Posts Tagged ‘Gaia Pope’
Gaia Pope: Connor Hayes and putting the clocks back
Gaia Pope continues to occupy minds in the tabloids. How the 19-year-old died, we do not know. but we do know she was not murdered. And there is no evidence anyone else was involved in her death. Today the papers carry the image of Conor Hayes. The Star says Gaia Pope”was on the verge of a nervous breakdown” after “learning Connor Hayes may be released early”.
Who is he? Well, we read that Gaia Pope accused Hayes of sexually assaulting her two years ago. The Star says he was not prosecuted for the alleged crime. Why Conor Hayes in in prison is featured on the Dorset police website.
Two men jailed for child sex offences
18 April 2017
Two men who filmed a video of themselves having sex with a teenage girl that was subsequently published on the internet have been jailed.Connor Hayes, 24 and of Namu Road in Bournemouth, pleaded guilty at Bournemouth Crown Court on Monday 5 December 2016 to taking an indecent moving image of a child, possession of indecent images of a child and paying for the sexual services of a child.
William Wright, 24 and of Andover Green in Bovington, pleaded guilty at Bournemouth Crown Court on Friday 3 February 2017 to taking an indecent moving image of a child, intentionally obtaining for himself the sexual services of a child under the age of 18, distributing an indecent moving image of a child and making indecent images of a child.
The pair were sentenced to two years in prison at Bournemouth Crown Court on Thursday 13 April 2017. Both of them were also handed a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for five years.
The court heard that Hayes befriended his victim in 2014. The girl was over the age of consent, but under the age of 18, meaning it is illegal to make or possess indecent images of her.
In November that year, Hayes got his victim to take part in a sex video with his friend Wright, telling the girl that the video was just for them and would not be shown to anyone else. Hayes told her that if the video got out he would be in trouble as she was under the age of 18, the court was told. After it had been recorded the victim asked the pair to delete the video.
The video was discovered to have been uploaded onto the internet around November 2015…
An examination of the iPhone belonging to Wright showed that there were ten video clips and 27 still images of the victim. Examination of a laptop used by Hayes showed there were 18 images of the victim which were indecent.
Nasty and sad stuff And the tabloids are happy to pile in on the “revenge porn convict”. The paper quotes Hayes’ mother, who says in a statement:
“I am aware that my son had a brief friendship with Gaia Pope when she was 16 and had just started college. Within weeks of their friendship ending Gaia made an accusation to the police which was not upheld. To the best of my knowledge my son has not had any contact with Gaia since their friendship ended at least two years ago.”
In the Mirror, we read about the police. On page 2, the paper quotes Greg Elsey, related to three people arrested on suspicion of murder – all of whom have been cleared. “They totally mishandled it,” he says, “and the guy in charge want to walking the beat.” In the Express, we hear Mr Elsey accuse the police of launching a “vendetta” and “witch-hunt” against the trio. He asks, “For anybody in the future, why should their family members be accused of murder when they absolutely no evidence it has happened.”
Over two pages in the Sun, we hear of “GAIA COPS’ CLCOK GAFFE”. Rosemary Dinch, 71, was one of the trio hauled in. She and they are now billed as “a frail pensioner and her family”. She says: “We gave hem [police] CCV footage that showed Nathan going to his gran’s house round the corner. When they questioned him, he time didn’t match because the clocks went back and the time on there didn’t change.” Paul Elsey adds: “The police got it all wrong but it was like talking to a brick wall.”
Gaia Pope: suing the police for a crime that never happened
After the febrile reporting and shadowy photos of innocent people, police say foul play played no part in the death of Gaia Pope, the 19-year-old who went missing in bucolic Dorset.
You might wonder why police arrested three people on suspicion of murder. All three were released under investigation. Greg Elsey, whose son Paul Elsey was arrested by police, accuses investigators of behaving like “wooden tops“. He says his son can prove he was elsewhere when Gaia Pope went missing. So why was Paul Elsey arrested and subjected to harsh media scrutiny?
The newspapers piled in, as ever they must when a photogenic blonde is missing. But from front-page news, the Express relegates the case of “tragic” Gaia Pope to page 4. The police says the young woman might have taken her own life or died of natural causes.
The Mail presents her death as a mystery, asking a question we will never know the answer to. “Did fear of prisoner who assaulted her push Gaia to suicide?” asks the Mail, wrapping two questions into a headline to which the only sensible answer is ‘no’.
