Shani Warren murder: Sex attacker Donald Robertson jailed for life
A predatory sex offender has been handed a life sentence for the murder of a woman whose body was found on the edge of Taplow Lake in Buckinghamshire 35 years ago.
Donald Robertson, 66, was found guilty on Tuesday of the murder of Shani Warren in April 1987.
Throughout the two-week trial which ended on Tuesday, the jury heard how the 26-year-old was found face-down in the water with her mouth gagged and her arms and legs tied behind her using car jump-leads.After re-testing for DNA evidence in 2019, Thames Valley Police officers were able to match a semen sample taken from the gag to Robertson, which was used as evidence leading to his conviction in Reading Crown Court.
The 66-year-old was also convicted of raping a woman, who was then aged 16 years, in 1981.
The courtroom heard how the jury hadn't heard about a number of offences Robertson previously committed, which were mostly violent acquisitive offences against women, including robbery.
Prosecuting, John Price QC told Mr Justice Wall: "Following his last sentencing in 2011, his minimum-term had expired. It would have expired in 2019, but Mr Robertson has remained in custody because the parole board did not consider him suitable for release.
He has not been at liberty since 2007."
In a statement released by Thames Valley Police, Shani's surviving brother Stephen said: "On Good Friday, 1987, after mowing the lawn, another duty she resolutely took on, Shani 'popped out' to dispose of the grass cuttings, get some food, and buy a card and Easter egg for an ex-boyfriend. She was due back, likely in an hour or so.
“But it is one of life’s tragedies that everything can be destroyed in an instant. Somehow or other, Shani encountered the serial rapist Donald Robertson, whose practice was to attack unaccompanied young girls and women, terrifying them into submission with vicious threats and abuse.
“We cannot imagine what the last moments of Shani’s life must have been like, but you may agree that no punishment is enough for her attacker; a psychopath and a coward who lacked the courage to attend court, or even to give evidence via a live link.
“As you can imagine, the loss of Shani left a gaping hole in the family. We lost not just of a central member and surely its brightest light, but of a force of energy, hope and positivity. Her parents never recovered, and for us all, nothing felt the same again."
Following a two-week trial that came to an end on Tuesday, Robertson was unanimously convicted in his absence of the false imprisonment, indecent assault, and murder of Shani Warren in 1987, and the kidnap and rape of a then-16-year-old girl in 1981.
Defending, Michael Ivers QC said: "The defendant is 66 years old, serving a life sentence that he was sentenced for a rape matter which occurred in a similar time.
"Any minimum term set does lead to him being in custody up to a great age in any event if he survives that long. Then there is still a discussion on his release."
The judge then went on to discuss Shani's death: "At some stage, you attempted to strangle her using a car jump lead, and at some stage you bound and gagged her and threw her into Taplow Lake.
"She was likely to have lost consciousness [before going into the lake]. That explains why she was not able to shake off the shackles when she was in the water.
"I cannot be sure why you killed Ms Warren, But I am sure that when you threw her into the lake, you intended she should die.
"In her case, her family had to wait 35 years until they knew for certain you were responsible. They have been told at times she might have killed herself, and at other times, she might have been killed by another man.
"The anguish of having to wait for so long for the truth to emerge must make the suffering so hard to endure. You have not shown a modicum of remorse. You did not even have the courage to attend this trial.
You are a self-centred man who has no feeling for others."
Robertson, was handed a life sentence with a minimum term of 30 years imprisonment.