Killer did not target school, head says

A HEADMASTER said yesterday that he did not believe a serial killer had singled out a school attended by four murder victims.

Police say two pupils and a former pupil of Monkwearmouth Comprehensive in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, were the victim of a serial strangler who may also be responsible for a fourth murder.

Jim Farnie, the school's headteacher, said the announcement had had a traumatic effect on the school. But he added: 'We have got to remember that these kids . . . were not murdered on their way to or from school. This was in their own time outside school hours,' he told a news conference.

The four victims all lived in the same area in north-east Sunderland and so attended Monkwearmouth School. 'I don't think it is a targeting matter. I strongly feel that is not the case,' he added.

Mr Farnie was speaking as police continued their hunt for the killer of David Hanson and David Grieff, both 15, and Thomas Kelly, 18, a former pupil. Their bodies were discovered in fires between November 1993 and February 1994.

Police believe their deaths may be linked to the murder of Simon Martin, 14, whose body was found in 1990 in a derelict house in the same street where David Hanson's body was discovered. Mr Farnie said the news about a serial killer had a 'traumatic' effect on the 1,400-pupil school. 'All I want now is for the police to get on and find who is responsible for the murders and that can be put to rest,' he said.

'Meanwhile what we want at the school is to get back to normality. One of the best forms of counselling is to have normality. You can't counsel hundreds of kids.'

Pupils were regularly warned about taking care and not putting themselves in any danger, and this would continue, Mr Farnie said.

'As for any further warnings we have got to think about this very carefully. The last thing we want to do is to cause panic.

'The police have spent a long time in the school talking to young people. It may well be that someone in the school or from the area knows more than anyone who has come forward so far - and I hope any such people will come forward now.'

He supported the view that the victims of the three more recent murders would not have gone alone to the places where their bodies were found, and probably knew the killer.

The Sunderland Echo newspaper yesterday offered a pounds 1,000 reward for information leading to the killer's conviction.