Bus driver killed girl who refused him sex
By Richard Savill
(Filed: 03/08/2004)
A bus driver who took a college student on a detour down a country lane and strangled her when she refused to have sexual intercourse with him was jailed for life yesterday.
Lee Holbrook, 39, drove Alicia Eborne, 18, off the normal route when he realised she was the only passenger left on his early-morning commuter bus, Plymouth Crown Court heard.
| Lee Holbrook: lust |
When she spurned his advances and said she would call the police he strangled her with her scarf and sexually assaulted her before dumping her body out of sight behind a drystone wall.
Miss Eborne struggled with her killer and left him with scratches on his face that fellow drivers noticed after he returned to his depot.
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Holbrook later drove another bus and, after he finished work, he returned to the lane on the edge of Dartmoor. He moved the body in his Land Rover to a spot four miles away, near the village of Buckland Monachorum, Devon.
"He rolled Alicia out of the Land Rover 50ft down a steep bank," said Martin Meeke, QC, prosecuting. "He followed after her and covered her with leaves."
| Alicia Eborne: struggle |
The body was discovered nine days later. Her trousers had been pulled down - probably following her death.
Holbrook, a married father of two, of Plymouth, admitted murdering Miss Eborne on Nov 7 last year. He must serve a minimum of 12 years.
Miss Eborne lived with her parents, Anthony and John, both Jehovah's Witnesses, and her two older brothers, Matthew and Mark, in the hamlet of Corntown, near Ivybridge, Devon, 12 miles from where her body was found.
Holbrook picked up Miss Eborne in his First National bus along with a group of schoolchildren in Cornwood. She was on her way to Plymouth College of Further Education, where she was studying social work and care. The children got off the bus in Shaugh Prior.
Holbrook then diverted from the main road on to a single track country lane close to the Dartmoor beauty spot Dewerstone Rock and propositioned the teenager.
He later told police: "It was just an opportunity. I did not set out to murder her. I drove along the lane and she said, 'You are not supposed to go this way.'
"I stopped the bus and walked up to her. There was no one else around and I asked her if she wanted a shag. She got agitated and said she was going to tell the police and I just snapped and grabbed her by the throat. I panicked."
Miss Eborne was reported missing by her parents, who run an office supply business. They approached Holbrook four days before he was arrested and asked if he had seen her.
He told them he had never seen her before and rarely drove the route.
However, police discovered that Miss Eborne told a friend days before her death that the bus driver was behaving strangely towards her.
Passing sentence, Judge William Taylor, told Holbrook: "This was a young, innocent life taken by you in lust. She was in your care and felt herself safe on your bus."
Holbrook told police he was happily married to his wife, Nicola, but added: "The physical side really has petered out. I don't get as much sex as I would like."
Paul Dunkels, QC, defending, said Holbrook wanted to apologise to Miss Eborne's family and friends .
He said: "His principal wish now is that he could exchange places with Alicia but he knows he will not have the opportunity to put right the wrong he has done."
After the case, Det Chief Insp Tony Carney, who investigated the murder, said of Holbrook, a former forestry worker: "He is a very quiet, reclusive type of guy, not the sort of bloke who gives out signals relating to anybody - a loner. Outside of his family he has no close friends at all."
Miss Eborne's parents said in a statement yesterday: "Whilst our Alicia was pursuing her college career, she sadly encountered an evil and wicked individual whose deplorable actions took her young life away.
"This reprehensible crime has destroyed the joy and happiness within our family. We now rely on the justice system to deal with this dangerous individual.
"We believe this reprobate should never be allowed into society again to cause this degree of pain and suffering to another family.
"Alicia was fun, and brought laughter and sparkle to our family home. Her loss has left us broken-hearted. She is still a very much loved daughter and sister who is desperately missed by us all."