1 week agoLatest NewsComments Off on From snorting coke to moaning he was ‘too big’ to ref Coventry, nine moments in David Coote’s downfall
TWO days after his Klopp comments went viral, The Sun revealed on November 13 Coote snorted cocaine in a video taken on July 6 while he was officiating at the Euros.
COOTE: “The drugs happened on an entirely ad-hoc basis. It fills me with a huge sense of shame to sit here and to say that I took that route.”
Louis Wood News Group Newspapers LtdThe nine moments in Premier League referee David Coote’s downfall[/caption]
1.
The Sun revealed that Coote snorted cocaine in a video taken while he was officiating at the Euros
2.
GettyCoote said in video chats table toppers Liverpool ‘will not win the Premier League’[/caption]
COOTE said in video chats table toppers Liverpool “will not win the Premier League”.
COOTE: “I guess I’m a human being who made a mistake in a moment I now deeply regret.”
3.
GettyHe branded the Reds defender Andy Robertson a ‘Scottish p****’[/caption]
THE ref branded the Reds defender Andy Robertson a “Scottish p****.”
COOTE: “I certainly don’t think that. Everybody who takes to the football field is full of emotion. When we’re involved in the game, things will be said that people don’t mean.
“I’m pretty sure there’s been plenty of players or managers that have said things about me they wouldn’t sit here and say they believe. The same is true of us as match officials.”
4.
Coote said Everton’s Goodison Park was the worst place to referee, due to the fans ‘shouting abuse so close to the pitch’Getty
HE said Everton’sGoodison Park was the worst place to referee, due to the fans “shouting abuse so close to the pitch”.
COOTE: “It’s certainly not the worst place to officiate. Each ground, depending on how the result goes, can be just as difficult as any other.
“So there’s no particular ground that’s more difficult than the other because it’s all really circumstance dependent.”
5.
GettyThe ref said he hates officiating at Bournemouth games because it is ‘too far away’[/caption]
COOTE said he hates officiating at Bournemouth games because it is “too far away”.
COOTE: “We’re asked to go north, south, east and west, and all over Europe.
“There’s teams of officials that have been as far as Kazakhstan to do games. I was sent to Indonesia, so distance travel is never an issue.”
6.
GettyHe moaned he was ‘too big’ to have to ref at Coventry’s ground for their Championship clash against Oxford Utd[/caption]
THE ref moaned he was “too big” to have to ref at Coventry’s ground for their Championship clash against Oxford Utd on August 16.
COOTE: “The Championship is a fantastic league and my experience of Coventry and all of the other games in the league have been really good ones — some of the most exciting football you’ll get to see.”
7.
ReutersThe ref arranged a drugs party during Tottenham’s Carabao Cup win over Manchester City[/caption]
COOTE: “I have nearly 30 years experience of refereeing and I understood the implications of the situation I found myself in and the position the PGMOL were in.”
The Sun’s back page reported on Coote’s X-rated Klopp rant
IT’S VERY BRAVE MOVE
By AMAL FASHANU, Niece of Justin who runs foundation in his name
“IT is very brave for anyone to come out, but more so for someone in the public eye.
“This will affect David Coote and is a big step but it should have less of an effect that in would on a player. It’s not the same level of fame.”
Darren FletcherAmal Fashanu, niece of Justin[/caption]
Getty - ContributorNorwich striker Justin killed himself in 1998 after becoming the first top-flight player to come out[/caption]
Amal, whose former Norwich striker uncle killed himself in 1998 after becoming the first top-flight player to come out, added: “We’d love to chat to him at the foundation.
“We’d be there to offer any support and counselling.
“We also help people with mental health problems and would be there for him if that was an issue.
“There’s still something very wrong at the top of football.
“We’re in 2025, when everyone is supposedly liberal and accepting, yet something is stopping these men accepting who they are.
1 week agoLatest NewsComments Off on Tearful David Coote apologises for calling Jurgen Klopp ‘a German c**t’ insisting he ‘wasn’t sober’ during rant
DAVID Coote has made a tearful apology to ex-Liverpool boss Jürgen Klopp and “anybody who I’ve offended by my actions”.