Blonde woman goes missing
As for that assault, a “friend” tells the paper: “She was assaulted when she was 17 and I think she thought the man would be released early from prison.”
We are free to speculate, of course, but why did an apparent objective police investigation lead to the arrests of three people and talk of murder? Surely they knew of Gaia Pope’s past, and of her severe epilepsy, which, we are told, could take her life at any time? We read now that Paul Elsey, Nathan Elsey and Rosemary Dinch, the three innocent people arrested for a crime that never took place, are planning to sue police for wrongful arrest.
The Sun zooms in on innocent Paul Elsey
Over in the Sun, which talked of police “swooping” on Paul Esley’s “prized” car – no, not that car – the story (page 7) is one of “Tragic Gaia’s Attack Agony”. The paper reads the dead woman’s mind. “She feared fiend’s release,” says the paper. She did? Well, maybe. Maybe not.
In the Daily Mirror (page 9), Gaia is the “tragic teen”. She is “Gaia from Langton Matravers”. In the Sun she is “Gaia from Swanage”. Gaia Pope was from Langton Matravers. She was staying at an address in Swanage when she disappeared on Tuesday 7 November 2017.
Such are the facts.
UPDATE: Det Supt Paul Kessell, of Dorset Police tells everyone:
“We have today released from our investigation two men, aged 19 and 49, and a 71-year-old woman, all from Swanage, who had been arrested and were assisting with our enquiries. I appreciate our enquiries would have caused these individuals stress and anxiety, however we have an obligation in any missing person investigation to explore every possible line of enquiry. The public would expect Dorset Police to fully investigate the sudden disappearance of a teenage girl. Our aim was not only to find Gaia but to find out what happened to her. Gaia’s family has been informed of this latest development and our thoughts remain with all her family and friends at this incredibly difficult time.”
What happened to people ‘helping he police with their enquiries’? Why the rush towards arrest?
Posted: 20th, November 2017 | In: Key Posts, News, Tabloids | Comments (5)
Gaia Pope: no injuries to suggest ‘any other person was involved’ in her death
Gaia Pope is dead. The Press have been speculating over her cause of death. Murder has been the word most used. Now police say there is no evidence “any other person was involved” in the death of the 19-year-old, whose remains were found in a field near Swanage, Dorset. This is after police arrested three people on suspicion of murder.
Det Supt Paul Kessell tells us: “The post-mortem examination has not identified any injuries to suggest any other person was involved in her death. The cause of death is undetermined, pending toxicology. The coroner is involved in the oversight of these examinations but at this time this remains an investigation into an unexplained death.”
Did the police stuff up? Being accused of murder is no small thing.
The Mail had more:
Her father Richard Sutherland, a business development manager, said his ‘distressed’ daughter had been told she could die at any moment because her epilepsy was so severe.
And she was also battling post-traumatic stress disorder after a ‘devastating’ assault by ‘some guys’ when she was 17, he said, made worse because the main perpetrator is reportedly set for release from prison.
Now the Sun tells us: “Gaia Pope cops reveal teenager was NOT MURDERED.”
Below is the photo the Sun used to introduce readers to Paul Elsey, one of the three people arrested on suspicion of murder and released under police investigation.
Is that the kind of photo that suggests anything to you? Innocence is presumed, right? The Sun reported: “Forensic officers made a midnight swoop on the prized VW Golf of Paul Elsey, 49.” Prized? Why prized? Why swoop?
Mr Paul Elsey’s father Greg told media:
“Paul is fine but all this attention isn’t fair, please just give him some space. What I will say is the way the police have handled this is terrible, it’s shocking. My family has totally been the victim of a witch hunt. They should start looking elsewhere. I think of the public money which has been wasted, which could have been spent searching for Gaia and finding those clothes a long time ago.”
He added:
“I’m totally disgusted. Paul’s solicitor has asked me not to say anything. You will be gobsmacked how the police have formed [their investigation]. Absolutely disgusting. What I said this morning is that I would find [Paul] and have a chat with him. He was going to ring the police station and arrange to see them if they wanted. That was the agreement we came to. That’s the agreement I and the solicitors made. I can’t say anything more but you will find out and you will be disgusted, the same as I was.”
