I was raped aged 9 by Suzy Lamplugh ‘killer’ after being dragged to abandoned launderette… he left me begging for death

FEW would person shed tears aft the decease of cancer-stricken serial rapist and murderer John Cannan. 

The monster, from Sutton Coldfield, West Mids, who passed distant aged 70 past week portion serving 3 beingness sentences successful HM Prison Full Sutton, was the premier fishy successful the disappearance of Suzy Lamplugh.

Nearly 4 decades ago, the estate agent, 25, vanished without a trace aft gathering a mysterious ‘Mr Kipper’ - believed to beryllium twisted Cannan, who was known by that nickname. 

A suspected serial killer, helium was recovered blameworthy of knifepoint rapes, gunpoint kidnapping attempts and robberies. He besides abducted and fatally strangled Shirley Banks, 29, and was allegedly killed Sandra Court, 27. 

Now further penetration into Cannan’s bone-chillingly callous crimes person emerged aft mum-of-two Melanie Gregory, 53, came guardant to uncover she was his youngest victim.

In an exclusive interrogation with The Sun, she tells america helium bundled her into an abandoned launderette, wherever helium “gleefully fulfilled each sick intersexual fantasy” betwixt astir choking her to decease aggregate times. 

Melanie, who was conscionable 9 years old, managed to instrumentality Cannan truthful she could flight earlier helium could termination her successful 1981 - a twelvemonth that would person made her his archetypal execution victim. 

Speaking done tears, she tells us: “The existent fearfulness of what I went done is unimaginable, I’m 1 of the lone radical live who knows the information of what helium was like.

“He had his afloat reign with me. There was nary clip bounds successful his mind. He wasn’t rushed and helium got to fulfil each sick intersexual phantasy helium had gleefully. 

“It was similar each his Christmases had travel astatine once, helium was beside himself with excitement and I was a terrified, frozen small kid that had nary conception of what was happening to maine oregon why.

“He was a sadistic monster. At a fig of points, I was waiting to die, I was begging for death, I wanted decease to instrumentality maine truthful it would extremity and I was convinced helium would termination me.

“Now he’s dormant I consciousness cheated, upset and afloat of rage due to the fact that it ne'er ends for maine adjacent successful death. He inactive haunts me. I endure nightmares, triggers, flashbacks and PTSD to this day. 

“I anticipation helium suffocated oregon died a slow, achy decease similar each of his victims did and I would person if helium had his way.

"I anticipation helium suffered, adjacent if it was conscionable a small per cent of what enactment maine through.”

Snatched from street

Four decades connected from the fearfulness enactment attack, Melanie lives successful Brisbane, Australia, but the scars of what happened remain. 

She’s incapable to accidental her attacker’s name, lone referring to him arsenic ‘JC’. Some days she’s incapable to locomotion due to the fact that of a neurological disorder, each caused by trauma.

Cannan struck successful February 1981 erstwhile Melanie was walking location from the convenience store wherever her parent worked, successful Erdington, adjacent Birmingham, West Mids.

He approached the nine-year-old claiming to beryllium a person of her member Dave and “adamantly insisted” her sibling was 14 years old, blonde and blue-eyed. 

Melanie instantly knew thing was incorrect due to the fact that successful reality, helium was 5 years older than that, aged 19, six-foot-tall, bearded and a rocker. 

Seconds aboriginal and conscionable 13 doors distant from her home, Cannan enactment his limb astir her cervix and silenced her screams with his hand.

He lifted her disconnected her feet and dragged her into an abandoned launderette called Old Stone’s connected Goosemoor Lane. 

She recalls: “The spot was derelict and determination was rubble everywhere. There was a mattress laid retired successful a country upstairs. Everything had been planned out.

“He abruptly had a container that wasn’t determination erstwhile helium approached me. Inside were assorted items, a achromatic whip, achromatic ropes, and different things that helium utilized connected me.

“The thought of his hands inactive terrifies maine due to the fact that they were a limb of torture for maine successful each aspect. They were astir my throat, sexually assaulting maine oregon suffocating me.”

'Evil, axenic evil'

Some of Melanie’s highly vivid and traumatic memories from the onslaught are excessively graphic to publish. 

Throughout the onslaught, she was choked retired aggregate times and recalls the choler successful Cannan’s eyes erstwhile she regained consciousness.   

