Colchester: Rachel Nickell's boyfriend seeks justice (From Essex County Standard)

Colchester: Rachel Nickell's boyfriend seeks justice

9:00am Saturday 28th November 2009

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The loving boyfriend of former Colchester schoolgirl Rachel Nickell has spoken of determination for justice - 17 years after her death.

Andre Hanscombe said he had submitted a complaint against the police to try to ensure mistakes are not repeated.

Rachel, who was 23, was killed in a frenzied knife attack on Wimbledon Common in July 1992 in front of her two-year-old son Alex.

Police pursued innocent Colin Stagg as their prime suspect but Mr Hanscombe believes they did not sufficiently investigate the real killer Robert Napper.

He said: "When Robert Napper was convicted of killing Rachel, although the intolerable waiting had come to an end, the glaring question why the investigation had taken so long and had been handled so badly remained largely unanswered.

"To have found out as I did in December 2008 that Rachel’s death may have been prevented, initially left me numb.

"Now that I have had time to come to terms with it, I feel determined to bring all of the issues and events and mistakes out into the light."

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