Deceased/Not Found UK - Steven Clark, 23, disabled, Saltburn, Dec 1992

[Inspector Evans]

Well, I haven't read the whole thread yet but I am having some serious deja vu. I lived in Seaton Carew and am very familiar with Saltburn and Redcar and Middlesborough including the transporter! Mind you, that was quite a while ago. I moved to Canada but have been back on subsequent visits. I don't want to jump ahead in the thread because I feel like I'm reading an Agatha Christie novel!

When I see pictures of Steven he looks like a big guy. It's obvious he has physical limitations but judging from his facial expression it appears he may have some intellectual limitations as well. Not enough to need full time care but enough that he needs caretakers. Sometimes people who fall within those boundaries can get frustrated when they feel they aren't being given enough freedom.

I'd be very interested to know whether the sister/daughter is older or younger than Steven and whether she still lived at home at the time of his disappearance.

There is an odd disconnect with his parents regarding his absence. At this point in time, I can't say whether I see their behavior as suspicious insofar as them being complicit in his disappearance; more like a cavalier attitude toward his absence, initially. Like they were doing their duty to look after a disabled son but without any real concern.

I'm leaning toward the walk never took place. But that it could be useful to use as a strategy since it was a common enough occurrence. Especially if neighbours could vouch for that fact. I'm not saying they are responsible for his disappearance but that they concocted the story because they had a big argument and he left in a huff.

I don't know what the weather was like that year but living on the north coast of England I can vouch for the fact that weather can be very capricious. I know in Seaton Carew the tide would go out so very far it seemed like a mile. You could get caught pretty quickly walking on the sands when the tide came back in. So if Steven and his parents had a row and he left to brood while walking he could have been caught off guard.

Nice post. Whenever I saw the place name Seaton Carew I remember that guy who faked his own disappearence (with the Wife in on it) and ended up somewhere like Panama before he eventually decided to admit everything a few years later so was expecting that sort of theory!

 

[bluebird69]

I'm on the fence with this. After the fiasco created by the Weirside Jack letter in the Yorkshire Ripper case, I really dont think LE would take a letter on face value. I feel there must have been some kind of additional follow up information which led to the arrests. I could be totally wrong.

Totally agree, I believe the police must have more information for there to be a possibility of charging anyone in the alleged murder.

 

[ZaZara]

I'm on the fence with this. After the fiasco created by the Weirside Jack letter in the Yorkshire Ripper case, I really dont think LE would take a letter on face value. I feel there must have been some kind of additional follow up information which led to the arrests. I could be totally wrong.

Totally agree, I believe the police must have more information for there to be a possibility of charging anyone in the alleged murder.

The video is still online. From approximately 41.30 minutes on, Mark Williams-Thomas explains how the Police built their case. As I understand it, there was no new information.

I'm not sure but this seems like the same one. It has just been posted on Youtube.

 

[ZaZara]

Mark Williams-Thomas has answered questions from the public on his twitter account.

Mark Williams-Thomas
@mwilliamsthomas

Police in 1992 did limited investigations . So no record of them attempting to locate specific witnesses , when family called police & no inquiry to validate that Charles went to football . So lots of unanswered questions from initial investigation. I have looked at every aspect

Some people asking why did #StevenClark sister not appear in #AccusedofMurderingOurSon . She was spoken with at length and for totally understandable reasons she did not want to be on camera .

Unfortunately in 47mins it’s not possible to show every questioned asked & answered . We did explore Steven’s sexuality and spoke in brief to his girlfriend at the time he went missing - she would not appear on camera . #AccusedofMurderingOurSon


BBM

 

[bluebird69]

Mark Williams-Thomas has answered questions from the public on his twitter account.

Mark Williams-Thomas
@mwilliamsthomas

Police in 1992 did limited investigations . So no record of them attempting to locate specific witnesses , when family called police & no inquiry to validate that Charles went to football . So lots of unanswered questions from initial investigation. I have looked at every aspect

Some people asking why did #StevenClark sister not appear in #AccusedofMurderingOurSon . She was spoken with at length and for totally understandable reasons she did not want to be on camera .

Unfortunately in 47mins it’s not possible to show every questioned asked & answered . We did explore Steven’s sexuality and spoke in brief to his girlfriend at the time he went missing - she would not appear on camera . #AccusedofMurderingOurSon


BBM

Wonder why this was not added on as a voiceover at the end of the show for clarification

 

[ZaZara]

Wonder why this was not added on as a voiceover at the end of the show for clarification

Because he answered those questions after the programme had aired.

 

[bluebird69]

Because he answered those questions after the programme had aired.

I must have missed that, was it at the end of the tv programme or elsewhere? TIA

 

[ZaZara]

I must have missed that, was it at the end of the tv programme or elsewhere? TIA

On his twitter account.

 

[branmuffin]

She was at university, and it was just after Christmas, so she should have been home until at least mid-January.
I did note that even she got the dates wrong originally when Steven went missing...as I recall she said it was a Sunday, but it was in fact, a Monday, which was a national holiday.

May be she was still going to school in SA and it wasn't economically feasible for her to go to Britain. Who knows since we can't sleuth his sister.

 

[bluebird69]

On his twitter account.

Aha thats why I missed it.I dont have twitter and it doesnt appear to have hit msm as yet. Maybe an oversight on the part of Mark, I'm sure a few have had the same questions as I have after only watching the documentary on tv

 

[shiraz]

Which might be the reason his dad asked him to pay for his own football ticket.