The now-axed referee made headlines worldwide when footage emerged of him calling Klopp a “German c***”.
Louis Wood News Group Newspapers LtdTearful David Coote has apologised for calling ex-Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp ‘a German c**t’[/caption]
The referee tearfully admits he ‘wasn’t sober’ but knew the video was being taken in 2020 during CovidGetty
Emotional Coote admits that he “was not sober” at the time but knew he was being recorded during Covid in 2020 when social distancing meant large gatherings were forbidden.
The official has also declared in video chats that Liverpool “will not win the Premier League” this season.
And he branded the Reds’ defender and Scotland captain Andy Robertson a “Scottish p****.”
Coote said: “I want to apologise to anybody who I’ve offended by my actions.
“I recognise that they fell well short of standards that are expected of a top level referee and I deeply regret saying what I said.”
He went on: “That video has been with somebody for more than four years.
“I’d forgotten it existed and I was sitting waiting for my car to be serviced and then received a call to say that it had surfaced on social media and I was devastated.”
Remorseful Coote added: “I deeply regret that I found myself in that position. The comments are not reflective of my views of any of the individuals concerned or my wider views in general.”
Reflecting on his row with Klopp — who criticised him after he had refereed a 1-1 draw between Liverpool and Burnley in July 2020 — Coote said: “The football industry is really tough for everybody who’s involved.
“And everybody — when the pressure is on and results don’t go in the direction that they’d like — finds themselves in survival mode to a large extent.
“Referees are an easy target because there’s no accountability [on the abuse]. Refs are used as scapegoats. I get that, and I don’t blame anybody for that.”
The experienced match official added: “The difficulty with refereeing is that we have no way of expressing our emotion in the moment.
“We have to hide our emotions. I’d be a pretty terrible referee if I reacted emotionally to what’s being said or what’s being chanted around the ground. We don’t have the emotional release of scoring a goal or winning the game.
“I’m a human being who made a mistake in a moment that I now deeply regret.”
GettyI want to apologise to anybody who I’ve offended by my actions, says Coote[/caption]
'IT'S A VERY BRAVE MOVE'
By Amal Fashanu, niece of Justin who runs foundation in his name
“IT is very brave for anyone to come out, but more so for someone in the public eye.
“This will affect David Coote and is a big step but it should have less of an effect that in would on a player. It’s not the same level of fame.”
Amal, whose former Norwich striker uncle killed himself in 1998 after becoming the first top-flight player to come out, added: “We’d love to chat to him at the foundation.
“We’d be there to offer any support and counselling.
“We also help people with mental health problems and would be there for him if that was an issue.
“There’s still something very wrong at the top of football.
“We’re in 2025, when everyone is supposedly liberal and accepting, yet something is stopping these men accepting who they are. Football is still failing in this regard.”
1 week agoLatest NewsComments Off on I’ve had deaths threats after games with thugs hoping my mum dies of AIDS & I end up paralysed, says ex-ref David Coote
DAVID Coote last night revealed the sickening abuse aimed at match officials — including death threats and warped internet trolls saying they hope his mum dies of AIDS in her sleep.
Sacked Coote called for TV pundits to stop “whipping up” fans into a frenzy against referees amid “hysterical” analysis, claiming messages he has received from crazed supporters added to his spiral into cocaine abuse.
Louis Wood News Group Newspapers LtdDavid Coote revealed the sickening abuse aimed at match officials[/caption]
PAThe sacked ref has received death threats and had warped internet trolls saying they hope his mum dies of AIDS in her sleep[/caption]
PAMichael Oliver sent off Gunner Myles Lewis-Skelly during Saturday’s Wolves versus Arsenal Premier League clash[/caption]
Weeping, the 42-year-old, who described some messages as “abhorrent”, told The Sun: “I’ve received death threats during my career.