“He was evil, axenic evil,” Melanie tells us. “He saw the panic successful my eyes and enjoyed it. He enjoyed that the most.

Consumed with panic and successful utter agony, Melanie has nary thought however agelong the enactment onslaught continued for and was deceived into destroying captious evidence.

She recalls: “I thought helium was being kind, saying, ‘Let’s cleanable you up.

“I deliberation astatine 1 constituent helium thought helium had killed maine and erstwhile I came astir helium felt atrocious for himself, similar ‘S***, I’ve got to get her retired of present and get escaped of her’.

“Then helium changed from being a monster to grooming maine into believing helium was sorry, that it was my responsibility due to the fact that I’d made him aggravated and if I stopped crying and didn’t marque a fuss I could spell home.”

'Jekyll & Hyde'

Melanie recalls trying to stifle her tears and calm down arsenic Cannan led her retired of the launderette into an alley that led backmost connected to the thoroughfare but she couldn’t clasp backmost her emotions.

“I didn’t privation to run, I didn’t privation to trigger oregon panic him truthful I played on and helium walked precise adjacent down me,” she said.

“I was freaking retired reasoning helium was lying and was going to instrumentality maine backmost successful there. I mislaid it. He went backmost to evil, similar Jekyll and Hyde, and took his hands retired of his pockets.

“‘Please don’t instrumentality maine back,’ I said. He claimed helium wouldn’t wounded maine but helium grabbed maine and enactment maine successful a chokehold. I deliberation I fell unconscious again due to the fact that afterward, I felt hazy, precise foggy and confused.”

Once they had reached the main thoroughfare Goosemoor Lane, Cannan tried to pb her to a pub carpark claiming it was a “shortcut” to get home. Melanie believes helium had parked determination and wanted to usage it to instrumentality her to a 2nd determination to instrumentality her life.

She says: “I played on with him due to the fact that I knew I was successful danger. 

“He changed the program to america going to the parkland to play connected the swings. I knew I had to get to my house.

“He was walking alongside maine and I tricked him, helium stepped up and I ran to my beforehand gross and to loudly banged connected my beforehand door, I knew my member was in.

“I was yelling backmost to him, ‘I’ll conscionable archer my member we’re going to the park’. He leaned connected this aged ceramic wall, lit a cigaret and shielded his face.”

When Melanie’s 19-year-old member Dave answered the door, helium was not what Cannan expected and her sibling recognised a “frantic look” successful his sister’s eyes. 

She recalls: “He looked astatine my member mortified, determination was this six-foot bloke lasting there, not a 14-year-old lad - the member helium claimed to person known.

“He gave maine a look similar helium was going to termination me. He knew I’d tricked him. He pegged retired his fag and ran for his life. My member said, ‘Who the f*** was that?’ but I couldn’t archer him.” 

'Ran for his life'

After getting inside, Melanie collapsed connected the sofa successful the surviving country inactive successful her overgarment and laic successful the fetal presumption successful a “ball of pain”, sometimes crying, incapable to determination for hours oregon talk astir what happened.  

“My member was aggravated astatine me,” she recalled. “I got told disconnected for talking to a alien and was frightened I would beryllium successful occupation erstwhile my mum and dada came home.

“Part of the crushed I’m truthful traumatised present was due to the fact that of the deficiency of enactment and fearfulness I had done thing wrong.” 

Later erstwhile questioned by her mum, Melanie said she had a “tummy ache” and was sent to furniture with 2 spoonfuls of Milk of Magnesia.

Alone successful her room, she recalls being incapable to slumber due to the fact that the country was spinning, nary substance whether she laic down oregon sat up, and owed to the pain. 

Vile onslaught

Melanie buried what happened to her heavy wrong for decades and backmost past didn’t cognize the individuality of her attacker - who would onslaught again conscionable weeks later. 

Cannan raped a knitwear store adjunct astatine knifepoint aft threatening to stab her 17-month-old baby, who was successful the backroom.  

The monster besides held up 2 pistillate workers astatine a petrol presumption with a weapon streets distant from the workplace. For those 2 crimes, helium was sentenced to 8 years but served conscionable five. 

In 1986, soon aft helium was released, helium raped a pistillate successful Reading, Berks, successful a terrifying 45-minute ordeal aft stopping to inquire her for directions. 

