Killer's medal sold at auction

[Ck]

A medal of honour given to a hero soldier turned evil sex killer has been sold at auction.

Notorious Blackpool murderer Michael Downs who brutally raped and stabbed to death two pensioners and slayed a taxi driver is currently serving a life sentence in jail.

Back in 1962 Downs rescued a man from the sea off Blackpool Promenade. Then aged just 17 and a rookie army recruit, he was awarded the British Empire Medal for Gallantry.

It has just been sold at auction for £2,470.

Downs was AWOL from the 14/20 Kings Hussars at the time of the dramatic sea rescue. He swam 50 yards to pull James Tweedale out. Mr Tweedale tragically died in an ambulance on his way to hospital.

A year later, while serving in Libya, Downs' efforts were rewarded when he was presented with the BEM medal in front of his proud South Shore family.

However, the one-time hero turned to crime in the African state. He was charged for theft in 1965 before being jailed for 12 months for the manslaughter of an Arabian taxi driver. Following his release from prison, Downs was stripped of the BEM and was given a dishonourable discharge from the army.

In 1978 Downs raped and murdered 64 year old disabled victim Kate Weaver in a frenzied knife attack at her South Shore rest home. The stabbing remained unsolved for a decade, despite a team of 80 detectives interviewing 12,500 people to try and identify the killer. Downs only admitted the killing after murdering and sexually abusing Gabrielle Morris, 70, in a stabbing at her Little Bispham guesthouse in 1988.

Downs, described by psychiatrists as "having a profound hatred of women", was jailed for life at Manchester Crown Court in 1989.

Downs is currently serving a life sentence at Wakefield's high security prison and is unlikely to be ever released. His case is to be reviewed in 2011.

The medal was sold by London auctioneers Dix Noonan Webb for £2,470. It had been expected to fetch between £600 and £800. The auctioneers refused to disclose who sold the medal or the name of the buyer.

[Earl]

That'd be cool in any collection.



















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