“I’ve needed an accelerated response tag on my home address for me to speak to the police in an emergency.
“I’ve also had messages from irate supporters hoping that I had an accident on the way home from a game.
“They didn’t just want me to die but to be paralysed, so I’d suffer every day for the rest of my life.
“Other messages included hoping that my mum dies of AIDS overnight.
“People target referees without accountability on social media, and at matches.
“I can’t see how that is acceptable.
“There is standard abuse on a regular basis, but some crosses any line of acceptability.
“I’m sorry people are talking about me for the wrong reasons.
“I’m not here looking for sympathy.
“I just want to say that I am a human being that’s made mistakes.
“I’m paying the consequences.
“I’m taking responsibility for making those mistakes.
“I hope that others in my situation seek help in the right ways as I’m now trying to do.”
Coote revealed that at the elite level of the game it’s not always a stadium full of 60,000 fans screaming ‘the referee’s a w*****’ that causes the most upset.
He said: “We have an earpiece in, and are on comms.
“We’re constantly talking to each other and listening to players on the field, so actually the noise in the stadium doesn’t impact us very much.
“But what is more impactful is the things you hear and see that are individual — the targeted abuse.
“There are fans who decide to hang around for an hour or two after a game to individually abuse us, hanging over the barriers as we leave the stadium.
“And there are those who take to social media.
“Some refs might not be on social media, but it still has an impact on friends and family.
“Some of the things said are abhorrent.
“That has more impact on us as individuals, and as people.”
He went on: “Every official that takes the pitch up and down the country from a local playing field to the Premier League is a human being, not just a referee.
“They have feelings.
“They may not show them, but it will impact them when they’re receiving abuse.
“I’ve struggled and I’ve tried to get through it in my own way and made poor decisions in doing so.
“I hope that others make better decisions and that referees are given an easier ride in the levels of scrutiny, and levels of abuse that come in their direction.
“I hope this shines a light on the impact it can have on a person.”
Fans said they knew where he lived and were going to brick his windows.
Three weeks ago, after Liverpool’s 2-2 draw with Manchester United, someone said they were going to blow up Oliver’s car with his family inside it.
Coote said of the menaces towards his friend: “This isn’t the first time this season we’ve heard of such abuse.
“Sadly, it won’t be the last.
“I know only too well the toll these appalling and frightening threats can have, but you have no option other than to take it.
“Referees have no right of reply, while those who make the threats face no action.
“It has to change.”
Referees have no right of reply, while those who make the threats face no action. It has to change
David Coote
Despite his fall from grace, Coote is keen to draw attention to how tough refereeing can be.
He pointed out that officials are increasingly forced into “centre stage”.
In the January 8 Carabao Cup semi-final between Spurs and Liverpool, Stuart Attwell became the first ref in England to announce a VAR decision in the stadium when he explained why Dominic Solanke’s late goal for Spurs was ruled out.
Coote said: “The difficulty with being a referee is that the concept of resilience is key to doing what we do.
“That means the opposite of resilience is a vulnerability or a weakness.
“If I’ve got to be resilient to do the job then showing weakness and vulnerability immediately casts doubt over the ability to do that role.
“I hope others who are finding things difficult are given the support they need to be able to show weakness and vulnerability because it’s impossible to keep up the facade over the course of time.”
Coote’s sacking triggered change in the PGMOL, the referees’ governing body, including providing psychological support.
He said officials had had the chance to have their say on “what could be done differently”.
He said he was grateful for the support of colleagues, the PGMOL’s Howard Webb and Danielle Every and well-wishers in the street.
The support has helped me get through some really tough times
David Coote
He said: “The support has helped me get through some really tough times.
“My episodes hit the whole refereeing community hard because it showed just how accountable everybody in the game is.”
Coote, a fan of League TwoNotts County, began his route to top-level officiating by running the line for his dad and uncle’s Sunday team aged 14.
He was urged to take a referees’ course and progressed through the levels of the game until he was invited to become a full-time Championship official.
The Premier League followed and, a few years later, he added the VAR skill set.
