Donald Neilson (born Donald Nappey on 1 August 1936, nicknamed the Black Panther) was a jobbing builder who turned to crime when his business wasn't making money - and ended up as a cold-blooded killer, kidnapper and Britain's most wanted man.

By the time Neilson kidnapped a teenage heiress from her home in Shropshire in 1975, he was already a multiple murderer, having previously supplemented his meagre earnings as a builder by robbing Post Offices at gunpoint. A decade of robberies had led to three postmasters being fatally shot, others being wounded and amounts of money taken, but little of the publicity which Neilson craved was generated from them.

Contents

1 Criminal Beginnings 2 The Kidnap of Lesley Whittle 3 The Grim Discoveries 4 Arrested by accident 5 Trial of the Decade 6 Press Opinion 7 Victims

Criminal Beginnings

Neilson had no criminal history in his youth, but in the mid 1960s he had turned to burglary and then robbery when his carpentry and building business hit hard times. He had married at the age of 19 and became a father to a daughter, Kathryn, in 1960 - it was at this point he changed his surname from Nappey because he had been teased about it while at school and while doing national service, and did not want his daughter to suffer the same humiliation.

While combining dishonesty with running his business, Neilson became obsessed with the discipline and routine of army life - he'd relished his statutory National Service when he was a teenager and, while persuaded by his wife not to join the services permanently, unhealthily continued his passion for the military by forcing his wife and daughter to take part in games of 'soldiers'.

The Kidnap of Lesley Whittle

By 1972, Neilson had decided he needed to step up his criminal activity if he was to gain the big payout he wanted and receive the publicity he craved. He then read an article in the Daily Express about Lesley Whittle, a teenage schoolgirl who had been left a five-figure sum by her deceased father George in his will. Mr Whittle had run a successful coach company.

Neilson plotted to kidnap Lesley and hold her to ransom, and put together a meticulous plan which he then carried out in January 1975. As she slept, Neilson silently broke into the 17 year old's bedroom at the family home in Highley and abducted her. There was no struggle nor noise, and he allowed Lesley to put on a dressing gown and slippers.

On the lounge table, Neilson left a ransom demand for 50,000 pounds which he'd punched out on Dymo-tape. He then took Lesley to a disused drainage shaft in beauty spot Bathpool Park, in the town of Kidsgrove, Staffordshire.

Despite repeated instructions, coded messages and tape recordings, a series of police bungles and unfortunate circumstances meant that Lesley's elder brother, Ronald, could not deliver the ransom money to Bathpool Park as demanded.

During the stand-off between Neilson (whose actual identity was still not known to police - a nickname of the Black Panther had been given to an armed robber whom had not been connected yet to Lesley's kidnapping; this name stemmed from the robber's penchant for dark clothing and balaclava helmets) and the police, a security guard confronted Neilson as he attempted again to contact the Whittles. Neilson shot and seriously injured him and escaped but had to leave behind his car. A whole week went by before it was realised the car was abandoned rather than merely parked.

The Grim Discoveries

Police searched the car and found items directly connected to Lesley's abduction - including cassette recordings and ransom notes. Weaponry connections were then made between the shooting and a host of previous Post office robberies - and suddenly the police realised that Lesley had been kidnapped by the ruthless killer dubbed the Black Panther by the Press.

Previously, senior crime officers from Scotland Yard had discounted a full search of the park, claiming there'd be nothing to find. With this new, frightening evidence of whom Lesley's kidnapper may be, a search was immediately ordered.

The shaft was found and there Lesley's naked body was discovered hanging from a rope. It is believed that in his frustration at the lack of progress with the ransom money, Neilson pushed Lesley over the edge. Her feet were only a few inches from the ground. Almost two months had passed since the day she was abducted, though the post-mortem suggested she had been killed within 48 hours of her capture. The judgement of the previous decision not to conduct a search had been exposed as crucially foolhardy - had the police done so when Neilson issued his first demand, Lesley may well have been found alive.

