Nottingham polygraph used in murder case
A Nottingham polygraph could have helped police arrest a suspect earlier on in a murder case.
The case
The girlfriend of Jake Rollinson was sitting in her car when 16-year-old Joseph Whitchurch was stabbed. She broke down in court when told she would go to prison. Lorna Richardson and Rollinson together cooked up a false account about the stabbing. Joseph was stabbed by Rollinson in the kitchen of his home on Saturday, December 26, 2020
Vicious attack
Rollinson stabbed him four times. One wound to his neck was consistent with a knife being held to his neck and pressed.
A wound to his leg could only have been caused when Joseph was facing away from Rollinson as it was in the back of his thigh. The fatal wound went straight into Joseph’s chest, causing irreparable damage.
Awful crime
Former Nottingham College pupil Joseph died from his injuries on December 29, 2020. Joseph’s screams in the house did not bring Richardson, a hairdresser at the time, out of her car.
Judge Stuart Rafferty QC told 21-year-old Rollinson, of Hicklings Lane, Stapleford, that must mean that he fetched Richardson to the scene. It was Richardson who had dialled 999 and she was the first to say Joseph had been stabbed, and that he had run to the scene already injured, it was claimed.
The trial
Jurors heard at Rollinson’s trial last year that when police and ambulance arrived, the defendant and his girlfriend, maintained an agreed false account and told police that they had both been sitting chatting in Richardson’s car on the front drive of Rollinson’s address.
Richardson, of Blake Road in Stapleford, could not go in the house because of Covid restrictions, Nottingham Crown Court had heard.
They said Joseph, who was Rollinson’s friend, came running into the front garden and he was already injured, so Rollinson had helped him into the kitchen and called an ambulance.
Police rush to the scene
Rollinson had identified himself to police as “Jake”, and said “he (Joseph) has come running out in the garden” and he had pulled Joseph’s trousers down. There was a towel wrapped around his leg and his chest was bleeding.
Richardson was recorded saying her name for officers and then: “I didn’t know what to do, the ambulance took so long. I tried to give him CPR”.
Rollinson also said: “I dragged him into the house and laid him down.”
Fighting for life
One officer tells Rollinson: “Right, now your mate is fighting for his life. We need to know who it is. We need to go and arrest him and secure the evidence”.
Rollinson replied: “I don’t know who did it”.
Rollinson was also recorded being arrested for the attempted murder of Joseph. He was heard shouting “Lorna, I’m being arrested for attempted murder.”
The verdict
Richardson, who pleaded guilty with Rollinson to perverting the course of justice, was jailed for two years. The judge added that her “misguided loyalty to Jake Rollinson persisted far longer than it should”.
Rollinson was jailed for life at the same hearing for murdering Joseph. He was also ordered to serve a minimum term of 19 years. He received a three-year concurrent sentence for perverting the course of justice.
How polygraph testing would have helped
Police are now using polygraph testing upon arrest of suspects. They are now asking suspects to take polygraph tests during the interrogation stages. Taking a lie detector test this early on in a case helps police rule out suspicions or to confirm suspects guilt. This has meant neighbours or victims who call in with their suspicions have been able to help police catch suspects before they have killed, committed a crime or harmed a victim. Polygraph testing and the threat to criminals of taking polygraphs has reduced crim rates.
If you suspect someone guilty of committing a crime or being involved in something illegal then book a test online today. You can also call us on our free helpline on 07572 748364.
We provide confidential office appointments and home tests throughout Midlands.
