Deadly drivers

In the mid-1970s, convicted sex offender Robert Black got a job as a van driver for a London-based company that delivered posters and advertising billboards across the UK, Ireland and continental Europe. He was regarded as a conscientious employee who was particularly valued for his willingness to undertake the long-distance deliveries some of his colleagues preferred to avoid. In the years that followed, Black developed a thorough knowledge of the UK road network that proved invaluable when, in 1981, he took the first steps in his transition from sex offender to serial killer. He was able to ‘snatch’ children from across the country and dispose of the bodies hundreds of miles away, making it difficult for the police to link the crimes together. Now, new research into the methods and motivations of those convicted of multiple murders has revealed that the choice of occupation is often a vital part of a serial killer’s strategy. Dr Adam Lynes, lecturer in criminology at Birmingham City University, has investigated the occupations of some of the UK’s most notorious serial killers to try to establish if there were any common work environments. “Despite the wealth of academic literature relating to serial murderers, there has been little research into how the occupational choices of these individuals influences their behaviour and subsequent offending,” he explained. “While I understand the attraction of ‘getting into the mind’ of the killer and the fascination into why these individuals commit such appalling crimes, as a criminologist I think it is just as important to ask how these offenders were able to kill so many people before they were caught.” Dr Lynes determined that there were four particular occupational ‘groups’ that known British serial murderers favoured – healthcare, business, public and personal service, and driving and transient dependent work. Healthcare examples include Dr Harold Shipman and nurse Beverley Allitt; ‘business’ includes clerk Ian Brady and secretary Myra Hindley; and public and personal service includes Archibald Hall, a Scottish thief and serial killer who worked as a butler to the rich and famous. While each of these groups contained up to four examples, the last, driving and transient-dependent work features eight serial killers. In addition to Black, the list includes Levi Bellfield, who was responsible for the murders of at least three young women between March 2002 and August 2004. At the time, Bellfield ran a wheel-clamping business in and around West London, giving him intimate knowledge of streets in the area. Once he came under suspicion, Bellfield was seen driving around in his van, talking to young girls at bus stops, while under police surveillance. Detective Chief Inspector Colin Sutton, who led the investigation, later speculated on his motives: “[Bellfield] has a massive ego to feed; he thinks he’s God’s gift to everyone. He drives around in his car, feels a bit ‘whatever’ and sees some young blonde girl. Young blonde girl says ‘go away’ and he thinks ‘you dare to turn down Levi Bellfield, you’re worth nothing’ and then she gets a whack over the head.” Peter Sutcliffe, better known as The Yorkshire Ripper, was a long-distance lorry driver. Although he had previously committed assaults against women, his first murder took place shortly after he began working as a driver. While sleeping in laybys between shifts he placed the following handwritten sign in his windscreen: “In this truck is a man whose latent genius, if unleashed, would rock the nation, whose dynamic energy would overpower those around him. Better let him sleep?” Steve Wright, known as the Suffolk Strangler, had always worked as a lorry and forklift truck driver. A regular user of prostitutes, he picked his victims while driving round the streets of the red-light district in Ipswich. Railway rapists John Duffy and David Mulcahy had been lifelong friends since their days together at school in North London. They both shared a sadistic streak for tormenting and tort