He said: “Nobody really prepares you for moving through each level and then arriving in the Premier League, which is like a goldfish bowl.
“You don’t apply for promotion, people just take a judgment on your performances and you as a person, and give you the opportunity at a new level.
“All of us who operate at the top levels of the game, we’re just normal guys, football fans who’ve been fortunate enough to be selected and move through the levels.
“I’ve been really fortunate as a football fan to have seen the great players at such close quarters.
“But there is a trade-off.
“We don’t get an easy ride of it.”
Coote said there’s no a simple fix to make football genuinely inclusive.
He said: “It’s a difficult world to work in.
“To be ‘me’ in football wasn’t easy.
“I didn’t want to draw unnecessary attention to myself and I understand why others wouldn’t want to do the same.
“I’ve no doubt that if somebody did come out there would be a lot of support but also they’d be opening themselves up to online abuse and prejudicial views that have no place in the society we live in.
“It’s much more than a football problem.
“It’s more of a society problem, particularly given how tribal football fans can be in a win-at-all-costs game.”
Despite the scandal, Coote hopes to remain in the game and is keen to play a role speaking out for refs in the media.
For now, he is training for a marathon in May to raise funds for research into motor neurone disease, which his uncle has.
He said: “I’ll be looking to make sure my health and wellbeing is in the best possible place.”
IT’S VERY BRAVE MOVE
By AMAL FASHANU, Niece of Justin who runs foundation in his name
“IT is very brave for anyone to come out, but more so for someone in the public eye.
“This will affect David Coote and is a big step but it should have less of an effect that in would on a player.
Darren FletcherAmal Fashanu, niece of Justin[/caption]
Getty - ContributorNorwich striker Justin killed himself in 1998 after becoming the first top-flight player to come out[/caption]
“It’s not the same level of fame.”
Amal, whose former Norwich striker uncle killed himself in 1998 after becoming the first top-flight player to come out, added: “We’d love to chat to him at the foundation.
“We’d be there to offer any support and counselling.
“We also help people with mental health problems and would be there for him if that was an issue.
“There’s still something very wrong at the top of football.
“We’re in 2025, when everyone is supposedly liberal and accepting, yet something is stopping these men accepting who they are.
1 week agoLatest NewsComments Off on I’m gay but hid my sexuality in macho football world…it led to behaviour I deeply regret, says shamed ex-ref David Coote
SACKED referee David Coote has revealed he turned to cocaine over fear of coming out in the “macho world” of the Premier League.
Tearful Coote said he took coke to “escape” after being forced to hide being gay.
Louis Wood News Group Newspapers LtdDavid Coote says he felt unable to come out as gay as he feared the abuse he received for doing his job would get even worse[/caption]
The Sun exclusively revealed film of him snorting powder at last summer’s Euros in GermanyPACoote says he has been in an ‘incredibly dark place’ since news emerged of his drug-taking at Euro 2024[/caption]
The sacked 42-year-old told how living a lie led him down paths that eventually torpedoed his career.
Coote told The Sun: “I felt a deep sense of shame during my teenage years in particular.
“I didn’t come out to my parents until I was 21. I didn’t come out to my friends until I was 25.
“My sexuality isn’t the only reason that led me to be in that position. But I’m not telling an authentic story if I don’t say that I’m gay, and that I’ve had real struggles dealing with hiding that.
“I hid my emotions as a young ref and I hid my sexuality as well — a good quality as a referee but a terrible quality as a human being.
“And that’s led me to a whole course of behaviours.”
Giving his first interview since the scandal broke, he said he hoped to help break down the “macho world” of Premier League football.
He added: “I’ve had issues around my self-esteem — and that relates to my sexuality. I’m gay and I’ve struggled with feeling proud of being ‘me’ over a long period of time.
“I have received deeply unpleasant abuse during my career as a ref and to add my sexuality to that would have been really difficult.
“There’s a lot to be done throughout football and more widely in society with regard to discrimination.
