice on the day she died but said he did not think his actions contributed to her death.

Paul Clarke said he had fallen asleep in Mrs Hunt’s lounge and had been woken up by Lorraine Thorpe who told him that Mrs Hunt was dead.

Paul Clarke claimed Des Thorpe had been a friend and denied being involved in Des Thorpe’s death.

Lorraine Thorpe and John Grimwood chose not to give evidence during the trial.

A court order had banned Lorraine Thorpe from being named in media reports because of her age; after convictions the judge said it was in the public interest to lift the court order.

Other defendant and acquittal

John Grimwood, 28, of Canham Street, Ipswich, was accused of murdering Mrs Hunt. The jury acquitted John Grimwood.

Sentencing

On 7 September 2010, Lorraine Thorpe was ordered to be detained for a minimum 14 years.

Thorpe was sentenced to be detained at Her Majesty’s pleasure, described as the juvenile equivalent of a life sentence, and she would not be released until the parole board was satisfied she was no longer a danger.

Mr Justice Saunders described Thorpe as “stubborn, wilful, highly manipulative and bright but also immature and childish even for her young age”.

The judge said:

“There is no doubt she cared for and loved her father but he refused to accept that she had been completely under the dominant influence of Clarke.”

The judge said:

“Her story is an appalling one.”

The judge said:

“She spent all her time with middle-aged alcoholics to whom violence was the norm” as they fought each other “and stole to get the drink which they craved”.

The judge said she had played a “full part” in the murder of Ms Hunt and an attempt to cover it up.

The judge said:

“At the time of his death her father was a hopeless alcoholic, unable to walk unaided or do anything for himself in his weakened state. Not only was he extremely vulnerable but his daughter had accepted the care of him.”

Thorpe was told she must serve at least 14 years behind bars.

Appeals

The Appeal Court rejected appeals relating to Desmond Thorpe’s murder.

Lord Justice Hughes, sitting with Mr Justice Treacy and Mr Justice Edwards-Stuart, told the Appeal Court that they had no doubt the conviction was safe.

Lorraine Thorpe was convicted along with Paul Clarke, 41, from Ipswich.

The convictions for Desmond Thorpe’s murder were challenged on the basis that they were unsafe and should be overturned.

Outcome

Lorraine Thorpe remained convicted of the murders of Desmond Thorpe and Rosalyn Hunt.

She would be able to apply for parole after 14 years behind bars.

Other details

The record described additional context around Paul Clarke’s sentencing and John Grimwood’s acquittal:

• Paul Clarke was sentenced to serve at least 27 years in prison for the double Suffolk murder.
• The jury unanimously found Clarke guilty of Mrs Hunt’s murder.
• The jury found Clarke guilty of Mr Thorpe’s murder by majority verdicts of 10-2 after more than 17 hours of deliberations.