Father admits 1983 teenager murder

A Ford Fiesta used by Paul Hutchinson, of Notts, who admitted murdering Colette Aram in 1983.
12 April 2012

A married father-of-three has admitted murdering a teenage girl more than 26 years-ago.

Paul Hutchinson, 51, admitted abducting trainee hairdresser Colette Aram as she walked to her boyfriend's house in Keyworth, Nottinghamshire, on October 30, 1983.

He strangled the 16-year-old before dumping her naked body in a field a mile and a half from her home in the village.

Hutchinson, a newspaper delivery man, of Stockgill Close, West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, was due to go on trial next month but changed his plea at Nottingham Crown Court.

The murder was the first to be featured on BBC TV's Crimewatch in 1984.

Police say the case was never closed but it was not until 2004 that officers began to actively follow up leads after the investigation featured again on the 20th anniversary programme of Crimewatch.

Hutchinson now faces a mandatory life sentence.

Greg Dickinson, QC, prosecuting, said Hutchinson raped Colette before he strangled her with his bare hands.

He said: "The abduction and murder was premeditated and sexually motivated. Colette was abducted by force and her screams were heard by local residents. She sustained a blow to the head. However that may have been caused it would not have been sufficient to render her unconscious and she would have been alive and conscious when she was sexually assaulted in the car.

"The defendant then strangled Colette with his hands and abandoned her naked body in a field. Her body was arranged in an overtly sexual pose and he was later to write a letter to police in which he taunted them that he had never been detected."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in