“I didn’t want to be that person that was putting their head above the parapet to be shot at, given the abuse we all get as a referee in any event.”
Coote was suspended last October after footage showed him calling then-Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp a “c***”.
The Sun then revealed a film of him snorting powder at last summer’s Euros in Germany.
Coote was then the subject of a new FA probe over allegedly issuing a yellow card to order — before he was eventually fired.
In an emotional interview, he says a “pressure cooker” of suppressed emotion, combined with a punishing work schedule, left him wanting to “escape” with cocaine.
XCoote was suspended last October after footage showed him calling then-Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp a ‘c***’[/caption]
Louis Wood News Group Newspapers LtdThe sacked 42-year-old said living a lie led him down paths which eventually torpedoed his career[/caption]
He said: “It’s not something I was reliant on day by day, week by week, month by month.
“I’ve had long periods where I’ve not used it — but it was one of the escape routes I had. Just getting away from the stresses, the relentlessness of the job. It fills me with a huge sense of shame to say that I took that route.”
He recalled: “In 2023 I lost my mum very suddenly. At the same time my uncle was diagnosed with motor neurone disease. After Covid and the introduction of VAR, six officials were suddenly needed for each game.
“I was selected by Fifa for the U17 World Cup in Indonesia, as well as the Euros and Olympics last year.
“It meant that over the course of the 2023-24 season I was involved in more than 90 games — often back to back. At the end of last season I went straight into the Euros and that was incredibly pressurised. I had another tournament coming up immediately — heading to Paris for the Olympics.”
The cocaine footage saw him inhale a 4in line up a US banknote. Another image showed his bank card next to six chopped-up lines.
I’m gay and I have struggled with feeling proud of being ‘me’ over a long period of time
He said: “I don’t recognise myself in the cocaine video. I can’t resonate with how I felt then, but that was me. I was struggling with the schedule and there was no opportunity to stop. And so I found myself in that position — escaping.”
Coote is still being probed after a pal told him he was putting money on Leeds player Ezgjan Alioski getting booked before a 2019 clash against West Brom.
Coote did caution the player and later messaged his friend: “I hope you backed as discussed.” However he told The Sun: “There was no agreement prior to the game. I went and did my job. The player committed a yellow card tackle.”
He added: “I received nothing for it. I’m really disappointed that anything like this has come out because it tarnishes the integrity of the game. And whatever people think of me as a referee, as a human I have always gone out and done my best on the pitch.”
Coote says he was merely trying to “deflect” the pal but admitted: “I wasn’t in a great place, and I was messaging people that in hindsight I shouldn’t have trusted. I was naive.” Coote says he “made some really poor choices and I really wish I could turn back the clock now and do things differently”.
But he said he can instead take responsibility. After seeking therapy, he has kicked his drug habit
GettyCoote believes the dramatic turn of events which cost him his beloved job in football has helped him re-evaluate his life[/caption]
Coote said: “I put on this hard exterior. Football became a place where I could go and referee and be engrossed in the game.
“But then I’d come home and it would be more difficult because I’m living a double sense of being.
“To other people who are in my situation, I’d say seek help and talk to somebody because if you bottle it up like I have done it has to come out in some way.”
‘POOR CHOICES’
Coote believes the dramatic events which cost him his beloved job in football has helped him take stock.
He said: “It’s been incredibly tough because I loved the game. I started refereeing when I was 14.
“I’ve found it easier since knowing my fate and being able to re-evaluate what’s important to me.
“To spend some quality time with family and friends, and take time to make sure I’m in the best place to move forwards.”
'IT'S A VERY BRAVE MOVE'
By Amal Fashanu, niece of Justin who runs foundation in his name
“IT is very brave for anyone to come out, but more so for someone in the public eye.
“This will affect David Coote and is a big step but it should have less of an effect that in would on a player. It’s not the same level of fame.”
Amal, whose former Norwich striker uncle killed himself in 1998 after becoming the first top-flight player to come out, added: “We’d love to chat to him at the foundation.
