Thames Valley Police is appealing for information today (9/5), thirty years on from the murder of Sabrina Brett in Milton Keynes.
Sabrina was just 17-years-old when she was tragically murdered. Her body was found in the Grand Union Canal at Three Locks, Stoke Hammond, by a member of the public on 11 May 1995.
Here the Head of Thames Valley Police’s Major Crime Investigation Review Team, Principal Investigator Peter Beirne, talks about the cold case.
00:00This week marks the 30th anniversary of the murder of 17-year-old Sabrina Brett.
00:04Sabrina was just over 17 when she died, 17 years and four months.
00:11Sabrina was a fun, cheeky girl.
00:17She was very kind, always putting others before herself.
00:21But again, she was like any other teenager, just still trying to figure out who she was.
00:27She was always hands-on with the kids.
00:29She had their younger siblings that were practically babies and she spent a lot of time looking after them and caring for them.
00:38Her body was found on the 11th of May 1995 in the Grand Union Canal at Three Locks, which is just south of Bletchley.
00:48We know from her movements that she was last seen alive on the 7th of May, just after midnight in Northampton.
00:56On CCTV that captured her there, she's seen wearing a jacket and that jacket was subsequently found in the address that she was staying at in Stamford Avenue in Springfield's Milton Keynes.
01:09So we know she must have returned to that address and it's possible that she met her death at that address.
01:15My mum and dad were out and they'd heard on the radio that a body had been found in the Grand Union Canal.
01:23Because we hadn't spoken to my sister for a few days, I think it kind of struck a chord with them.
01:29I remember my mum and dad come rushing into the house and my dad making the telephone call to the number that was given on the radio and then giving a description of Sabrina.
01:38And that was kind of what led to my dad and my sister travelling to identify the body.
01:46Following the discovery of a body, a subject of a post-mortem, that revealed that she died from manual strangulation.
01:53Although the apologist did say that she may have been alive when she was put in the canal.
02:00Her body was found on the 11th of May, but it was believed that she had been there a matter of days beforehand.
02:06So we were interested in events of, you know, around the 7th of May.
02:11It affected our family in a huge way.
02:13I mean, you know, we recently lost my mum.
02:18And one of the things my mum never saw was justice for my sister.
02:23You know, my mum, you know, she was heartbroken.
02:27And to live every day of her life with that heartache and never knowing who it was that committed this crime, that weighed heavy on her.
02:35We know that she had a very chaotic lifestyle and we believe that undoubtedly she was a victim of child sexual exploitation.
02:4630 years ago, things were different in terms of young girls that were exploited.
02:52We're asking the public to look back, think about Sabrina, whether they did know her.
02:59If they do, please come forward, either by visiting your local police station, ring 101.
03:05There is a URN or unique reference number.
03:08Also, Crimestoppers are offering a £20,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of people responsible for Sabrina's death.
03:16We believe that there is somebody out there that knows something.
03:19It could be something small, you know, a name, a conversation that you heard.
03:24It could be the missing piece of the puzzle that we're looking for.
03:26We now beg you to come forward and give any information that you can to the police and to try and help us finally get the justice that Sabrina deserves.