That aforesaid year, Cannan is besides believed to person murdered Sandra Court, 27, who was recovered dormant successful a ditch aft stumbling location drunk successful Bournemouth, and Suzy Lamplugh, 25, who vanished successful Fulham, London.

In 1987, helium abducted Shirley Banks, 29, aft a buying travel successful Brodmead, Bristol, held her hostage successful his level and forced her to telephone successful sick to enactment the adjacent time earlier strangling her to decease and dumping her body. 

Two years later, Cannan was fixed 3 beingness presumption aft being recovered blameworthy of Shirley’s murder, the knifepoint rape successful Reading and the attempted gunpoint kidnapping of Julia Holman, who miraculously managed to combat him off.

No justice

Melanie was unaware of Cannan’s crimes for galore years. It wasn't hap until 2019 erstwhile different enactment maltreatment subsister suggested she whitethorn beryllium capable to place her attacker by looking for those who carried retired akin attacks successful her area. 

She work astir enactment slayer Patrick Hassett, who abducted, raped, and murdered schoolgirl Candace Williams, successful Edrington, successful 1978, and spotted the sanction of a fishy - John Cannan.    

Pictures of him were hauntingly acquainted and aft watching a video helium recorded for a dating agency, she was certain. Shivers ran down her spine, determination was nary uncertainty successful her mind. 

Later, erstwhile talking to different Cannan survivors online she noticed “similarities” successful his approach, his methods and his usage of the fake sanction ‘Dave’. 

In April 2021, Melanie felt compelled to study what happened to the police aft speechmaking that Cannan was being considered for parole. 

“That frightened me,” she said. “I was terrified that if helium got retired of jailhouse helium would bash thing to different child. They didn’t cognize helium wasn’t lone a murderer but a kid rapist too.”

Melanie contacted The Met, who referred her to West Midlands Police. It wasn't until June 2022 that they got successful interaction and she claims wrong a period they had dropped the lawsuit earlier carrying retired immoderate existent investigation.

She believes had constabulary DNA tested a achromatic whip, achromatic ropes oregon “maybe a vessel of babe oil” among Cannan’s belongings they could person recovered her DNA connected it. 

Melanie says having her experiences looked into would person made her consciousness “validated” but instead, the rejection enactment her into a self-destructive downward spiral. 

“It near maine broken,” she says. “I person a small nine-year-old miss wrong of maine who has ne'er been heard and there’s a antheral who has ne'er been held accountable.

“The determination near my beingness successful tatters astatine that point. I was suffering PTSD, self-harmed, attempted termination and was drinking heavily, I was successful turmoil. 

“If they could person taken a photograph of nine-year-old me, placed it successful beforehand of him to spot him sweat and squirm, truthful the b*****d knew helium didn’t get distant with it, past I whitethorn not person spiralled.” 

While Melanie didn’t get justness done the courts, she did get a infinitesimal of idiosyncratic revenge to assistance “take backmost the powerfulness stolen from maine arsenic a child”.

In 2022, she sent him a photograph of the derelict launderette alongside a missive and demanded helium confessed to Suzy's and his different murders.

On November 6, it was reported that Cannan had died aft years of palliative attraction for crab and having suffered a stroke 5 years earlier. An inquest this week was told that a ruptured aortic aneurysm successful his abdomen killed him.

The quality brings a premix of analyzable emotions for Melanie who says she feels “relieved it’s over” but besides “triggered and angered”. She besides holds “a batch of resentment towards West Midlands Police”. 

“He was infamous, helium received each this attraction for the worst reasons. It should beryllium astir the victims not him, which is wherefore I’m telling my communicative now.

“I anticipation it volition assistance different survivors to amusement them you tin basal up to these monsters, adjacent if it’s from the different broadside of the satellite against a celebrated serial killer.” 

In effect to Melanie's claims, a West Midlands Police spokesperson told The Sun: "A study was made to america and formally recorded.

"We person cautiously considered the accusation provided and unluckily we bash not person capable grounds to proceed immoderate further with an investigation. The complainant has been afloat updated with our rationale.

"We afloat recognize this is not the result she had wished for, but we person to see if determination would beryllium a realistic imaginable of a conviction, and sadly successful this lawsuit determination is not.

"We bash recognize the complainant’s vexation astatine this determination and victims of rape and intersexual maltreatment merit the precise champion of our attention.

"We instrumentality each study of intersexual battle highly earnestly and our Public Protection Unit are committed to improving our work to summation convictions."