The following witnesses gave evidence for the prosecution case:
Isobel Blakey Raffle
The mother of the dead man. She gave evidence as to the background of her son. Her
evidence was not
contested or challenged.
James Alan Mulgrove
This witness was unchallenged. He worked for Davidson's garage. He checked the
identification numbers on
the recovered Sierra when it first arrived at Davidson's from the Ford factory on December
7th 1985. The
vehicle had been placed in the secure compound at the premises. Mulgrove handed the
vehicle receipt to DC
Pooley, no date being given for the hand over. It was not realized at the time that the
date of delivery
would prove to be important.
John James Cairns
This witness also worked for Davidson's. He checked the security compound. The last time
he did so before
the alleged weekend of the murder was at around 10.15 on the morning of Friday December
l3th. The
compound was secure and no vehicles were missing. On checking the compound on Monday l6th
December, he
found the fence had been cut and a Sierra was missing.
Police Constable 283 David Wright
He discovered the fencing to have been cut on Sunday December l5th and the key-holder was
called. No
vehicles appeared to be missing and the fence was temporarily repaired.
John Wynn
This witness was unchallenged. He was the Sales Manager at Davidson's. He identified what
vehicle was
missing from the compound on Monday l6th December.
Detective Constable 295 Raymond Knox
This witness found the Sierra near Wood's home. He examined the scene and in the rear
footwell of the
passenger side he found a pick axe, covered by a white sack containing a handbrace and
three drill bits,
three screwdrivers, three wheelbraces, a hand torch and a pair of pliers. The Sierra was
driven to North
Shields police station yard where he examined it further and found it to be covered in
what appeared to
be mud. The rear footwells were also covered in mud. Between the side of the front
passenger seat and the
door he found the following coins: £l, a 10 pence piece and two 2 pence pieces.
Police Constable 1859 Leslie Ferry
He inspected the Sierra at the rear of Wood's home. He stressed the mud in the footwells
but made no
mention of mud on the front of the car.
Police Constable 337 Ian Douthwaite
He was a third officer involved in the search of the Sierra.
Anthony Ornsby-Wilkinson (one of Frank's stepsons)
He thought that one of the screwdrivers offered as an exhibit as having been recovered
from the Sierra
may have been similar to one from his home. He thought that the torch was of a familiar
type also.
Elizabeth Elliot Sneap
This witness appeared on the third day and she made the first mention of Frank. This was
in connection
with the number plates that were purchased from her family-owned garage repair and
accessory business.
She stated that the stick-on numbers and letters had definitely been purchased in
September 1985, three
months before the theft of the Sierra and Raffle's death. (This was left in the minds of
the jury,
indicating premeditation. It was not brought up that the Sierra had not passed quality
control at the
Ford factory until October 24th 1985 and did not arrive at Davidson's until November 7th -
the earliest
date that Frank could have known the Sierra's colour or even its existence.) To back her
statement up,
Sneap produced a document - a document she had claimed to have lost or had destroyed.
(See Sneap's series of contradictory statements to
the police.)
Alexander McKenzie
This witness gave evidence that he was in Raffle's yard on the night of Sunday l5th
December 1985, with
Raffle, in his caravan, when a Sierra entered the yard. Raffle left the caravan and spoke
to the
occupants. McKenzie left the caravan and saw Frank and Wood doing something to the rear of
the car with
the boot open. McKenzie then drove out of the yard in his truck, leaving Raffle, Wood and
Frank together.
Nobody entered the caravan and he did not speak to anyone. Under cross-examination, he
agreed that he
spoke with Frank about a broken glass dining table. He became aggressive and was allowed
to step down.
(See McKenzie's contradictory
statements to the
police.)
Mark Dunn
A young boy, a friend of the Ornsby-Wilkinson sons. He gave evidence concerning camping
trips he had been
on with Frank and the sons, including a visit to the Kielder area. Dunn took the police
to where he had
been and this turned out to be on the opposite side of the road to Forest Drive. Dunn was
taken by the
same officers along the B6524 Belsay-Whalton road but stated that Frank had never taken
him down that
route as they had always used the main roads. He was also shown Forest Drive but again
said that he had
never been taken there by Frank.
Stuart James Jackson
This witness was another member of the camping troupe. His statements agreed with Dunn's
with the sole
addition that once the party had entered Forest Drive but they had quickly become lost and
had not
ventured into that area again.
Alwin Bertram Scott
This witness was a Forest Ranger in the Kielder-Redesdale area, employed by the Forestry
Commission. He
identified the camping area where he had seen Frank and his camping party on April 27th
1985, eight
months before Raffle's disappearance. He stated that they had been on the opposite side of
the forest
from Forest Drive.