“We’d be there to offer any support and counselling.
“We also help people with mental health problems and would be there for him if that was an issue.
“There’s still something very wrong at the top of football.
“We’re in 2025, when everyone is supposedly liberal and accepting, yet something is stopping these men accepting who they are. Football is still failing in this regard.”
YouTubeRio Ferdinand has called time on Marcus Rashford’s time at Manchester United[/caption]
GettyThe forward has claimed he is ready for a new challenge[/caption]
RexRuben Amorim has revealed he is not picking Rashford due to his training[/caption]
Rashford, 27, has not played for United since December 12, with Amorim leaving him out of the squad for every game since apart from one, in which he was an unused substitute.
“I will put (in) Vital before I put (in) a player who doesn’t give the maximum every day.”
Ferdinand believes there is “no way back” for Rashford after that comment.
Speaking on his Rio Ferdinand Presents podcast, the former United defender said: “If I was that player that the manager said that about, my heart, my pride, my ego – embarrassment.
“For someone to question your application, to question (whether) you’re going out there and giving 100 per cent for your team, (suggesting) that you’re going to slack off and you’re taking shortcuts…
“We all have days off or moments when we’re not performing well, lacking confidence, but effort isn’t really one of the things I would want to be hearing a manager say is lacking in my makeup.
“That’s a damning comment, because I think he knows what the reaction is after that comment.
“He’s not saying that without thinking, ‘Where does this go after?’
“There’s really no way back for Marcus after that, I don’t think, with that type of comment.
“You’re looking at it and going, ‘He (Amorim, who took charge in November) has only been there a short bit of time and he’s actually straight away gone, he’s pulled out the nine-millimetre revolver and just gone bang’. There’s no way back from that.
“If he comes back, that means other players can now take their foot off the gas and still have a way back into the team.”
Rashford, who on December 17 said in an interview with journalist Henry Winter that he was “ready for a new challenge”, on Sunday evening posted a message on his Instagram stories that simply read: “Congratulations on the win lads.”
Ferdinand added: “If it isn’t true and it was me he said that about, I am coming out all guns blazing.
“I’m holding a press conference, I’m coming out and saying, ‘I’m having no-one chat about me like that in the media’. But you only come out if you’re 100 per cent sure that nobody can say you take the shortcuts.
“Sometimes I think in these situations, if you’re doing things right, communicate it.
“Because the manager can question how well or bad I’m playing, or my form, but if he’s questioning my effort, I’m sorry, I’m coming back out, next time I’m around any press people – ‘the effort, he needs to take that back or I’m suing him’.
“I would love to sit across the table from Marcus, look in his eyes and go, ‘Can you say that? Could you be confident enough to go out and do that? Because if you can’t, look at yourself’.”
TRANSFER NEWS LIVE: STAY UP TO DATE WITH ALL THE LATEST MOVES FROM THE JANUARY WINDOW
1 week agoLatest NewsComments Off on My sister’s husband confessed to strangling her and dumping her body – but he was cleared of murder. Now I want justice
IT may be 33 years since mum-of-two Patricia Hall vanished without trace after a row with her husband – but her disappearance is not forgotten.
The bubbly Avon lady — who was devoted to sons Andrew, then nine, and five-year-old Graeme — was feared murdered by her husband Keith after he told a covert cop he had “strangled” her and dumped the body.
MirrorpixKeith Hall beams as he is driven away from Leeds Crown Court after he was acquitted of murdering his wife Patricia in 1994[/caption]
It has been 33 years since Patricia Hall’s disappearance after a row with her husband Keith, her family is still seeking answerssuppliedPatricia’s younger sister, Christine Weatherhead — who believes her sibling is dead — has welcomed news the case will be re-examinedMirrorpix
But a trial judge would not allow a secret recording of his confession to be used as court evidence and he was cleared of any crime.
Now, The Sun can reveal that West YorkshirePolice have opened a cold case review in a bid to discover what happened to Patricia.
