Essex murder accused worked on building site

A BUILDER charged with the brutal murder of an Essex pensioner 26 years ago had worked in Guernsey as a labourer for about two months. Wayne Doherty, 49, was arrested at the White Rock at about 6.20pm on Friday.

But nobody could confirm yesterday which company he had worked for, on which site and whether any criminal checks were carried out.

'We assisted Essex Police in the arrest - he was working locally as a labourer for about two months,' said a Guernsey Police spokesman last night.

Nishan Wijeratne, a spokesman for Essex Police, said the murder accused came from Cambridgeshire and had not been in Guernsey for long.

'Essex Police flew over on Friday and Guernsey Police arrested him - he did not know we were coming,' he said.

He confirmed no tip off was involved and said the arrest followed extensive investigation work by the two forces.

Mr Doherty, of no fixed abode, appeared at Southend Magistrates' Court yesterday charged with murdering Rochford pensioner Norah Trott.

She was found by a friend dead and naked in a lock-up garage in the early hours of 7 November 1978.

She lived above a shop and a post-mortem examination showed that she had suffered head injuries and had been seriously sexually assaulted.

Yesterday, Glen Cocker, prosecuting, suggested that the charge was too serious to be considered by a magistrates' court.

His request for the case to be transferred to Chelmsford Crown Court next Tuesday was accepted by magistrate Neil Muir.

Mr Doherty, who had greying hair and wore a plain white T-shirt, was remanded in custody until the start of the trial.

Andy Hall, president of the Guernsey Building Trades Employers' Association, said that he was not aware of Mr Doherty working here.

He said employers would have records of who was on their sites, but there was no definitive list of everybody working in the construction industry in the island.

'Housing have a Right To Work form to fill in which does ask for criminal records before they issue a licence to work. If he declared his name properly they would be aware of him,' he said.

'The responsibility is on the individual to fill his form in properly,' said Mr Hall.

The Housing Department was asked whether it was aware of the murder accused working in the island and whether any criminal checks were carried out on him.

'We are unable to comment on individual cases,' said a department spokesman.

Former Detective Chief Inspector Ray Newman, an investigative review officer, led the reopening of the case by Essex Police in July in the hope of jogging people's memories.

'It was liaison between Essex Police and Guernsey Police that led to the arrest after I presented a package to the murder squad,' he said.

It was part of a high-profile campaign detailing unsolved murders dating back nearly 30 years.

'People move on in 25 years and it's quite a job tracking them down, but we are not prepared to put these cases on the back-burner and forget about them. If there is half a chance the person responsible is still alive, we will try and track them down,' said Mr Newman.