Michael Sams

On 9 July 1991, Sams drove to a local red light area and picked up a sex worker named Julie Dart, an 18-year-old Leeds resident.[6] She was blindfolded and taken to Sams' warehouse, where she was placed in a coffin-like box and chained to the floor.[6] According to Sams' later confession, Dart smashed her way out of the box in an attempt to escape, but she was unable to get out of the room. Sams, who had wired an alarm to the box, returned to chain her to a roof beam. The following day, Sams forced Dart to write a letter to her boyfriend demanding a ransom of £140,000, or "the hostage would never be seen again". He also made her write other notes.[7] After the notes were written, Sams murdered Dart with a hammer.[7] Nine days later he dumped her body in a field in Easton, Lincolnshire.[7]

Since it was never likely that Dart's ransom would be paid, it has been suggested that Sams always intended to kill her. Paul Britton, a clinical psychologist who advised the detectives who interviewed Sams, argues that he abducted a prostitute because it would be relatively easy and was good "practice". It would also not create too much of "a stir".[8] By killing Dart and leaving her body where it would easily be found, Sams would "convince the police that he was to be regarded as a serious adversary" and intimidate his next victims into paying up.[8][9] McGredy-Hunt, however, notes that Sams continued to demand ransom for several days after Dart's death, only dumping her body (initially hidden in a wheelie bin) after the smell became difficult to conceal.

Sams continued to send messages to the police. One stated "prostitutes are easy to pick up, and I won't spend any more time in prison for killing two instead of one."[7] He later claimed to have kidnapped another prostitute, but police could find no evidence that any had gone missing. Sams also sent messages stating he would intentionally cause a train crash unless he was paid a ransom. He also attempted to blackmail supermarkets by threatening to poison food.[10]

Some months later, on 22 January 1992, Sams kidnapped again. Using a false name, he arranged to meet Stephanie Slater, an estate agent, ostensibly to view a property in Turnberry Road, Great Barr, Birmingham. At the property he attacked Slater, tied her up, and then took her to his workshop. Sams again demanded a ransom, this time from Slater's manager at the estate agency. When it was paid, Sams released Slater.[11] Given his previous crime, police had expected the kidnapper to kill Slater. They hoped to stop him by following him after he picked up the ransom, but Sams had anticipated this, and devised an elaborate scheme to successfully give them the slip.

Interviewed in 2013 on BBC Radio 4's One to One programme, Slater said that for eight days she was held – handcuffed, legs bound, blindfolded and gagged – in a "coffin" inside a wheelie bin laid horizontally. Sams had told her she would be electrocuted if she tried to move. Slater said that when she was allowed out of the coffin for food, she chatted about herself to Sams, "to humanise" herself and to increase her chances of survival. Within twelve hours of her release, she was made to face a press conference, even though she was still drugged and highly distressed. Police later acknowledged that this was an error of judgement.[12]

On the BBC television programme Crimewatch, the police made public a tape recording of the kidnapper's voice, which was recognised by Sams' first wife.[13] Sams was arrested, and forensic evidence was gathered of his responsibility for Dart's murder. He was convicted in July 1993 and sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of Dart and the abduction of Slater.[14] Upon being positively identified by Slater, Sams admitted the kidnapping, but denied the murder charge in court. He confessed to the murder in prison three days after he was found guilty.[15][16] Out of the £175,000 ransom that was paid for the release of Slater, Police located £150,000 buried in a field by using Ground-Penetrating Radar. The remaining £25,000 was never recovered.

Following her release, Slater felt unable to return to work as an estate agent, and moved to the Isle of Wight in 1993. She subsequently worked with police forces to advise them on how to deal with kidnap survivors, and with the survivors themselves, to help them to recover from their ordeals. She died on 31 August 2017, aged 50, from cancer.[17]

Sams continued to offend after he was imprisoned, attacking a female probation officer with a metal spike. He received an addition of eight years to his term for this act.[18]

Sams was awarded £4,000 damages when the prison service lost his artificial leg during a transfer. The award caused considerable public outrage. He also brought a civil case because he believed that his prison bed was too hard.[19] A further complaint was that he was unfairly held in solitary confinement leading to a loss of earnings, and that works of art he had painted in prison had gone missing.[20] He made the news again in April 2007 when, in a letter to Inside Time, a newspaper for prisoners, he claimed that "OAPs in prison are far better off than those in the community."

Sams remains in prison, having served 28 years of his life sentence. No recommended minimum term was reported at his trial, and it is unknown whether any Home Secretary or High Court judge subsequently ruled how many years Sams must serve before he can be considered for parole. Now aged 79, he is among the oldest and long-serving life sentence prisoners in England and Wales.[21][22]