A MAN wrongly jailed over one of Britain’s most infamous murders says he is desperate to meet the victim’s family.
Colin Stagg, 60, spent 13 months in prison after being set up in a ‘honeytrap’ operation by police investigating the horrific murder of Rachel Nickell.
Now he wants to meet her surviving relatives face-to-face to express his sympathy – and said he understands their “misdirected'” anger towards him for so many years.
Rachel was stabbed 49 times aged just 23 in front of her two-year-old son on Wimbledon Common in July 1992.
Until Robert Napper was identified as her real killer in 2008 – Colin said Rachel’s family continued to hold him in anger and contempt – believing he had been cleared of her murder on a mere technicality.
Colin, who is now homeless and living in temporary accommodation after blowing his £700,000 Home Office compensation payout, says he just wants to live a quiet life out of the spotlight.
But he said one thing he was desperate to do before that was to express his deep sorrow to her loved ones – in a step he hopes might finally bring some closure to both parties.
He said: “I’ve always had an incredible amount of sympathy for the family since it first happened. It really depressed me they thought I was still guilty for so long and only got off on a technicality.
“I just wanted to shake them and say ‘I did not do this’. There is no way I could have done it – it is not in my nature.
“Looking back on it – they know now I am innocent – but I would still like to meet Andre (Rachel’s partner at the time) and his son. I would just shake them by the hand and say I am so sorry for all that happened to their family.
“People say I’ve had it bad enough, but it has been so much worse for them. It is such a horrible thing that happened.”
Colin said there were first murmurs of a meeting being arranged a couple of months ago but it fell through.
He added: “I am not sure why it fell through. But I would like to put that offer to them publicly. I am certainly up for it but only as long as they are happy. I am not going to force it but I would like to meet them.
“I don’t want to bring everything up again. It was a long time ago – but I’d like to tell them I’ve always been on their side. I’ve always had a lot of respect and sympathy for them.
“I know they will never get over what happened, but I just hope they can move forward.”
Colin was freed in September 1994, when Mr Justice Ognall ruled that the police had shown “excessive zeal” into trying to incriminate him by “deceptive conduct of the grossest kind”.
He excluded all the entrapment evidence and the prosecution was left with no option but to drop the case.
But Colin said even after he was cleared, he had to cope with lingering doubts over his guilt, right up until a DNA breakthrough helped convict Napper of the murder in 2008.
The adverse public opinion not only cost him jobs as he was deemed ‘almost unemployable’ – but also led to personal abuse from many who still thought he was responsible.
He added: “I don’t blame her family at all for believing I was guilty. They were right at the centre of it more than me. Obviously to me it is normal for them not to give me a second thought. I understand that.
“At the time they did believe I was guilty and must have felt nothing but anger and hatred towards me. They know now, since they caught the real guy, their hatred was misdirected.
“I think the anger is now redirected towards the police – because they were giving them false information. Police believed I was 100 per cent guilty and got off on a technicality – they now know the police were completely wrong, and the anger and hatred should be directed more towards them.”
“I think once they meet me, they will realise I am not this guy that has been portrayed in the press over the years. I am a very laid-back person – I hate any form of confrontation and violence.
“I think meeting the family to express my sorrow to them may bring me some closure – and maybe it could help the family to meet me as well. I just want to live a quiet, peaceful life. Spend my time reading, writing and listening to music – being an every-day type of guy.”
Colin said he has been battling to rebuild his life, but was made homeless in April this year when his partner kicked him out of the home in Farnborough he had lived in since 2016.
He is currently in temporary accommodation in Aldershot and said he hopes to be rehoused by the end of the year.
He said: “I am just trying to survive. I’ve been here for two months; it is very quiet here and could be worse.
“I am on waiting list with the local council so will hopefully have something before the end of the year.
“No-one knows who I am here – they only know me as Colin. No-one has ever asked and I get on well with people.”
Colin was awarded £706k to take into account his missed employment opportunities – but said he ‘can’t believe’ he’s already got through it all.
He added: “I helped a lot of people out – my ex-partner, family and friends. I bought them cars each. But some people I thought were friends turned their back on me when the money dried up.
“I still think about it. I’ve always been good with money but cannot believe I got through it so quickly.
“I was not living the high life. I didn’t go on exotic holidays or anything like that. I bought a decent car and just lived the way I did. My bills were always paid – but I was let down by people I trusted.
“Once the money ran out I tried calling them to see how they are – and they were always busy. I’ve heard from other people they don’t want to talk to me anymore.
“It does hurt after all the help I’ve given them over the years.”
Looking back at that period of his life, Colin said it doesn’t feel real.
He added: “So much has happened since. Before all that happened, I was just a basic normal every day young man. I was just shy – I didn’t mix with anyone and kept myself to myself. I would just spend time reading, writing, listening to music.
“Because at that time unemployment was quite high, I found it difficult to get a job. I’d apply and got no-where – and just thought the rest of my life would be like that.
“Then when that happened it just through me into the limelight – and my life has never been the same since.
“It feels like it happened to someone else. A programme pops up about it and it feels like I am watching it happen to someone else.
“I see a bit and think ‘when did that happen’ but it jogs my memory.
“But I generally try and look forward and don’t look backwards.
“I do feel sadness knowing I did go through all that, but I don’t dwell on it. I just pick myself up, make a coffee and go outside. I am a very different person now and that’s all in the past.”
But he also said his ‘representation’ on the recent drama series Deceit had led some to ‘shun him’ as he said he felt he was wrongly portrayed as ‘creepy and weird.’
I don’t blame her family at all for believing I was guilty. They were right at the centre of it more than me.
Colin Stagg
He added: “They portrayed me completely wrong; they made it all about me being sleezy, dark and gloomy – I am not like that at all. People still believe the actor is like me, but that was just the way it was portrayed.
“There were certain individuals who just thought afterwards I was really creepy and didn’t want anything to do with me. I tried to explain it was just a drama and not what I am really like.
“Some just turned on me after they saw the programme.”
Colin said the worst period for him was being confined in prison for 13 months awaiting trial – as he was kept away from his dog.
He added: “I’ve always been an outside person – and to stay locked away and separated from my only friend at the time – my dog – was tough. I was concerned I’d never see him again.”
And he said the hardest thing about being homeless was not having his current dog Taz – a chihuahua-Yorkie cross – with him at all times.
He added: “The place I am in now I sometimes can have him with me at weekends.
“But being here and away from him is a bit of a flashback to being in prison.
There is nowhere to go and nothing around here – and with Taz not with me I do feel a little trapped.”
And he said despite what they did to him, any ill-feeling he had towards the police was gone.
He added: “It was obviously a very different time. The police are more measured in their investigations now.
“At the time I was very angry – but I have more respect for the police of today.”
Colin said his ex-partner let him move in with her in 2016 but claims she kicked him out in April.
He added: “I was just sitting there having a cup of coffee – then all of a sudden, she says ‘I am sick of you always being here – I want you out in two weeks.’
“It came as a shock to me, I was contributing to the rent, the utilities and all the food.
Colin said he has had some jobs but they rarely lasted – and his last one at a Tesco Express was scuppered when newspaper photographers discovered where he worked.