The next group of witnesses attested to the movements of Alan Raffle on Sunday December
15th, the day of
his disappearance. One, a Malcolm Heuchan, played pool with Raffle in the Robin Hood
public house during
the lunch hour. Raffle had appeared very worried. At one point Raffle looked into the bar
area and, in
Heuchan's words, 'at this time his face changed colour. He went grey, ashen, put down his
pool cue and
said he had to go.' Another witness repeated what Heuchan had seen and said that it had
been a phone
call which had frightened Raffle. The bar maid could not remember a phone call. The last
person to see
Raffle on that day was Audra Proud who saw and spoke to him at around 9.30pm. Raffle had
said that he
intended going to bed early. (His bed had not been slept in.)
Kevin Lowson
This witness gave evidence that he had seen the Sierra in Raffle's yard on Saturday l4th
December 1985
with a 'B' registration and with a fitted radio.
(See
Lowson's
statements to the police.)
William Joseph Ornsby-Wilkinson (one of Frank's stepsons)
This witness gave evidence that, on Frank's instructions, he purchased the stick-on number
plates later
found on the Sierra. He could not be certain exactly when, sometime over that weekend. He
then made a
tentative identification of some of the tools recovered from the Sierra. He positively
identified the
body-warmer that was being offered as an exhibit against Frank as being his own. He could
not remember
Frank's movements on the night of the disappearance, but thought that he himself may have
gone to
Raffle's yard around tea time to tell Frank that his tea was ready. Then, Frank and Wood
were in Raffle's
caravan with Raffle. (He was not asked whether McKenzie was present.)
Joan Vaughan, a walker, PC Lambert and Detective Superintendent Hale gave evidence
concerning the body's
discovery. Hale also gave evidence as to the finding of the murder weapon where it had
been thrown into
some trees. There was no challenge to this evidence.
The following section of evidence concerned the police surveillance of Wilkinson in
February 1986. DI
Howard and DI Foreman were called. They insisted that Wilkinson had slowed down when
passing the police
caravan at the entrance to Forest Drive toll road. They also claimed that the Belay-
Whalton was a logical
route between North Shields and the Kielder area even though it was a B road, poorly
surfaced and took
longer to travel. Under cross-examination by Mr Muller, both pleaded ignorance of the
roads in that area
and, with the aid of road maps, their ignorance was clearly demonstrated.
Dr Ranasinghe
This was the police pathologist who gave evidence as to the cause of death. He explained
the technical
aspects to the jury. He said that the first blow was probably struck when the victim was
standing and the
remainder when he was lying on the ground. (He was not questioned over the possibility of
kicking or any
other form of attack having caused some of the injuries.)
Mr R Falconer
This was the police forensic scientist who gave evidence concerning various fibres in the
case. Falconer,
along with the Leader for the Crown, Mr Robin Stuart Q.C., introduced the theory of
secondary transfer to
account for the fibres from two pairs of gloves having been found, thereby undermining the
case for the
prosecution. Under cross-examination by Mr Muller, he agreed that there were many ways in
which small
quantities of fibres could have arrived where they did and that the fibre evidence could
not be
considered as irrefutable proof of murder against Frank. Falconer was not questioned about
Wood's missing
gloves, nor indeed about any aspect of the case against Wood apart from the cigarette end
found next to
the body. Under questioning by Mr Steer Q.C. for Wood, he agreed that there were many
brands of the type
and size of tip.
(The forensic evidence
presented at the
trial is covered
more fully here.)
At this point William Joseph Ornsby-Wilkinson was recalled to try to clear up exactly when
the Sierra had
the 'B' registration plates fitted. He could give the court no further assistance.
The next part of the evidence concerned the police officers involved in the arrest and
interrogation of
Frank and Wood at North Shields police station on the first weekend of their custody.
Detective Sergeant Keith Atkinson
This witness read out Wood's question and answer interviews. Photocopies of the seven that
had been
signed by Wood as correct were handed to the jury so that they could study them and see
where Wood had
signed them.
(A full record of these
interviews can be
seen here.) Mr Steer made no challenge other than to maintain that at no time did Wood
mention Frank
by name, he had only been mentioned by the police. Atkinson denied this and said that Wood
had also
mentioned Frank. Mr Muller made no challenge.
Detective Inspector Brian Ord
This witness produced Frank's alleged question and answer records and read some of them
out. He was
stopped by the Judge on the grounds that a catalogue of abuse and denials would serve no
purpose to the
court. No copies were given to the jury as Frank had not signed them. Ord's evidence was
not challenged
by Mr Muller except to question why Frank's solicitor had not been present or informed
about impending
interviews, against his instructions. Ord gave no satisfactory response but was allowed to
stand down.
Detective Superintendent Hale
This witness gave evidence of what Wood had said to him and made no mention of Frank. He
was unchallenged
by either defence team.