The murder of Lynette White on Valentine’s Day in 1988 is the subject of an insightful new documentary on Paramount+.
As if the death of a young woman wasn’t tragic enough, Lynette’s case became infamous for other reasons, too. When five men were wrongly convicted of her murder, it became known as one of Britain’s biggest miscarriages of justice.
Murder of Lynette White on Paramount+ is a two-parter which includes the testimony of friends and a radio reporter who got to know her. We discover that she had the life of a sex worker “imposed upon her”.
As is the current trend with true crime series and documentaries (quite rightly), the Murder of Lynette White pays attention to the victim, who she was, and what kind of person she was before her tragic death.
Paramount+ documentary Murder of Lynette White
Murder of Lynette White examines the senseless murder of a young woman, and how five innocent men were wrongfully convicted of the crime. The story of the ‘Cardiff Five’ remains one of Britain’s most notorious miscarriages of justice.
The shocking true story has previously been the subject of a BBC Two documentary Killing in Tiger Bay, which re-examined the story of the innocent men.
It’s been 35 years since Lynette White was murdered on Valentine’s Day in 1988. This two-part documentary reexamines the details of her murder, who she was before her tragic death, and the chilling truth behind the men wrongly accused of her death.
Who was Lynette White and what happened to her?
Lynette White was a young woman, who had left school with no qualifications. She ultimately ended up employed as a sex worker in the deprived Butetown area of Cardiff, until she was murdered on Valentine’s Day in 1988.
Described as a “bubbly” and “nice girl”, Lynette had been working as a sex worker in the docks area of Cardiff. She worked as a prostitute from the age of 14 up until her murder when she was just 20.
Tim Rogers, a BBC Wales journalist, interviewed her a few weeks before her murder as part of an investigation into child prostitution. He said that Lynette was “probably the most visible prostitute working in Cardiff at the time”, and she even worked on Christmas Day.
Friends described her as “pretty and popular”. Her boyfriend Stephen “Pineapple” Miller was a cocaine addict who also worked as her pimp. The two lived together at a flat in Dorset Street, Cardiff.
What happened to Lynette White?
The 20-year-old was brutally stabbed to death in Butetown, Cardiff. She was found brutally murdered in a flat in Cardiff’s docklands, also known as Tiger Bay, on Valentine’s Day 1988.
Her body was discovered in a small, blood-stained flat on top of a betting shop in Cardiff’s docklands, also known as Tiger Bay, on Valentine’s Day 1988.
Her killer stabbed her at least 50 times. A pathologist at the time described it as “a mutilating attack with sexual overtones”.
The police subsequently launched an appeal for any information, and began the manhunt for her killer.
Police investigation into Lynette White’s murder
At the beginning of their hunt for Lynette’s killer, police officers issued an e-fit of a white man as the main suspect. Witnesses claimed he was seen in the vicinity of the flat at the time of the murder. They claimed he was wearing bloodstained clothes. Sadly, the police were unable to trace him during a 10 month search.
After 10 months, despite eyewitness accounts of a white man, police arrested five local black or mixed race men – Stephen Miller, John Actie, Ronnie Actie, Tony Paris and Yusef Abdullahi.
No forensic evidence linked the men to the crime scene. They all had alibis for the night of the killing and they barely knew each other, except for cousins John and Ronnie Actie. Police claimed they were guilty of murder – but they were, in fact, innocent.
And it would be years before the true killer was found.
Who were The Cardiff Five?
The Cardiff Five were made up of Lynette’s boyfriend Stephen Miller, cousins John and Ronnie Actie, Tony Paris, and Yusef ‘Dullah’ Abdullahi.
Stephen Miller, Tony Paris, and Yusef Abdullahi were eventually convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment in 1990. They became known as the ‘Cardiff Three’.
A jury found cousins Ronnie Actie and John Actie not guilty in 1990. They were acquitted of the murder only after spending two years in custody. Ronnie was found dead in his back garden in September 2007. Police said there were no suspicious circumstances.
Yusef subsequently died in 2011.
How and when were The Cardiff Three released?
Stephen Miller, Tony Paris, and Yusef Abdullahi were all released in 1992 when the Court of Appeal quashed their convictions. Stephen Miller was subsequently shown to have the mental age of a child.
It became evident that police interviewed him on 19 occasions for a total of 13 hours. He was denied access to a solicitor for the first two interviews. Eventually, Stephen Miller confessed to the killing after making 307 denials.
All men were eventually freed – but not before spending years in prison for a crime they did not commit. There was no forensic evidence to link those accused to the scene of Lynette’s murder. And it was later revealed that South Wales Police allegedly bullied and intimidated the men into giving false confessions.
Racism within the police force was also considered a prominent factor in the miscarriage of justice.
Did the Cardiff Five get compensation?
The Cardiff Five did eventually receive financial compensation. Each of the five men were initially awarded undisclosed amounts in compensation by the Home Office.
But, after the REAL killer was convicted, the men launched civil proceedings against South Wales Police. In 2004, after a review by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) into the conduct of the police during the original inquiry, 30 people were arrested in connection with the investigation. Nineteen of those were serving or retired police officers.
Three years later, three prosecution witnesses were convicted of perjury and sentenced to 18 months imprisonment. In 2011, eight former police officers were charged with conspiring to pervert the course of justice. It became the largest police corruption trial in British criminal history.
They denied the charges. The £30m case collapsed due to missing paperwork which was said to have been shredded – but was found just weeks after the trial ended.
During the trials of the eight officers at Swansea Crown Court, the jury heard how the men wrongly accused had been compensated.
Who killed Lynette White?
In September 2000, police re-opened the Lynette White murder case following a cold case review. After a DNA breakthrough, detectives discovered fresh forensic evidence, including blood on Lynette’s clothes.
World-leading forensic scientist Dr Angela Gallop was called upon to lead the forensic re-examination of the case. Her expert analysis of the blood splatter patterns at the crime scene led to her finding small traces of the suspect’s blood in the flat.
With more advanced forensic advances at her disposal than those which were available in 1988, the partial DNA profile of a man was made – one that did not match those previously accused of the crime.
A further familial DNA search eventually led police to one potential match – a security guard named Jeffrey Gafoor. He provided a sample and it proved to be the perfect match. It was the first time familial DNA profiling had been used to effectively catch a killer in this way.
In February 2003, police arrested Jeffrey Gafoor. When officers arrived at his home they discovered he had taken an overdose. He then confessed to murdering Lynette.
At the time, he said: “Just for the record I did kill Lynette White. I’ve been waiting for this for 15 years. Whatever happens I deserve it.”
Gafoor admitted that he had paid for sex up front, then changed his mind and wanted his money back when he saw her flat. He attacked her when she refused. So he killed her for £30.
A judge gave him a life sentence in 2003 and ordered him to serve a minimum of 13 years in jail. In September 2020, a recommendation to move him to an open prison was approved.
Where is Jeffrey Gafoor now?
A judge convicted Jeffrey Gafoor of murder in 2004 – 16 years after Lynette’s death. He was jailed for life. The sentencing judge said that he should serve a minimum of 13 years before being considered for parole.
Last month the Parole Board considered whether he should be set free. A report to the Ministry of Justice confirms that Gafoor “had successfully undertaken temporary releases from prison”.
Gafoor has not been deemed suitable for release “at this stage” but will be eligible for another parole review in due course. He is currently in an open prison.
Murder of Lynette White streams on Paramount+ from Tuesday, June 20, 2023.
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