{"id":1053091,"date":"2026-06-27T08:19:20","date_gmt":"2026-06-27T08:19:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1053091\/"},"modified":"2026-06-27T08:19:20","modified_gmt":"2026-06-27T08:19:20","slug":"west-london-girl-who-shone-16-found-raped-and-fatally-injured-after-celebrating-exams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1053091\/","title":{"rendered":"West London girl &#8216;who shone&#8217;, 16, found raped and fatally injured after celebrating exams"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Lynne Weedon was just 16 when she was murdered in a Hounslow alleyway in 1975 but her killer has never been found<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Lynne Weedon was brutally murdered in 1975\" loading=\"eager\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/0_DNA-evidence-links-two-unsolved-murders.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p aria-label=\"Lynne Weedon was brutally murdered in 1975\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-title__ccyQU\" data-testid=\"caption-title\">Lynne Weedon was brutally murdered in 1975(Image: PA)<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">A girl \u201cshone\u201d and was celebrating her exam results was found raped and dumped with <a aria-label=\"\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mylondon.news\/all-about\/crime\" rel=\"follow nofollow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_self\">fatal injuries<\/a> &#8211; and the killer has never been found.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Lynne Weedon was just 16 years old when she was discovered unconscious on the grounds of an <a aria-label=\"\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mylondon.news\/all-about\/hounslow\" rel=\"follow nofollow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_self\">electricity station in Hounslow<\/a> one morning in 1975. She had been struck over the head with a blunt object, thrown over a fence, raped and left for dead and tragically passed away in hospital seven days later.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">To this day, her sick murderer remains a mystery. On the evening of September 3, Lynne, a bright and well-liked teenager, had been making her way home after celebrating her O-level results with school friends at a nearby pub.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Her route back to her home on Lampton Avenue took her through an alleyway running alongside her school. The passage would usually take her a minute to walk through. But that night, she never came out of it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Lynne was driven and gifted, with aspirations to complete her A-Levels and pursue a career as a translator for the European Parliament.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Undated Metropolitan Police handout photo of schoolgirl Lynne Weedon\" loading=\"lazy\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1782548358_218_0_DNA-evidence-links-two-unsolved-murders.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p aria-label=\"Lynne had ambitions of being a translator\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-title__ccyQU\" data-testid=\"caption-title\">Lynne had ambitions of being a translator(Image: PA)<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Vernon Grant, a retired television producer, was also 16 and had recently left school to take up a position at a solicitor&#8217;s office when Lynne was killed. Both were part of a close-knit circle at Lampton School, though Grant had not been at the pub on September 3, having chosen to stay home and watch the football match between England and Switzerland.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">He learned of the tragedy the following day. He told the<a aria-label=\"\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/articles\/c0q7zn7nnqdo\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"\"> BBC<\/a>: &#8220;I received a telephone call from another school pupil whose house and garden backed on to the alley. It was beyond belief.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">\u201cI found it frankly impossible to believe that anybody could&#8217;ve been attacked there in an alleyway we all used for school, and so close to Lynne&#8217;s front door. She lived right next to our school, which was convenient for break times and gatherings. In 1975, in <a aria-label=\"\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mylondon.news\/all-about\/hounslow\" rel=\"follow nofollow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"\">Hounslow<\/a>, stranger murders just didn&#8217;t happen, it was unheard of.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Grant said that Lynne&#8217;s murder continues to cast a long shadow over her friends half a century on. &#8220;We all felt for Lynne&#8217;s parents greatly. But when a murder happens, sometimes other people, friends, get forgotten. The trickle-down effects of a murder go way beyond the immediate family.The effects, I believe, can last for decades.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Lynne Weedon was found a few yards from her home and school near Lampton Avenue in Hounslow\" loading=\"lazy\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/0_Lynne-Weedon-Murder.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p aria-label=\"Lynne Weedon was found a few yards from her home and school near Lampton Avenue in Hounslow\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-title__ccyQU\" data-testid=\"caption-title\">Lynne Weedon was found a few yards from her home and school near Lampton Avenue in Hounslow(Image: Mirrorpix)<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Grant said his friend&#8217;s murder &#8220;left a scar on us all. It affected everybody&#8221;. He recalled a well-liked girl, who excelled at sport, including athletics and tennis.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">He added: &#8220;She was the cleverest in our year, but very humble and modest with it. She had a particular gift with languages, whether it was German, Spanish or French.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">&#8220;The thing about Lynne was that she was popular with just about everybody. She was a good friend. She shone.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Derek Carruthers was a young PC serving on the murder squad at Leytonstone police station when he became the first officer at the scene of Ms Stratford&#8217;s murder, recalling it as &#8220;the most vicious type of injury I&#8217;d ever seen&#8221;. He left the Met Police two years afterwards as a Detective Sergeant, returning to his native Ireland.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Now aged 79, he has travelled to London to speak with me, driven by his conviction that resolving these two linked cases remains vital. He said: &#8220;In the &#8217;80s I became aware of the advances in DNA and wrote to the Met because I knew there was semen among the exhibits for Eve Stratford, and suggested that they have a look at it.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Upon the link being confirmed, he said he &#8220;realised there was a possible serial killer&#8221; and &#8220;as a consequence I&#8217;ve kept an interest in it&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Carruthers admitted the case continues to weigh on him five decades later: &#8220;You wonder what has happened in the last 50 years. Has [the killer] died, has he gone off the radar, has he moved away? I would hope that DNA would eventually answer that question.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">The <a aria-label=\"\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mylondon.news\/all-about\/metropolitan-police\" rel=\"follow nofollow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"\">Metropolitan Police<\/a> confirmed both cases remain active, but declined to reveal whether there were additional DNA connections &#8211; or if any other unsolved cases might be linked.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Det Ch Insp Ali Foxwell, of the Specialist Crime Command, said technological advances enabled them to connect Ms Stratford and Lynne&#8217;s murders, but &#8220;it would be inappropriate to comment further on an ongoing investigation&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">She said there is no evidence linking the murders to any other historic case, &#8220;but we retain an open mind&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Historic unsolved cases undergo regular review to determine if they can be progressed with the passage of time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Lynne Weedon was just 16 when she was murdered in a Hounslow alleyway in 1975 but her killer&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1053092,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[7757],"tags":[748,188,393,4884,41723,257,135,16,15],"class_list":["post-1053091","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-london","tag-britain","tag-crime","tag-england","tag-great-britain","tag-hounslow","tag-london","tag-metropolitan-police","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116821097944551879","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1053091","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1053091"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1053091\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1053092"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1053091"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1053091"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1053091"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}