Their pain is treated with discretion," said board secretary, James Ferman. But Mr Smith's widow Vera did not agree. She said at the time: "If they were going to cash in on it - that's all it is - they could have left it a reasonable time. I got a phone call from our news editor, Warren Wilson, saying we had had a tip-off that somebody who was linked with the Lesley Whittle kidnap and the post office murders had been apprehended at a place called, I think, Mansfield Woodhouse, and he asked us to go there. But the Home Secretary was told he had no powers to stop the film, and the British Board of Film Classification granted it an X-certificate.

The Black Panther (BFI Flipside) (DVD + Blu-ray) [1977 The Black Panther (BFI Flipside) (DVD + Blu-ray) [1977

It had been until quite recently a mining community and was quite tight-knit. There was a deal of suspicion surrounding everyone really." I was concerned about the Whittle family and I rang them to assure them we were not making an exploitation film." Arrangements were made to pay a ransom but various circumstances conspired against a successful handover. At one stage Lesley was forced to make a tape recording, in which she sounded calm.A press conference was called in which Detective Chief Superintendent Bob Booth said he was still hoping that the kidnapper might get in touch. There was a 1am deadline at a rendezvous which he was not going to reveal. Unfortunately Bill Williams got the location of the rendezvous which was a telephone kiosk at the Swan Centre in Kidderminster and pushed out the location to the evening press, which was used, much to the annoyance of Bob Booth.

tragic story of Lesley Whittle remembered 40 years on: The tragic story of Lesley Whittle remembered

Another journalist who covered the kidnapping was Tony Bishop, the district chief reporter for our sister paper, the Express & Star. Bill died a year or two ago and one of my friends told me he was still a bit troubled about his involvement in the Lesley Whittle kidnap, but if the police had been a bit more co-operative and said, 'Look Bill, hold on for 24 hours', he would have complied." They saw him acting suspiciously near a sub post office. Neilson pulled a gun and forced the pair to drive with him. However, after a considerable struggle, they managed to overpower him, with the help of people from a fish and chip shop. Kidnapping was almost unknown in England. I think at first the police thought it was some kind of prank being played by Lesley or her college friends (Lesley was a student at Wulfrun College in Wolverhampton), but they pretty soon did realise it was serious and turned all kinds of resources onto it." Culture & Lifestyle 'Marvel Studios The Marvel Cinematic Universe: An Official Timeline' Coming September 2023

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The film sparked uproar, and was banned by most local authorities in the region, including Sandwell, Wolverhampton and Worcester.

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Culture & Lifestyle Explore the MCU with 'THE MARVEL CINEMATIC UNIVERSE AN OFFICIAL TIMELINE' - Available Now The notorious killer, who received five life sentences in 1976, was played by 35-year-old actor Donald Sumpter. Film-maker Stanley Long, who worked on the movie, said: "We deliberately chose little-known actors so as not to detract from the story." Before police could find her, Lesley died suspended from a wire in the sewers which Neilson had turned into a lair. Tony said three police forces were involved in the investigation and did not seem to be co-operating particularly, and a commander from Scotland Yard was brought in to co-ordinate the inquiry. I ended up doing nothing else for about two years. I was pretty well on it full-time until the conclusion of the court case at Oxford Crown Court.As for the police handling of the affair, Tony said: "They got off to an unfortunate start. I felt a bit sorry for Bob Booth at the end of the day. He had solved 70 murders and was a very accomplished detective. The movie was shot in just five weeks, and when crews went to Bathpool Park in Kidsgrove, to film the manhole where 17-year-old heiress Lesley was murdered, they deliberately chose a rainy day when no-one would be about.