Charlene Downes, Killed for Kebab Meat?
This case left police perplexed, families distraught and the British public repulsed.
Charlene Downes was born in Coventry, England on the 25th of March 1989 to parents Robert and Karen Downes. Along with her family she moved to Blackpool in the North of England when she was ten. She was your average happy and outgoing teenager. Like many 14-year old’s she was quite rebellious and wasn’t one to follow the rules.
The Disappearance
On Saturday November 1st, 2003, Charlene woke up, ate breakfast, and went to a friend’s house. Whilst there she made plans with another friend who she planned to meet later. She returned home at midday, planning to go back out at around 5:00pm with her sister Becky to meet a friend and her mother gave the OK to her plans. They all left at around 5:30pm, Karene Downes handed out and posted leaflets for the local takeaway so whilst the two sisters were out, they noticed their mother across the road, with McDonald’s milkshakes in hand they ran to her. The sisters told her their plans for the evening, Becky planned to go home, and Charlene wanted to see her friends Ashley and Natalie. So, as Becky made her way home, Charlene waited with her mother for the bus to arrive. Once her friends arrived, she was reminded of her 10:00pm curfew, she received a big hug from her mother and then ran off with her friends to enjoy her night. Certainly, if her mother knew that was the last hug with her daughter, she would have held her tighter than ever.
Once Karen returned home from work at 10:00pm she expected to see Charlene but instead she was greeted by her concerned husband Robert who said Charlene had not yet returned home but they were both calm about the situation initially. As previously mentioned, she was known to be rebellious and often stayed out later than her curfew hence why she was reminded by her mother. Nevertheless, they stayed up waiting and began ringing her phone but received no answer. Robert had a levelheaded approach to the situation and reassured his wife she was still out with a friend, so the couple went to bed. The next morning Charlene still had not arrived home, so they decided when she arrived, they would shout at her and be done with it. After hours of waiting, they started calling friends, but nobody had seen her. So, Robert got in his car and drove to Ashley and Natalie’s but they both said they left her on the pier alone to babysit at 9:30pm.
This ignited a panic. The child they loved and adored had been missing for 24hours so like any parents they contacted the police. Now if you have previously followed missing person’s cases you know hearing the way the police handled a case can have you gripping at your hair so, be prepared for just that.
The police told the parents because they reported it late, they would have to wait a further 24hours to see if she would return home in this time. Outrageous. They complied and did just that. It had now reached 40hours since the last sighting of Charlene, so a missing person report was filed, and the family hoped for the best.
Police and the Investigation:
Days missing slowly turned into weeks. The police searched the local area and found none of her property. The story circulated local news, so like clockwork the police started receiving many potential sightings of Charlene. There were calls that she was rough sleeping on the side of the road, she was on a train, at a shopping center and even lying dead on a railway track. Every lead was investigated but they were all dead leads.
In missing children’s investigations, the police investigate the family as it is commonly an inside job. After searching houses, questioning family and friends, the case fell flat with absolutely nothing coming through. A few weeks into the investigation none of the newspapers, national or local, were covering Charlene’s story. The family later found out the police had contacted newspapers assuring them this was a runaway case and there was no need to cover it. They completely limited the exposure at such a crucial time when her face needed to be out there! It was clear they were not taking this seriously and lost potential witnesses with their carelessness. After a month Charlene’s face was finally on every newspaper and news channel. Yet every lead given led to nothing.
The next real development in the case came three years after Charlene’s disappearance. The police at once contacted the family and told them they were 99% sure she had been murdered. In an interview, Karen Downes said she dropped the boiling cup of coffee she was holding all over her thighs but due to the shock she did not feel a thing. With that, the case evolved into a murder inquiry.
Two arrests were made, the first was 29-year-old Iyad Albattikhi, owner of the ‘Funny Boyz’ fast food outlet. The second arrest was his business partner Mohammed Reveshi, who was charged with disposing the body. The police informed Charlene’s family of the arrests but did not tell them the reason. One-week later Roberts sister called the family crying asking if they had seen the newspapers. The family opened the newspaper with Charlene’s face plastered all over the cover and the media’s depiction of events is a moment they will never forget. The metro reported 14 year-old Charlene was murdered and her body was cut up and made into kebab meat.
The trial:
The trial began in May 2007 in which a shocking piece of evidence was revealed. The police were tipped off with an audio recording of two men bragging about killing a girl, holding her body in the car, then cutting it up and using it as meat to sell. Another massive piece of evidence came from the questioning of 3000 people in the Blackpool area which revealed there was a serious grooming and Child Exploitation ring in the area. The men running local takeaways, including the takeaway the two men on trial worked at, were giving girls as young as 11 free food, cigarettes and alcohol in exchange for sexual favors. Somehow these men slipped completely under the radar, the police and locals had no idea. It was revealed Charlene Downes was one of 60 girls who had been groomed and exploited. She had been victim of this grooming ring an entire year before her disappearance.
With these two pieces of evidence, you would think the prosecution’s case was solid however the jury were so uncertain and went back and forth between a not guilty and guilty verdict. They believed there was not enough evidence to imprison these men, so they were released back into society. The daily Telegraph reported the police were ‘hampered by political correctness’ because the perpetrators were non-white, and the victims were white.
Aftermath
After the trial, it was a revealed a member of the jury knew one of the two men on trial. Also, one of the defendant’s brothers had been following around different members of the jury trying to intimidate them, it is plausible to say this affected the jury’s decision. Thus, a new trial was ordered to take place the following April. Unfortunately, the retrial fell through because the original transcription of the audio was not written out correctly so again the men were found not guilty. Although these men are believed to be responsible they have not been sucessfully prosecuted.
The men were both given £250,000 each in compensation for false arrest.
One week after the retrial Karen Downes was arrested for stabbing her husband Robert during an argument. He refused to press charges because he understood she was experiencing great pain and anger. The family were part of the English Defense League, a far-right party in the UK that stands for British values and strongly believe these values are threatened by Muslim extremists. A peaceful religion was not responsible for this crime, but the evil men who carried out the acts on these young girls and murdered Charlene were. Understandably however, the families anger only grew.
So, who is responsible for this crime, nobody has faced prison time and it seems like nobody will?
