Victim's 'courageous' skills put killer behind bars, detective says

Detective reveals how Stephanie Slater who was kidnapped and locked in a box for 8 days used her ‘cool head’ and ‘amazing’ observation skills to stay alive and then help police catch Britain’s most-wanted man

• A former detective has praised a kidnapping victim’s keen awareness skills 
• The Girl in the Box: The Kidnapping of Stephanie Slater aired on Channel 5 & My5
• READ MORE: Detective who caught killer Michael Sams reveals the ‘calm’ murderer directed police to the nearest station after his arrest

A former detective became emotional as he praised the late Stephanie Slater’s ‘absolutely courageous and amazing’ observation skills, crediting her witness accounts to capturing Britain’s once most-wanted man Michael Sams.

John Plimmer, who was the Head of Intelligence at West Midlands Police, was deeply moved as he recounted the kidnapping victim’s impressive awareness of her surroundings, despite being blindfolded for her horrifying eight-day ordeal. 

Comparing her to a seasoned police force professional, the former investigator sang her praises on the second episode of Channel 5’s documentary, The Girl in the Box: The Kidnapping of Stephanie Slater, which aired on Channel 5 & My5. 

‘Stephanie Slater, I think, in my 30 years of policing was the most reliable knowledgeable and intelligent witness I ever dealt with, without doubt,’ he told the programme.

‘She wasn’t a police officer. She wasn’t a professional investigator. But she certainly retained information as if she was.’

John Plimmer, who was the Head of Intelligence at West Midlands Police, was deeply moved as he recounted the kidnapping victim’s impressive awareness of her surroundings 

The information Stephanie Slater (pictured) provided was crucial in helping the team configure the ‘golden triangle’ area in which they could roughly pin down Sams’ location

John added he believes it was her razor sharp wit – which saw her not only listen out for the radio station her abductor listened to, but also recount what his roof looked like, as well as pin down his location near a railway – that put Sams behind bars.

The information she provided was crucial in helping the team configure the ‘golden triangle’ area in which they could roughly pin down Sams’ location.  

‘What she went through, that girl, was purgatory,’ he stressed. ‘And how she responded was amazing. Absolutely amazing and amazing. She got him caught and captured.’ 

Hostage negotiator Ellie Baker – a DI who had spent days with Stephanie’s parents while she was missing – also stressed that it was Stephanie’s cool-headed approach which kept her alive. 

She told the documentary: ‘She did as she was told and she didn’t try and fight and she didn’t try and argue with him… I actually think that’s what saved Stephanie’s life, that she was actually compliant.’ 

West Midlands Police were left stumped after the body of 18-year-old Julie Dart was discovered in July 1991 and began their hunt for her killer. 

Days earlier, the sadistic murderer had picked her up in the Chapeltown area of Leeds while cruising through the red-light district searching for a victim.

Sams was convicted in July 1993 and sentenced to life in prison. He is now 80 years old, making him one of the UK’s oldest prisoners, and is said to be applying for parole next month

Ms Dart had turned to prostitution to clear her debts so she could pursue her dream of an Army career, having passed the medical and other assessment tests. After she got into his car, Sams drove the terrified teenager 70 miles to his workshop in Nottinghamshire.

After leaving Julie locked up overnight, Sams returned to his workshop and ordered her to write letters to her boyfriend and mother Lynn, telling them that she was being held and urging them to contact police. 

Sams himself also wrote a threatening letter to West Midlands Police demanding £140,000 for the safe return of the teenager. 

Officers attempted to comply, and a policewoman with a holdall containing the cash was sent on Sams’s instructions to various locations, but all attempts at the handover failed. Shortly afterwards, he killed Julie. 

A post-mortem examination of Julie’s body, which was found trussed up in a sheet and ropes under an oak tree in Easton, Lincolnshire, ten days after her disappearance, revealed that Sams had strangled the life out of her by crushing her windpipe with his bare hands.

He kept her body for a week in a green wheelie bin before transporting her decomposing remains to his chosen dumping ground.

Hostage negotiator Ellie Baker – a DI who had spent days with Stephanie’s parents while she was missing – also stressed that it was Stephanie’s cool-headed approach which kept her alive

Estate agent Stephanie Slater (right, at the trial) was kidnapped and held hostage by Michael Sams in 1992

Sams (pictured) was sentenced to life in prison in July 1993 after being convicted of the kidnap and murder of 18-year-old Julie Dart

DS Grogan revealed his regrets after reading Julie’s letter that police were unable to save her. 

Six months later, Sams would adapt his methods for his next crime, abducting Stephanie Slater at knifepoint while posing as a house buyer in Birmingham and imprisoning her in a wheelie bin in the same workshop.

Although her disappearance prompted a huge manhunt, Sams evaded police and escaped with a £175,000 ransom – although incredibly, he kept his promise and returned Stephanie to her loved ones after receiving the money. 

Stephanie later revealed in a memoir that she had been raped during her ordeal, in which Sams had held her hostage in a locked wheelie bin for several days. 

However, the police was left frustrated that they had not managed to catch Sams, despite a carefully orchestrated operation in which they had arranged for the ransom to be paid by Stephanie’s boss. The plan was to intercept the handover and arrest Sams, but poor weather conditions meant they lost him. 

Sams’s first victim was Julie Dart (pictured) an 18-year-old woman with dreams of joining the army. She was working as a prostitute to clear her debts when Sams picked her up in the red-light district in Leeds

He was later caught following a BBC Crimewatch appeal, when Sams’s ex-wife Susan Oake recognised the clues provided and linked Stephanie’s case to her former husband. 

Sams was convicted in July 1993 and sentenced to life in prison. He is now 80 years old, making him one of the UK’s oldest prisoners, and is said to be applying for parole next month. 

In 2005 he was given an extra eight years for attacking a female probation officer with a metal spike. Two years ago, the Parole Board ruled that he was still too dangerous to be released.

Stephanie subsequently worked with police to help improve the treatment of kidnap victims, but died of cancer in 2017, aged just 50. 

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