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Daughter of Darlington Cannibal killer’s victim issues plea to Harker
It is now 25 years since Julie Paterson’s butchered torso was found wrapped in a bin bag in a derelict house on Polam Lane, not far from Feethams, the town’s former football ground.
Harker, who was 24 at the time and harboured sick fantasies of becoming a serial killer, infamously boasted of frying part of her thigh and eating it with a plate of pasta and cheese.
Read more: Child rapist jailed after making ‘helpless’ victim’s life hell
The sickening nature of his despicable crime, which was likened to that of Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs, shocked the country and the ripple effect continues to ruin the lives of his victim’s family and loved ones.
Now, a quarter of century on, Sarah Cairns, wants Harker to say how he disposed of Julie’s body parts so her beloved mam can be laid to rest.
“None of us have been able to live normally. I need to be able to lay her to rest and would like them (the police) to reopen the case to look for her.”
The mother-of-five, who is planning to write a book about Julie said she has always been haunted by the gruesome nature of her death.
Sarah said: “I am still in therapy now. One of my kids loves cheese pasta with broccoli out of the packet and they would make it for me but could not understand why I could not eat it.
“Sometimes I would cry eating it. I cannot eat anything like that.”
Julie, who was 32 when she died, led a chaotic lifestyle, had four children who were in care and suffered from depression.
She was often found drinking in Darlington’s parks, as was Harker, who despite his macabre fascination with murder, could be charming and was said to be handsome.
Julie went missing in early April 1998 and her body was found on Saturday, May 16 that year after Harker had bragged about what he had done.
In an exclusive interview with former Northern Echo reporter Karen Westcott in 2006, Harker said he had consensual sex with Julie at his flat on Harewood Grove before he strangled her with her tights in his bedroom.
He said coldly: “It just happened.”
Sarah, who was 11 at the time, said her grandparents, unable to tell her the horrific truth, told her Julie had died of cancer, but she found out what really happened not long after when watching television at a foster home.
Sarah said: “I was told she had died of cancer and I went stay with a foster carer in Hartlepool.
“She told me not to turn the telly for some reason but I did. My mam’s face and his face were all over.
“I didn’t understand everything but I could tell what had happened.
“Over the years I have blotted a lot out, but I can remember the funeral. The papers were all over.
“I remember opening the paper and there is me, sniffing a rose in the back of the funeral car.”
Harker, who has the words “Subhuman” and ‘Disorder” tattooed on his scalp, was sentenced life with minimum term of 14 years in prison after admitting manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.
During a series of twisted letters to The Northern Echo, Harker said he was making a mask out of human skin and intended to use the flesh of his victims to complete it.
He wrote: “I would have gone on until I was caught.
“The coroner would be busy in Darlington if I ever got out.”
A dossier of articles was sent to former Home Secretary Jack Straw who said he read them ‘with horror’ and that they had been passed to the Prison Service to lie on Harker’s file.
His case has so far been reviewed seven times by the Parole Board, which has ruled Harker has made “limited progress” when considering the risk factors identified at the time of his offending.
Concerns remain over his willingness to use extreme violence and weapons, distorted attitudes towards women and sex, difficulties managing his emotions, not being able to cope with life’s everyday problems, and misuse of drugs and alcohol.
Sarah said in some ways she is reassured Harker’s refusal to reveal where her mother’s missing body parts are means he will never be released under Helen’s Law, which was introduced after the murder of Helen McCourt by Ian Simms on Merseyside in 1988.
She said: “I would not want to have to choose between one or the other. I want to know where she is but he should never ever be released. I do not want him walking the streets.”
Sarah said she has struggled with life since the senseless death of her mother and has had lengthy battles with drug addiction that led to psychosis and mental illness.
She has been sectioned and spent periods at Lanchester Road hospital in Durham before she was diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder for childhood trauma, anxiety and emotionally unstable personality disorder and dissociative disorder.
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The shadow of Julie’s death looms large over her other family and friends with further tragedies directly linked to it, so many lives lefts in tatters.
Her son, Sarah’s brother, Freddie Newman, now 32, has been in trouble with the law for a catalogue of offending since he was a teenager and was most recently jailed in September for breaching a restraining order.
Julie’s lover, Alan Taylor, from Darlington, who was heartbroken at her death was founded hanged at Holme House Prison, Stockton, aged 41, after he was convicted of murdering his friend, John Morrison, by strangling him with a belt in 2006.
His trial heard the killing by David Harker had left Taylor, an alcoholic, who lived at a Salvation Army Hostel, a broken man.
Before the killing he became so obsessed about finding the missing parts that he resorted to digging up areas of Darlington and it was said the murder was committed so he could be sent to prison where he could take revenge on Harker.
The downward spiral on those with connections continues and earlier this year Taylor’s son, Sean, who slept rough under the arches of The Cornmill shopping centre, in Darlington, was jailed for snatching a handbag.
The court was told he has 40 previous convictions for 85 offences, which include burglary, harassment, stalking, intimidation and shop theft, his problems stemming from the turbulent childhood he endured as a result of his father’s distress and anguish.
Now Sarah is hoping to lay the ghosts of the past to rest, so her own family can move on.
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As well her plea to Harker to co-operate, she is also asking for people who knew her mother to get in touch, with the hope they shed light on her life and give clues to help find the missing body parts.
She would also like to work with a crime writer to help her get a book about her mother’s case published and is asking people who can help to send an email with contact details to: [email protected]
Sarah said: “I have got children of my own and I don’t want this to continue for them.
“We need to be able to lay her to rest.
“There are loads of things I don’t know about her life. She was always the black sheep of the family.
“I want to be able to talk to the people who knew her. I will talk to anyone, anyone who can help.
“After all of this time, maybe there is a chance I can solve it somehow.”
