CCTV footage of Aldi worker’s knifing too shocking to be released, rules judge

Witnesses who tried to restrain the killer have themselves been treated as victims by police.

Neville Hord’s frenzied knife attack on Jodie Willsher in a busy supermarket four days before Christmas was witnessed by a large number of a shoppers, including children, and captured on CCTV footage so shocking a judge has ordered it should never be released.

People who witnessed what happened on December 21 and intervened to restrain Hord have been treated as victims themselves by police and offered specialist support.

Judge Jonathan Durham Hall said the CCTV footage was so shocking that all copies apart from one held by North Yorkshire Police have been destroyed.

He ordered that this final copy should never be released to the public and praised Aldi for destroying the original hard drive.

The judge said the video was of “high quality” and “extremely distressing” and needed to be shielded from “those who take pleasure in such sadistic things”.

Judge Durham Hall also urged judges in any higher court not to consider reducing the minimum term of 30 years he had ordered Hord to serve before watching the CCTV in full.

DCI Mark Pearson, North Yorkshire Police, speaks outside court after Neville Hord was jailed for stabbing supermarket worker Jodie Willsher to death in an Aldi store in Skipton (Dave Higgens/PA) — DCI Mark Pearson, North Yorkshire Police, spoke outside court after Neville Hord was jailed for stabbing supermarket worker Jodie Willsher to death in an Aldi store in Skipton (Dave Higgens/PA)

I pay tribute to the people who have assisted the police investigation by providing witness statements, and especially those who bravely went to Jodies aide in an attempt to stop the attack and save Jodies life.

Both Jodies family and the people who witnessed this traumatic incident have been provided with the necessary support.

However, if anyone feels they are struggling to cope, they are urged to seek help from Supporting Victims.

In December, bricklayer Wilfred Beattie, 68, told reporters how he pinned Hord to the ground and punched him in the face.

Grandfather Mr Beattie described how he wrapped belts around the suspect’s neck and legs and then how staff brought cling film to immobilise Hord, wrapping it around his legs.

North Yorkshire Police said Supporting Victims can be contacted on 01609 643100 or through www.supportingvictims.org.