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THE KAYLEIGH HAYWOOD CASE
Eleanor Neale's 45-minute breakdown, the fullest single telling on file.
Watch on YouTubeWhat happened
Kayleigh Haywood was a 15-year-old girl from Measham, Leicestershire. In late 2015 she was contacted on Facebook by Luke Harlow, then 27, and the pair exchanged 2,643 text messages over roughly two weeks. On 13 November 2015, Kayleigh agreed to meet Harlow at his house in Ibstock, Leicestershire. Once there, Harlow supplied her with large quantities of alcohol and touched her sexually. He then told his neighbour, 29-year-old Stephen Beadman, that he had a "bird" at his house.
While Kayleigh was drunk, Beadman raped and killed her. She was reported missing and a search was launched. Her body was found five days later in lakeside undergrowth near Ibstock. An inquest held on 24 November 2015 heard that she had died of head injuries. A post-mortem examination confirmed that she had been raped.
On 20 November 2015, shortly after Beadman was arrested in connection with Kayleigh's disappearance and murder, Leicestershire Police announced that he had been charged with rape and murder. Luke Harlow was charged separately with grooming and two counts of having sexual activity with a child. Both men were remanded in custody pending trial.
Beadman admitted the murder of Kayleigh Haywood on 5 April 2016. Harlow admitted the grooming and sexual activity charges but denied a charge of false imprisonment, resulting in a Crown Court trial on that specific charge, while Beadman's sentencing was delayed until after that trial concluded. Harlow was found guilty of false imprisonment on 28 July 2016, and both men were sentenced shortly afterwards, with Harlow receiving 12 years in prison and Beadman receiving a life sentence with a minimum term of 35 years, making him ineligible for parole until 2050. It was also established that Harlow had groomed two other girls online, aged 13 and 15, both of whom believed he was their boyfriend.
Stephen Beadman died in prison on 8 April 2021. An inquest concluded that he took his own life by applying a ligature to his neck, and that he had been bullied in prison and had a history of self-harm.
The case led to the production of "Kayleigh's Love Story," a film made by Leicestershire Police and Affixxius Films and shown to schoolchildren in Leicestershire and Rutland, as well as a Channel 5 documentary titled "Murder on the Internet."