Prior to claiming Disability Allowance Steven would have been claiming Invalidity Benefit and his parents would have been able to claim the lower rate of Attendance Allowance.

 

[branmuffin]

I noticed DC said that she can't remember now if she and Steven left the house together, or if he went before her and she caught up with him. This was at the stage, I believe, that the police hadn't yet told them they were being released from bail.

I do wonder if DC maybe thought that the letter writer who came forward had seen her leaving the house or walking on the beach in the direction of Saltburn alone that day, and she was perhaps re-jigging her "story" to account for that possibility.

It's normal for people being interrogated for hours on end to start questioning what they remember. LE can word their questions to sow doubt in the person being interrogated. After 30 years and now with the parents either in their 80s or pushing 80 along with some self recriminations over the years, I don't think it's unusual.

 

[branmuffin]

Can't believe with that info from police above there has never been a sighting from any witness of Steven and Doris on December 28th even though that's basically her alibi up to about 4pm!

Not in the early days when the story first broke and then the years after. It was a bank holiday, light and in an area where they'd always be people milling around until dark so why no witnesses given it's not just like they drove up to the spot and got out to use the toilets?

Surely that should've been dectective's working hypothesis, make sure the parents story was water tight but instead neither parents stories of that day and their whereabouts can be verified 100% from independent witnesses.

Very odd police tactics in the early days imo. Even more so with the mystery of where the daughter was that xmas.

In that part of England at that time of year it would be dark by 4. In the summer it's still light at 10 pm.

 

[Kitkat28]

Prior to claiming Disability Allowance Steven would have been claiming Invalidity Benefit and his parents would have been able to claim the lower rate of Attendance Allowance.

Do you actually know this as fact? I think it would be more accurate to say that Steven may have been entitled to claim Invalidity Benefit, which then changed to DLA in 1992.

As Steven’s issues stemmed from injuries received in a road accident there may also have been some compensation involved at some point. Does anyone know if this was the case?

@branmuffin Steven’s parents weren’t police officers in SA, they left the force long before they ever went to SA.

 

[shiraz]

Do you actually know this as fact? I think it would be more accurate to say that Steven may have been entitled to claim Invalidity Benefit, which then changed to DLA in 1992.

As Steven’s issues stemmed from injuries received in a road accident there may also have been some compensation involved at some point. Does anyone know if this was the case?

@branmuffin Steven’s parents weren’t police officers in SA, they left the force long before they ever went to SA.

No, I don't know this as a fact. I just assumed that as Steven wasn't working then he would be claiming the benefits he was entitled to. I can't see any reason that he would not have been entitled to claim it.

 

[branmuffin]

Do you actually know this as fact? I think it would be more accurate to say that Steven may have been entitled to claim Invalidity Benefit, which then changed to DLA in 1992.

As Steven’s issues stemmed from injuries received in a road accident there may also have been some compensation involved at some point. Does anyone know if this was the case?

@branmuffin Steven’s parents weren’t police officers in SA, they left the force long before they ever went to SA.

Yes, thanks I read that later.

 

[ZaZara]

Aha thats why I missed it.I dont have twitter and it doesnt appear to have hit msm as yet. Maybe an oversight on the part of Mark, I'm sure a few have had the same questions as I have after only watching the documentary on tv

You heard it here first!

 

[HongKongPhooey]

I watched the programme when it aired on tv. I believe LE have commented that aspects of their investigation will obviously remain out of the public domain whilst its ongoing.

 

[Kitkat28]

No, I don't know this as a fact. I just assumed that as Steven wasn't working then he would be claiming the benefits he was entitled to. I can't see any reason that he would not have been entitled to claim it.

Disability benefits have nothing to do with whether an individual is in paid employment or not.

Over the last few pages there has been a lot of “othering” of disabled people. Steven was one person with some physical disabilities. As far as I’m aware, he didn’t have learning difficulties, mental health issues or any other “problems” that would mean that he needed to be treated like a child. Can we try and remember this please when speaking about him.

This article Accused Of Murdering Our Son - The Steven Clark Story: Mother in tears on ITV documentary | Daily Mail Online describes the injuries Steven received to his body in the accident, but makes no mention of any damage to his intellectual capacities.

“Walking along the street with his mother, he was hit by a lorry. He spent weeks in hospital and was left with life-changing injuries to his arm and leg. From that time on he walked with a distinctive limp and needed more care than most children, though he never needed walking aids.

After the Clarks left the police in the late Sixties (Doris had served ten years as a WPC; Charles served five and reached the rank of sergeant before quitting to set up a car rental business), they lived in Guildford for a while, then moved to South Africa for ten years, where Steven did well academically”

 

[Beebfader]

He was used to walking on the beach from Marske to Saltburn, it actually looks shorter than taking a regular land route. Could he have misread the tides coming in and got caught out on the flats?

As someone who grew up around the corner from the Clark house in Marske,
I'm not sure his parents' assertion that walking along the beach from Marske to Saltburn was something he did on a regular basis, just as I think that the distance along the beach is portrayed as a short hop, when it really isn't...especially for Steven Clark who looks like he had difficulty walking any distance at all, never mind on sand and in possibly wintery conditions. Similarly the mother treated going home without him as simply `popping home' which does not really give an accurate picture of how far it is.

It's also not the kind of beach where you'd get cut off by the tide really.