Murder of Allan Chappelow

Allan Chappelow
Born	Allan Gordon Chappelow 20 August 1919 Copenhagen,Denmark
Died	Between8 Mayand14 June2006 (aged 87) Hampstead,London
Cause of death	Murdered
Known for	Works onGeorge Bernard Shaw

Allan Gordon ChappelowFRSA(20 August 1919 – May/June 2006) was an English writer and photographer who lived inHampstead,north London. He wrote books onGeorge Bernard Shawand specialised in portraits of writers and musicians. He was found dead at his house in 2006 and a Chinese national, Wang Yam, was convicted of his murder at a retrial in 2009.

Life

Chappelow was the son of wealthy decorator, upholsterer, and fine art consultantArchibald Cecil Chappelow,and Karen Ragnhild Permin ofHillerød(located north ofCopenhagen), whom his father had met while working as a lecturer Copenhagen University. Chappelow moved with his family to Hampstead at the age of 14, to the house, 9Downshire Hill,in which he lived for the rest of his life except for his school and student years. He was educated atOundle SchoolnearPeterborough.In theSecond World Warhe was aconscientious objector(as his uncle,Eric Chappelow,had famously been in the First World War), working on a farm inHampshire.He went on to studymoral sciencesatTrinity College, Cambridgebetween 1946 and 1949, taking an M.A. and twice being a prizeman.In the 1950s he worked as a photographer for theDaily MailandThe Daily Telegraph.Afterwards he became a freelance photographer and writer.

As a photographer, Chappelow specialised in portraits of leading literary and theatrical figures and musicians. In 1950 he visited George Bernard Shaw atAyot St. Lawrenceand took the last known photographs of the playwright. Chappelow's books includedRussian Holiday(London, George Harrap, 1955) – he was a member of the first party of 'ordinary tourists' to be allowed to visit the USSR after the Second World War. His principal works on Shaw areShaw the Villager and Human Being – a Biographical symposium,with a preface by DameSybil Thorndike(1962), andShaw – the 'Chucker-Out'(1969,ISBN0-404-08359-5).

A recluse and (according to media reports) a millionaire, the elderly Chappelow was found murdered in his house after a sum of money was discovered to have gone missing from his bank account. In October 2006, a British citizen of Chinese birth, Wang Yam, a financial trader also resident in Hampstead, was arrested in Switzerland and charged with the murder.

Grave of Allan Chappelow inHighgate Cemetery

Chappelow'sGrade IIlisted house was sold for £4.1m, and the new owners submitted plans for it to be refurbished.

Chappelow was buried with his parents on the east side ofHighgate Cemetery.

Legal and 'security' issues

First trial

In December 2007, theCrown Prosecution Serviceindicated it would ask for Wang's trial for murder, burglary and deception to be held 'in camera'. This would make it the first UK murder trial ever heard behind closed doors without access by press or public.

APublic Interest Immunity(PII) certificate was sought by theHome SecretaryJacqui Smith;it was reported byThe Timeson 13 December 2007 that the grounds were 'on the basis of protecting national security interests and to protect the identity of informants'. On 14 January 2008, the trial judge granted this unprecedented 'gagging order' and the trial was scheduled to start on 28 January. A further order was made under theContempt of CourtAct 1981 prohibiting the press from any speculation as to the reasons for parts of the trial being held in private.

In theCourt of Appealon 28 January, the 'gagging order' was upheld, with theLord Chief Justiceinsisting that a fair trial would be possible even if some or all of it was held 'in camera'.However, there was coverage of the actual criminal trial which opened on Monday, 4 February as scheduled. The coverage included details of both the victim and of the defendant in the media and there was little or no discussion of the fact that the proceedings would at least in part be held in camera. There was no evidence that the delay in publishing the judgement was deliberate or the result of another gagging order which the media had been instructed not to report.

On 28 March, the jury retired to consider its verdict.On 31 March, Yam was found guilty of stealing £20,000 by deception, and on 1 April also found guilty ofhandling stolen goods.The jury was discharged after failing to reach verdicts on the charges of burglary and murder.

One of the theories put forward, and confirmed by "sources close to the investigation", is that Wang was a "low-level informant" for the security services and planned to rely on this as part of his defence at trial.Other theories suggest that the evidence presented by the Crown risked revealing the methods and capabilities of the security services.

Wang had declared bankruptcy in September 2004, and was believed to be having financial difficulties; he had been due to be evicted from his house for rent arrears in June 2006.Wang was a student leader in theTiananmen Square protests of 1989,and had fled China for Hong Kong in 1992.

Retrial

A retrial of Wang Yam was set for 13 October 2008.The prosecution presented eight weeks of evidence in public. This evidence includedCCTVfootage of Yam using Chappelow's bank card, and evidence of Yam paying a restaurant bill. The entirety of the defence case in the retrial was heldin camera.

TheOld Baileyjudge overseeing the case spent early January 2009 summarising the case, before sending out the jury to deliberate on 9 January.Yam was convicted of murder on 16 January 2009;he was sentenced to life imprisonment, serving a minimum of 20 years.

Case review

In 2014, theCriminal Case Review Commissionreferred Yam's case to theCourt of Appealafter one of Chappelow's neighbours came forward with claims that he had been threatened by a man with a knife in the area after Yam's arrest, an encounter he had reported to the police who had not in turn informed Yam's defence team. However, the Court of Appeal upheld the conviction in 2017.

In 2023 the CCRC confirmed that they would review Yam's case a second time in response to new developments in DNA testing which had led to the exoneration ofAndrew Malkinsonearlier in the year.

Book

In January 2018 a book on Chappelow and the murder trial was published:Thomas Harding'sBlood On The Page,William Heinemann (London, 2018).