ONLY DARKNESS

I Saw The Face Of The Strangler

By Timothy Godber

Teacher Debra Sykes had a chilling encounter the night the strangler struck. The attractive brunette told our reporter "I just knew there was something wrong. There was something terribly wrong at the station that night."

Debra, 26, was waiting for her train on Thursday night at nine-thirty, the time police say that the killer struck. She saw a man watching her as she stood on the platform. ";I don't know who he was," said Debra, "but he wasn't a passenger. He didn't get on the train."

Broken lights

A police source told our reporter last night that the killer had left his characteristic signs at the station. The platform lights had been smashed, leaving the station in darkness.

Latest victim

The latest victim, Julie Fyfe, 24, usually travelled on the 9.27 from Moreham to her home in Doncaster. Debra was able to confirm that Julie was not in her usual place that night. "There was no one at the station apart from me. It was very frightening."

Moreham women are asking the question, "What are the police doing to protect us?"

The man leading the hunt for the Strangler,Detective Superintendent Michael Berryman, said yesterday, "We are aware of Miss Sykes' story and are following it up. It is one of several leads we have. We have no reason to assume that this man was anything other than a bona fide traveller, but we are asking him to come forward so that we can eliminate him from our enquiries."

Julie is believed to the fourth victim of this vicious killer. The earlier victims were 25 year old mum, Lisa Griffin; student Kate Claremont, 20; and clerk, Amanda Varney, 21.