As a result, there were recriminations within the two police forces investigating the kidnapping of Lesley - not least the demotion back to uniformed beat officer of the detective in charge of the case who had failed to order a Press blackout (Neilson had warned the Whittle family that Lesley would be killed if he suspected police involvement).

Arrested by accident

Neilson remained at large for much of 1975 and returned to Post Office robberies. He was finally arrested at the end of the year - completely by accident.

On December 11, two uniformed police officers were patrolling the streets of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, when they spotted a man in black outside a post office, carrying a holdall and moving suspiciously.

As they questioned him, he pulled out a gun and forced them to drive him away. A struggle ensued, the car skidded to a halt and members of the public helped as the man was brought under control and detained. After initially giving a false name, he told the officers he was Donald Neilson. With the link still not made between Neilson and the Black Panther, the police still were unaware exactly whom they had just captured.

It was only when Neilson's home in Bradford, West Yorkshire was searched that police realised that the man who had violently struggled against them was the Black Panther, responsible for the murder of Lesley and three postmasters. All his Army accessories were discovered, along with a range of knives, guns and ammunition, some wire which matched that used to strangle Lesley, and even a model of a black panther. Britain's most wanted man had finally been caught.

Under questioning, Neilson admitted kidnapping Lesley but said her death was an accident. He also claimed that he never intended to kill any of the postmasters.

In March 1976, security guard Gerald Smith, whom Neilson shot during the hunt for Lesley, died as a result of his injuries and the after-effects of the incident. However, Neilson could not be charged with his murder under UK law which states that a murder charge cannot be laid if the victim dies more than a year and a day after the incident.

Trial of the Decade

Neilson's trial at Oxford Crown Court, which started on June 14 1976, was a massive public event, with queues stretching out on to the street as people tried to catch a glimpse of him.

On July 1, Neilson was unanimously convicted. He was given a life sentence for each murder committed - four in total, plus another life term for causing grievous bodily harm to the wife of one of the postmasters he killed. He was also convicted of kidnapping, blackmail, making threats to kill, burglary and possessing firearms with intent to endanger life. The shooting of the security guard was ordered to lie on file. He was acquitted on two charges of attempted murder.

The trial judge told him that in his case, life must mean life; only great age or infirmity should be used as reasons to release him. The judge also sympathised with the jury over the amount of evidence they were forced to hear and sift through before reaching their verdict - he later recommended to the Home Office that each of the jurors should be declared exempt from further jury service for the next ten years.

Donald Neilson became one of Britain's most notorious and infamous criminals and remains incarcerated in a high-security prison to this day. Neilson has never appealed against any of his convictions and has never tried to gain his freedom.

The Lord Chief Justice set a 30-year minimum term for Neilson soon after his conviction, but successive Home Secretaries imposed a whole life tariff. Neilson could be free in 2006 because the Home Secretary was stripped of his powers to set minimum terms in November 2002. As the 30th anniversary of Lesley's abduction approached in 2005, the decision on Neilson's future had still to be made. He is approaching 70 and, although details of his prison record, conduct and current location are firmly under wraps (unlike other notorious killers - Sutcliffe, Brady, Bamber - whose activities in jail and penal whereabouts have been frequently leaked and meticulously documented) it is understood that he is in good health as he nears the end of his recommended tariff.

Press Opinion

Retrospective documentaries on the capture of Neilson would later lay heavy blame on the police who didn't take Neilson's initial demands and threats seriously enough to order a Press blackout or thoroughly search Bathpool Park when Neilson first ordered a ransom drop-off there. There is a distinct irony that by the time Lesley's body was found and Neilson had vanished, the police still did not know who the Black Panther was and had to rely entirely on randomness and sheer luck when he was eventually arrested.

It is widely believed that had Neilson decided to end his criminal activity after Lesley's death, he would never have been caught.

Victims

• Donald Skepper (shot) - February 15 1974
• Derek Astin (shot) - September 6 1974
• Sidney Grayland (shot) - November 11 1974
• Gerald Smith (shot) - January 15 1975 (died March 1976)
• Lesley Whittle (strangled) - January 17 1975