MIDDLESBROUGH – Convicted sex offender Peter Chapman was jailed for life yesterday after admitting the kidnap, rape and murder of a teenager he ensnared on a social networking site.
The defendant, of no fixed address, dramatically changed his plea at Teesside Crown Court as he was due to go on trial for the killing of Ashleigh Hall.
Chapman (33) was told by Judge Peter Fox QC that he would serve a minimum of 35 years in prison before being considered for release.
The body of the 17-year-old childcare student was found dumped in a field near Sedgefield, Co Durham, last October. Miss Hall, from Darlington, had been strangled.
Chapman also pleaded guilty to failing to notify police of a change of address, as required by the sex offenders register. A convicted rapist, he has a long history of sexual offending.
At 15, he was accused of sexual assault and four years later accused of raping a girl he had befriended. Both these investigations were discontinued.
But, in December 1996, aged 19, he was jailed for seven years after being convicted of raping of two teenage prostitutes.
After his release, he was arrested by Cheshire Police in 2002 for the rape and kidnap of a prostitute in Ellesmere Port. But the case was not proceeded with.
Prosecutor Graham Reeds QC outlined how Chapman had lured Miss Hall to her death.
He had posed on Facebook as a fictitious good-looking 19-year-old boy called Peter Cartwright, even posting fake pictures, to befriend the college student.
After becoming her Facebook friend and chatting on other social networking sites, he arranged to meet her on the evening of October 25th last year.
Knowing that Miss Hall was expecting to meet a teenage boy and not a 33 year old, Chapman led her to believe that Peter Cartwright’s father would pick her up.
“The defendant used this handsome alter ego to entice 17-year-old Ashleigh Hall into meeting him,” Mr Reeds said. “When she met him on October 25th last year, he kidnapped, raped and murdered her.”
Mr Reeds said Chapman had spent the early part of October 25th visiting the area where he was to eventually take his victim.
“Having organised the ‘Pete’s dad’ cover story, having researched the location of the intended crime scene and having just travelled to the area to check it, the defendant had now sprung the trap,” the barrister told the court.
“All he had to do now was wait for her to fall into it.”
Judge Fox passed a life sentence on Chapman and said he would serve at least 35 years imprisonment before being considered for parole.
“For it appears to me that you are, you were at the time, and have been for some considerable time, a very great danger to young women and, for what it is worth, I cannot foresee your release,” he said.
Chapman, he said, had carried out a “significant degree” of planning and premeditation in snaring Ashleigh. – (PA)