Wimbledon murder shocked nation

Rachel Nickell was found dead on Wimbledon Common

As 41-year-old Robert Napper faces a charge of murdering Rachel Nickell, we look back on a case which shocked the nation in 1992.

It was a frenzied attack, carried out in daylight on Wimbledon Common, an area popular with dog walkers and families.

The murder took place in front of Rachel's two-year-old son, Alex.

It was reported that he was found standing by her body, repeating the words "Wake up mummy".

There were no other witnesses and, without the extensive use of closed-circuit TV, so commonplace nowadays, police struggled to find evidence to link anyone to the crime.

However, a local man named Colin Stagg soon came under suspicion.

A loner, he enjoyed bodybuilding and walked his dog on the common. Eventually he was charged.

'Deceptive conduct'

But his trial in 1994 was dramatically halted when an Old Bailey judge condemned an attempt by a female undercover policewoman to catch Mr Stagg in a so-called "honey trap".

The officer, using the alias Lizzie James, had tried and failed - in letters and meetings - to get him to confess.

Mr Justice Ognall said it was a "blatant attempt to incriminate a suspect by positive and deceptive conduct of the grossest kind".

The criticism of the operation, which was drawn up in consultation with a criminal profiling expert, was arguably one of the lowest points in the Metropolitan Police's recent history.

Mr Stagg, who spent 13 months in custody, always maintained his innocence in the teeth of hostility from sections of the press and public.

He later passed a lie detector test and has been told that he is entitled to compensation from the government.

With the latest developments indicating that police have a different suspect in their sights, Mr Stagg may also claim damages against them for their role in this tragic case.