Stagg to receive Home Office payout

10:54am Wednesday 10th January 2007

Comments (0)   Have your say »

THE man cleared of killing Rachel Nickell on Wimbledon Common is expected to receive £250,000 in compensation from the Home Office.

Colin Stagg, from Roehampton, South West London, is also suing Scotland Yard for a further £1million for malicious prosecution.

Mr Stagg was acquitted of the murder of the 23-year-old model who was stabbed to death in July 1992.

The 43-year-old spent a year in custody charged with her murder before a judge threw out the prosecution evidence.

Ms Nickell was walking with her two-year-old son on Wimbledon Common when she was stabbed 49 times and sexually assaulted.

Two years later Mr Stagg, who had been walking on the Common on the same day, was tried for murder after police found a knife and books on the occult in his flat.

However, the case was dropped on the grounds that police had used a "honey trap" plot to illicit a confession.

Wrongful conviction

Mr Stagg will gain compensation under a scheme which makes payments to victims of wrongful conviction or charge "arising because of a serious default by a public authority or through exceptional circumstances such as complete exoneration".

A Home Office spokesman confirmed: "Colin Stagg is eligible for compensation under the discretionary compensation scheme. The amount will be decided by an independent assessor."

The department declined to comment on a report that said the amount to be awarded could be up to £250,000 but said the sum would be decided by Lord Brannan QC.

Mr Stagg's solicitor Alex Tribick said: "He will be delighted. Anything that vindicates his position can only be a good thing."

The Crown Prosecution Service is awaiting evidence which could lead to another suspect being charged with Ms Nickell's murder in the coming months.

A spokesperson said: "We are awaiting a further piece of evidence, which we should have towards the end of next month, at which point we will be able to review all of the evidence and make a decision as to a charge."

Detectives have been questioning a 40-year-old patient in Broadmoor as part of their inquiries.

The paranoid schizophrenic is being held for the murder of a woman and her 16-year-old daughter.