Suzanne Capper grave (1st September 1976 to 18th December 1992)

I live near Werneth Low Country Park where one of the country's nastiest child murders happened but the case received little publicity. Suzanne Capper was just 16 when she was violently murdered then underwent such sickening torture she probably wished she’d never been born. She was kidnapped, beaten and tortured for a week, had petrol poured on her and was set on fire. Here I am by her grave.

Suzanne's messy home life meant her childhood was spent within the care of the local authority. Aged 16 she spent time at the home of her friend Jean Powell (26) who had three children and dealt drugs. The house was packed with unruly kids as her neighbour Bernadette McNeilly and her three children also moved in. Suzanne stayed even though Powell and McNeilly frequently bullied her. Ex-husbands and friends often called at the house and sex occurred between the overlapping friendships. McNeilly’s boyfriend Anthony Dudson was having sex with both women. Powell’s ex-husband Glyn Powell often called round.

McNeilly and Dudson contracted pubic lice which they believed were from a bed that Suzanne. They wanted revenge and lured Suzanne to the house. The moment she arrived they grabbed her and held her down while Glyn and Dudson shaved off her hair and eyebrows. A plastic bag was forced over her head she was forced to walk around while the men took turns hitting her. She was kicked to the floor and both women took turns beating her with a three-foot-long wooden instrument and a belt. She was then taken to the bathroom and forced to shave off her own pubic hair and locked in a cupboard overnight.

The following morning she was transferred to McNeilly's house (as the six children were so disturbed by Suzanne’s crying.) Blindfold she was tied spread-eagle to an upturned bed with electrical flex in a downstairs back room. Over the next five days she was beaten, injected with amphetamines, burned with cigarettes and had rave music played at maximum volume through headphones. Suzanne lay in her own waste for several days and was forced into a bath containing concentrated disinfectant. She was scrubbed with a stiff brush so vigorously her skin was coming off. Two teeth were extracted with pliers.

In the early hours of 14th December 1992 Suzanne was forced into the boot of a stolen car and driven 15 miles to a Werneth Low Country Park in Hyde. She was pushed down an embankment into a patch of brambles where petrol was poured over her and set her alight. The murderers left believing Suzanne was dead but she staggered along a lane and was eventually found at 6:10am by people going to work. She’d suffered 80% burns and she was like mobile raw meat. She didn’t allow anyone to touch or dress her as she was in agony. She drank six glasses of water but could not hold the glass as her hands were too burnt. She was rushed to the Withington Hospital and give the names of her six assailants before falling into a coma (her visiting mum and stepdad could not recognise her. She died four days later on 18th December 1992 without regaining consciousness.

Hopefully she's resting in blessed peace. She was buried in Blackley Cemetery. The trial in November 1993 received scant publicity as it coincided with the trial of Robert Thompson and Jon Venables who had abducted, tortured and murdered 2-year-old James Bulger.

I've visited the graves of a few murder victims and the story behind this murder is one of the most heartbreaking (the murders of Leslie Whittle and Pauline Reade come to mind.) Poor kid. I'll visit her again now I know where she is. I did a salute and left.