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Schoolboy murderer Brian Field dies behind bars 50 years after he abducted and killed child
22 April 2024, 19:43
Schoolboy murderer Brian Field has died behind bars 50 years after he abducted and killed a 14-year-old boy.
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Field died aged 87 at HMP Full Sutton in Yorkshire in February, the Ministry of Justice confirmed.
It said the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman would carry out an investigation as with all deaths in custody.
Field was jailed for life in 2001 over the murder of schoolboy Roy Tutill, who he abducted, raped and strangled in 1968.
Roy had been hitch-hiking home from school so he could save his bus fare to buy a new bicycle.
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He went missing on April 23 and his body was found three days later in Mickleham, Surrey.
Field was convicted over 30 years later, when DNA was matched to him after he was stopped by police for drink driving.
He pleaded guilty to murder but not sexual assault before being jailed.
Police went on to look at several unsolved murder cases following his conviction, to see whether they could have also been connected to him.
He was linked to the Milk Carton Kids, David Spencer and Patrick Warren, who disappeared on Boxing Day in 1996 while playing near their homes in Solihull.
The pair were the first children to appear on milk cartons as part of a campaign by the National Missing Persons Helpline.
But they were never found and no one was ever charged over their disappearance.
Field was identified as a prime suspect in 2006 but denied involvement.
He was questioned by detectives but there was not enough evidence for him to be charged.