In July of 2018, 13 year old Lucy McHugh left her home in Mansel Road East, Southampton just before 9am. CCTV captured her walking intently in the direction of a Sports Centre nearby. The next morning her body was discovered in a wooded area overlooking the same sports ground. An arrest was made almost immediately but obstructions in the investigation meant that her killer wasn’t brought to justice until a year later.

WARNING: This episode contains descriptions of child physical and sexual abuse which some listeners may find disturbing.

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Sources:
https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/16595422.one-month-on-police-release-timeline-detailing-investigation-into-lucy-mchughs-murder/

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6390553/Tattoo-artist-24-charged-murder-schoolgirl-Lucy-McHugh.html

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/6894436/what-happened-lucy-mchugh-suspect-stephen-nicholson-southampton-facebook/

https://www.thesun.ie/news/4237642/carer-murdered-lucy-mchugh-13-in-woods-after-she-told-him-she-was-pregnant-with-his-child/

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-hampshire-48994913

https://www.itv.com/news/national/search/?q=lucy+mchugh

https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/R-v-Nicholson-sentencing-remarks.pdf

https://www.nationalcac.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/The-construct-of-grooming-in-child-sexual-abuse-Conceptual-and-measurement-issues.pdf

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/9534887/stephen-nicholson-dad-slam-killer-lucy-mchugh-guilty-death-rape/

https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/murder-jury-view-cctv-of-vulnerable-teenage-girls-final-movements-before-she-was-stabbed_uk_5d138ab3e4b0e4556036240e

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/7108416/murdered-southampton-schoolgirl-lucy-mchugh-funeral/

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-hampshire-48828241
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fapB8r7rCzQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8G34w7sbkM