Does anyone else remember this poor lad? Christopher Laverack murder: 'Melvyn Read was the killer' The case was Humberside Police's longest-running unsolved murder case A nine-year-old boy found dead in 1984 after vanishing from his sister's home in Hull where he was babysitting was killed by his uncle, police have said. The body of Christopher Laverack was found in Beverley Beck two days after his disappearance on 9 March 1984. Humberside Police have now identified his uncle Melvyn Read, who died in 2008, as the killer. It was the force's longest-running unsolved murder case. Det Supt Ray Higgins said Read, a convicted sex offender, was "evil". The schoolboy had been left alone with his 15-month-old nephew Martin at the house in Harpham Grove, east Hull, when his sister Kim Hines left for work and her husband Stephen went out. Mr Hines returned about an hour later to discover Christopher was no longer there. The boy's body was found two days later in a plastic carpet underlay bag weighted down by a brick. Detectives said he had suffered savage injuries and his clothing had been disturbed, suggesting he had been sexually assaulted. Humberside Police said Read had emerged as a suspect when allegations of child abuse were levelled against him. In 2003, he was convicted of a number of sex offences involving children and jailed for seven-and-a-half years. Police said a case had been built up against the uncle, with evidence including the fact that Read owned a car fitting the description of a vehicle seen outside Harpham Grove the night Christopher disappeared. He was arrested in 2006 in connection with his nephew's death. But detectives were unable to gather conclusive evidence to charge him with the murder before he died from cancer in Hull prison in February 2008. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-humber-19075183
Yes I remember this ,very deep sadness over Preston Road. I remember a CID officer telling me they new who it was, but almost certain they would offend again before he was caught.
Terrible end to a short life. I seem to remember the poor lad was getting pimped out for a time before that too. To think he would be 37 now. RIP.
What I can't understand is why they've come out with this verdict now. They had the same evidence when the perverted b*****d was alive so why not charge him then? May he rot in Hell!!!
Believe forensic proof only recently available. Pollen particles on the kids soles and front of clothes matched pollen in his pervert uncle's garden. The worst local murder in several decades for the suffering that young kid endured before he died at the hands of someone whom he should have been able to trust.
I was at school when all this happened. The Dad of one of my mates was the detective who headed up the case. I remember him saying at the time that they always knew exactly who had done it, and he was an evil b*****d. But they couldn't get a confession out of him, and simply didn't have enough evidence to make the case stick in court. It was all massively frustrating and highly pressured for the Police - as they did largely appear to be incompetent in the eyes of the public. The poor lad. We can only pray that justice may be done. RIP.
I was aware of the incident at the time and too young appreciate details so i didnt know until now that he was left alone for only 1 hour. That's not an opportune incident, that's planned and at risk of stating the obvious ****ing evil. Bastard.
There was a definite feeling the family were covering up. what bloke leaves an 8 yr old all alone anyway. The mother is/was certainly no angel and as i said in previous post poor Christopher was thought to have been pimped out. There was also a feeling as with *****phile rings, what other men were involved in the ring? Did certain people in Hull want information coming out? Possibly all rumour but all these man hours and millions of interviews and then the uncle did it!!
It happened before I was born, but like the Bulger killing its a story I can remember hearing and reading about as I've grown up. A truly shocking crime, at least Christopher now has justice with his killer been named. RIP.
Like Manuel, it happened 11 years before I was born but I've certainly heard about it growing up. Truly shocking
I remember this well as one of my school-mates dads found the body. Knowing that the uncle worked or used to work next to Beverley Beck surely they could have closed this case out at the time, what are the odds of that when the guy lived in the Preston Road area of Hull?
