Thursday 19 May 2022 03:43 PM Cowardly 'Lady in the Lake' killer refuses to come to court as he is jailed for ... trends now
A serial rapist who murdered a woman who was found bound and gagged in a lake over three decades ago will die in jail after being sentenced to at least 30 years behind bars.
Serial attacker Donald Robertson, 66, was charged last year with what became known as the 'Lady in the Lake' murder after a police cold case team found new DNA evidence linking him to the death of Shani Warren in April 1987.
Sentencing him today, Mr Justice Wall said: 'You are a self-centred man who cares nothing for the feelings of others.'
Robertson is already behind bars for sexual offences and shamefully refused to come to court for his trial.
The body of 26-year-old Ms Warren, who lived in Stoke Poges in Buckinghamshire, was found in Taplow Lake on the Easter weekend of 1987.
Her car had been abandoned in a layby on the A4, with bin bags containing remnants of grass from Ms Warren having recently mowed the lawn, and an Easter egg in the driver's footwell.
During the trial jurors heard how the original Home Office pathologist, Dr Benjamin Davis, concluded that Shani could have killed herself, based on the looseness of the ties on her hands and the lack of evidence of a physical assault, despite there being clear ligature marks around her neck.
Police were still suspicious, but had no evidence to charge, which meant Robertson was free to carry on his appalling attacks on lone women.
Robertson did not attend his trial and the dock at Reading Crown Court was empty on Tuesday as a jury found him guilty.
He was convicted of the false imprisonment, indecent assault and murder of Ms Warren between April 16 and 19 - her wrists having been tied with a car jump lead and ankles bound by a tow rope.
He was also found guilty of the kidnap and rape of a 16-year-old girl, who cannot be identified, on July 16 1981.
Police described 'evil' Robertson as someone with a 'long and horrific list of previous convictions' and said it is 'a regret' there was not enough evidence at the time to charge him with the teenage girl's rape in Farnham Lane, Slough.
Donald Robertson has been found guilty at Reading Crown Court of murdering Shani Warren who was found bound and gagged in a lake in 1987 and guilty of kidnapping and raping a teenager in 1981.
A mouth gag shown to the jury from the trial into the murder of Shani Warren at Taplow Lake, in Buckinhamshire in 1987, and the rape of a girl in Slough
A black jump lead shown to the jury from the trial, which was used by Roberstson to bind Shani during the horrific attack
Just days after being released by police in connection with that offence, Robertson raped a 14 year-old girl who had been riding her bicycle in Farnham Royal, a crime to which he pleaded guilty in October 1981.
In a similar vein, less than two months after attacking and killing Ms Warren and only a few miles from Taplow Lake, he raped a 17-year-old girl who was walking home having missed the last train.
He is currently behind bars for that crime, having been convicted in 2010 after the incident was reviewed by the police's cold case team.
The prosecution said new DNA evidence was the 'cornerstone' of the latest case against Robertson - with traces matching his found on the underwear of both victims as well as on a mouth gag used on Ms Warren.
Police said they were sorry it had taken so long to bring her attacker to justice, but that the case coming to court was down to advancements in forensic science.
She was found by a dog walker whose German Shepherd had become excited by something, leading police to her body
Shani Warren' bound-and-gagged body was found lying face down in a lake in Taplow, Bucks, and was a mystery for decades
Robertson murdered Shani after she disappeared from her home in Bucks and then hid her body in a lake to try and escape
Outside court Ms Warren's brother Stephen said Ms Warren's parents had died last year with her murder 'never resolved in their minds' as he said no sentence would be harsh enough for the 'psychopath' and 'coward' who killed her.
He added: 'From the day Shani was born, our family dynamic changed. Not just with the usual baby things, and the subsequent arrival of dolls, dresses and so on, but over time, our new little addition grew into a wonderfully pretty and happy child whom everyone immediately took to their hearts.
'On Good Friday, 1987, after mowing the lawn, another duty she resolutely took on, she '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. 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.'
Thames Valley Police's major crime review team's principal investigator, Peter Beirne, told the PA news agency: 'In relation to Shani's
