04 December 2023 , 21:40
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A woman whose parents and grandparents were murdered in the 1986 Fordingbridge massacre says the killer’s bid for freedom must be denied and he should die in jail.
Melissa Cleaver was speaking after evil George Stephenson applied last week for parole. She is demanding a change in the law so monsters like him will never be allowed to go free.
In her first ever interview, Melissa spoke powerfully about how the murders devastated her family and also led to the death of her brother. She also revealed that she fears Stephenson might come after her if he is released. Melissa said: “My mum was brutally raped by this man and his accomplices, then strangled.
Tom and Wendy Cleaver were killed by George Stephenson“My father, who was disabled, my granny, a stroke victim in a wheelchair, my grandpa and the live-in nurse were tortured, tied up, doused in petrol and burnt alive. Theirs was not a quick death. Even our beloved dog Tina was kicked so hard her eye popped out. The brutality and horror is shocking.”
On September 1, 1986, Stephenson and two friends went to Burgate House, Fordingbridge, in the New Forest where he had recently been employed.
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Stephenson wanted revenge having recently been sacked. Melissa’s grandparents Joseph and Hilda Cleaver, both 82, their son Tom, 47, and his wife Wendy, 46 – Melissa’s parents – and nurse Maggie Murphy, 70, were all killed.
Melissa's grandparents Joseph and Hilda had employed StephensonMelissa had stayed at the house the night before but had returned to the family home in Surrey. She is furious at Stephenson even having the chance of parole.
She said: “He should die in prison. He took my family’s lives in the most brutal way. His rights ended at that moment. He destroyed our family.
“I find it impossible to understand how somebody who has committed the crimes he was convicted of – and clearly masterminded – can ever have the chance to be free? It’s grossly unfair and unjust. The law has to be changed. Everything is stacked in favour of the prisoner, not the victims’ family. We should have a stronger voice in this. In 1987 he couldn’t get a full life tariff. Now that’s changed, but unfortunately it cannot be applied retrospectively.”
Melissa, 55, is now married and lives near London. Every day she wears a diamond – now on a necklace – that was worn by her beloved granny and mum in a brooch and ring. The parole board will decide Stephenson’s fate soon, but Melissa said: “I’m afraid I cannot and will not say anything about the hearing which took place last week.”
Stephenson, pictured in 1987, applied for parole (South coast press agency)Stephenson and wife Nona had been employed by the Cleavers after answering an ad in The Lady magazine. The Cleavers, a wealthy couple, whose horse Some Chicken had finished 5th in the 1947 Grand National, needed help for Hilda after she had a stroke.
They had no idea handyman Stephenson had 70 previous convictions, including for assaulting a police officer. Winchester crown court heard that on the night of the murders he and his accomplices – wearing rubber gloves and carrying pickaxe handles – went to the house on the premise of stealing shotguns. Nona said on hearing of the killings she “felt terrible for those who died, but happy because George would be arrested and I’d be free from him”.
Melissa recalled how Stephenson, now 72, smiled at her as she watched the trial. “It wasn’t a nice smile,” she said. “It was a smirk. I remember looking at his eyes and I didn’t recognise anything in those eyes. Except for, I don’t know how to describe it… evil.
“At no point did he say sorry. He didn’t admit guilt. He was almost relishing the grandeur of what he’d done.” Despite the horrifying details revealed in court Melissa left her job at a PR agency so she could go to the trial every day.
The Mirror covered the killings in 1986
Our publication also covered Stephenson's trialShe said: “I was warned not to go on particular days, but I wanted to know what happened. I wanted to try and understand how these three men could have done what they did. But I got no answers, they basically all blamed each other. I remember being astonished Stephenson wasn’t convicted of murdering my mother. Yet he was convicted of murdering the other four.
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“John Daley was convicted of murdering my mother. They were all convicted of rape.” The other two
men were released from prison some time ago. Melissa says Stephenson destroyed her whole family.
She said: “He not only killed five people, he killed my brother Jason. He suffered from depression and went to try to kill himself at Beachy Head. He was stopped by the police but died three months later. There is no doubt the actions of Stephenson contributed to his early death. Two uncles died before their time. Again they were impacted by the events that night. The impact is huge.”
Melissa’s own immense pain is now being brought back to the surface. She said: “I didn’t have counselling 37 years ago, people just didn’t.
“I put my feelings and emotions in a box… not to be opened. But I’m being forced to relive the trauma because of the parole hearing. I really struggled earlier this year. I couldn’t leave the house for two weeks.”
Stephenson was sentenced to life, with a minimum of 25 years, in 1987. The judge told him the murders were of “indescribable brutality, you showed no mercy and deserve none”.
In 2001, the then Home Secretary Jack Straw upped his sentence to at least 35 years, but this cannot be legally increased and Stephenson is entitled to a parole hearing.
Melissa fears for her life if he is released, saying: “That’s why I don’t want to have my photograph taken. I’m terrified he will track me down.”