Colin Ash-Smith
| AKA | |
| DOB | 1968 |
| Occupation | Milkman |
| Kill Total | 1 |
| Kill Place | Dartford |
| Kill Date | May 2018 |
| M.O. | Stabbing |
| Victim | Claire Tiltman |
| Court | Inner London Crown Court |
| Judge | Mr Justice Sweene |
| Prosceution | |
| Defence |
December 1988, Ash-Smith attacked and attempted to rape a young woman in a local quarry.
18th January 1993, Claire Tiltman was murdered, just four days after her 16th birthday in Greenhithe, a suburb of Dartford in Kent.
She took short a short cut from her home on her way to a friend’s house to study.
On route she was murdered by being stabbed at least forty times in an apparent and frenzied attack. She was only about one hundred steps away from a busy main road.
She was found by a passer-by, who stopped to help, another man rang for an ambulance from the local pub. The man gave her CPR, but it was too late, by the time the ambulance crew arrived she was dead.
A local person, near-by at the time of the killing reported having seen Colin Ash-Smith close to the scene of the killing and, he allegedly appeared to be in a hurry. As a result, he was questioned by the police on more than one occasion but he was not considered a major suspect and was released without charge.
A major police investigation drew a blank, and the case was slowly closed down.
October 1995, Ash-Smith stabbed 22-year-old Charlotte Barnard 14-times, close to where he had killed Claire nearly three years earlier.
1996, Ash-Smith jailed and given three life sentences for that two attacks.
Thursday 12th September 2013, the former home of Colin Ash-Smith in Myrtle Place, Stone, near Dartford, Kent was searched by police as part of a cold case review
His father still lived in the property, police were seen to take away several bags of what was thought to be evidence, Ash-Smith was not interviewed further, nor was he charged with the crime.
12th December 2014, Ash-Smith, now aged-46, was sentenced to life, with a minimum term of 21-years for the murder of Claire Tiltman, he was already in prison serving three life sentences for other attacks.
November 2015, Ash-Smith launched an appeal against his conviction on the grounds that Mr Justice Sweeney had wrongly allowed "gravely prejudicial" material to go before the jury. However, it was rejected by the Court of Appeal.
He is currently held at HMP Durham.