And:
“The officers running this investigation seem to be a bunch of wooden tops. It especially feels like they arrested Paul just to make it look like they were doing something. It’s felt like they can’t find the poor girl so they said ‘ let’s go and nick him’. We have only ever tried to help – both Gaia and the police.”
Gaia Pope: The last sighting, lives ruined and hiding the truth
Police searching for Gaia Pope have found a body on land near Swanage, Dorset. The family of the 19-year-old woman are “absolutely devastated”. Detective Superintendent Paul Kessell tells media: “Although the body has yet to be formally identified, we are confident that we have found Gaia.”
Gaia, who had severe epilepsy, had been missing since November 7. Last Thursday her clothes were found in a field near cliffs.
What happened? A 71-year-old woman, a 19-year-old man and a 49-year-old man had been arrested on suspicion of murder. All three have been released under investigation. No crime has been established.
The Sun names the innocent trio:
Nathan Elsey, 19, who starred in Christopher Nolan’s film Dunkirk with Harry Styles, was arrested alongside his grandmother, Rosemary Dinch, 71…
Gaia had been temporarily staying at Mrs Dinch’s house at the time of her disappearance. Paul Elsey, the uncle of friend Nathan, was then arrested on suspicion of Gaia’s murder on 16 November.
The Sun zooms in on 69-year-old Greg Elsey, taking a photo of the man and captioning it: “Greg Elsey accused the police of a ‘witch hunt’ against his family.”
Doorstepped, he tells the Mail:
“I’m absolutely bewildered that he was arrested, I’ve got no idea why he was taken. I mean, for God’s sake, he was working all day in Weymouth when Gaia went missing, he had nothing to do with it. He lives with his mother Rosemary and takes care of her, he goes back there each night, that’s the only link he’s got with it. Police took him in and he said ‘look, what on Earth am I doing here? I’ve got nothing to do with this. He’s staying with a friend at the moment just chilling out. I saw him last night and he’s alright. I’ve got no way of getting hold of him, they’ve taken his phone, they’ve taken everyone’s phones. It’s ruined Rosemary and Nathan’s life, she was just being nice on the day, all police had to do was say to her they want to ask her a few questions and that would be fine but they arrested her.”
The Mail‘s headline is at odds with the URL, which tells readers and the Google bots
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5095395/Man-arrested-Gaia-Pope-murder-goes-hiding.html
“Hiding”. Is that a loaded term?
The Mail adds:
Mrs Dinch, who shares a first-floor flat with her son Paul, was the last person to see the missing teenager alive.
Was she? The Sun tells it readers:
She [Gaia] was last seen in Swanage on 7 November, when CCTV captured her running past a house in Manor Gardens on Morrison Road. She was also filmed in a petrol station buying ice cream.
The BBC says:
The 19-year-old, who has severe epilepsy, was last seen on 7 November at 16:00 GMT by family friend Rosemary Dinch, off Morrison Road, Swanage. Dorset Police believes she was captured on CCTV running past a house in the same street about 20 minutes before.
ITV adds:
Less than an hour before her last confirmed sighting at 3.39pm, she was being driven between Langton Matravers and Swanage by a family member when they stopped off for fuel at St Michael’s Garage on Valley Road in Swanage. Gaia went into the garage to buy an ice cream at around 2.55pm before leaving.
It adds:
The last reported sighting of Gaia was at an address in Manor Gardens on Morrison Road at around 4pm on 7 November.
The Sun speculates:
THE last sighting of Gaia Pope may have been caught on chilling dashcam footage, which appears to show the teen leaning into a mystery car on the night she vanished.
The video, obtained by Mirror Online, shows a figure, dressed in similar clothing to those Gaia was wearing when she went missing, on the outskirts of Langton Matravers, just before midnight.
May, Appears. What facts? Undeterred by that exclusive’s lack of substance, the Mirror adds in a second story to its tasteful logo-heavy video: “Final footage of Gaia Pope before she went missing? Driver’s dashcam captures haunting ‘sighting’ of teen.” Adding: “A driver believes his haunting dashcam footage could have captured the last sighting of missing Gaia Pope.”
Believes. Could. No facts.
As for the state of Gaia Pope’s mind and body, The Guardian writes:
Pope had severe epilepsy, and her father had said earlier in the week that it may have played a part in her disappearance as she had been warned by doctors she was at risk of sudden death from the condition.
Such are the facts.
