The staggering payout Colin Stagg got after wrongful arrest for Rachel Nickell’s murder

Rachel Nickell’s tragic murder has been revisited in a new Netflix documentary and drama this month, and here are some details about Colin Stagg’s extortionate payout.

The Murder of Rachel Nickell and The Witness both tell the story of the 23-year-old who was stabbed 49 times while walking her dog through Wimbledon Common in July 1992. Her two-year-old son Alex was found clinging to her dead body after witnessing the brutal murder.

Just over a year after her death, 29-year-old Colin Stagg was arrested in connection with her murder after an undercover police officer wrote fake love letters to him to link his behaviour to descriptions and sketches of Nickell’s killer. This operation, called Operation Edzell, led to him spending 13 months behind bars.

Credit: Netflix

However, in September 1994, he was let go and the case was dismissed as there was no forensic evidence linking Stagg to the crime scene. The judge called Operation Edzell “deceptive conduct of the grossest kind”.

He went on to sue the Metropolitan Police and received £706,000 in compensation on 13th August 2008, which helped him to rebuild his life. Due to the huge stigma, Stagg was never able to get a job as nobody would hire him, and he was happy to finally get “off the dole”.

“It still hasn’t sunk in properly. I thought at first my solicitor was joking. I admit I got a bit emotional when I realised he wasn’t. It means so much to me,” he told Sky News after receiving the money. “I have endured that stigma for 15 years. It’s fair to say it has ruined my life, yet until now I have never received the slightest apology from the authorities for my ordeal.

“I am a proud man who has never been afraid of work, but nobody in the countless interviews I have attended has wanted to take me on.”

Most Read

Ariana Grande’s family share ‘concern’ for her health after saying she’s ‘not in a healthy place’

Remember gay YouTubers Ethan and Mark? Their story ended tragically, and kinda filthy

Hudson Williams’ friends explain missing context as ‘disturbing’ pictures from school surface

Credit: Sky News

Stagg’s solicitor Alex Tribick said the payout would “allow him to try and rebuild his life and to have some sort of normal existence”.

“But of course what he really wanted was an apology from the Metropolitan Police and I think he has accepted that is something he will never get. He is not angry, he is hurt and disappointed. Colin is realistic enough to realise and accept that his name, no matter what happens, will always be synonymous with the tragic events of Rachel Nickell’s death,” he continued.

Stagg did finally get an apology from the Met Police in December 2006. Assistant Commissioner John Yates said sorry to Stagg for the “mistakes made” in a formal letter, writing: “I must offer you an unreserved apology for the proceedings instigated against you in 1994. I acknowledge the huge and most regrettable effect this has had on your life for the past 16 years.”

In response, Colin said: “It has been a long time coming. It would have been nicer if the Met could have looked me in the eye while they did it, but I’ll take what’s on offer.”

Nickell’s real killer, Robert Napper, is serving multiple life sentences at Broadmoor psychiatric hospital, where he will be for the rest of his days.

For all the latest Netflix news and drops, like The Holy Church of Netflix on Facebook. 

Featured image credit: Netflix