Assistant Chief Constable Pat Twiggs, the force’s head of specialist crime and criminal justice, said: “Our major investigation review team is currently conducting a cold case review into the disappearance of Patricia Hall, which is a process we carry out periodically as standard procedure for unsolved cases.
“That review is likely to conclude in the next few months.
“We are maintaining contact with Patricia’s family and doing everything we can to support them and keep them informed.
“We would welcome any new information that could assist in getting her family the answers they need.”
I cannot accept that she remains a missing person when she has never contacted me or her lads, who she adored, and has never touched her bank account or passport. Nothing.
Christine Weatherhead
Patricia’s younger sister, Christine Weatherhead — who believes her sibling is dead — has welcomed news the case will be re-examined.
‘Words haunt me’
The 63-year-old, who helps husband Robert on their North Yorkshire farm, said: “I want to get justice for Pat before I die.
“I cannot accept that she remains a missing person when she has never contacted me or her lads, who she adored, and has never touched her bank account or passport. Nothing.
“Only a fool would believe she was still alive, so for me it is important to have on record how she died and who was responsible for that.
“Without a doubt, Pat’s disappearance has taken its toll emotionally and mentally on me. But while I can keep finding the strength to fight on, I will, for Pat.”
Former nurse Christine told how, once a week, she would meet Patricia in Leeds for a catch up with their brother, Brian, over a cuppa.
Still, not a day goes by when she does not think about her sister, who was 39 when she was last seen.
Patricia is still classed by West Yorkshire Police as missing.
No one has ever been convicted of her murder, despite Keith’s claim during a cop sting that he had killed her and dumped her body in an industrial incinerator.
He has always denied harming his wife and subsequently insisted his “confession” was all lies.
This second look at Patricia’s disappearance is, like all cold case reviews, not a reinvestigation.
It is understood that detectives are going over witness statements taken at the time, and liaising with forensic scientists to discover if improved technology can unearth some fresh clues.
A case becomes cold when all viable leads have been ex- hausted and the senior investigating officer considers nothing further can be done.
Patricia vanished from her semi-detached home in the suburb of Pudsey, West Yorkshire, in the early hours of January 27, 1992.
The Saturday before, she and her children had spent the day at Christine’s farm with her family.
Christine said: “She told me she was planning to start a new life with the lads in Scotland, one of her favourite places.
“She had decided to divorce Keith due to his volatile temper.
Patricia and Keith on their wedding day in 1982Sisters Christine and PatriciaAmazon PrimeKeith Hall today – he says he lied about killing his wife in the ‘confession’Amazon PrimeRoss ParrisPolice dig up a roundabout during the original the Nineties investigation[/caption]
“She was happy and I just thank God that is my final memory of her.”
Keith has said that on the evening of January 26, Patricia told him she wanted a divorce.
He feared losing half their home, his sons and his grocery business.
The sisters were due to meet on January 28, but Christine rang Patricia that morning to cancel their regular get-together.
She said: “I left a message but Pat, unusually, never called me back. Keith rang me that evening and told me she had left their home the day before and he did not know where she was.
“I asked if he’d reported her missing to the police, but he hadn’t.
“I knew Pat would never leave her boys with him, so my brothers and I were suspicious from the start.
“A police officer cousin reported her missing the next day.”
The family car, a blue Ford Sierra, was found abandoned a mile from her home.
A witness told officers that, on the night Patricia disappeared, he saw a man lifting something into or out of the car on the same road, climb over a fence into a field and walk towards a nearby pond.
Police were convinced that man was Keith Hall.
Months earlier, Christine had had a heartbreaking chat with Patricia.
She recalled: “She said, ‘If anything happens to me, will you look after the boys?’.
“I said of course, and thought she meant anything happening due to the depression she had previously suffered — but had recovered from.
“How those words haunt me to this day.”
‘He was cocky, arrogant’
Christine said she even confronted Keith and asked him if he had strangled Patricia, and that he replied, “That’s your opinion, isn’t it?”
Six months after Patricia’s disappearance, Keith answered a lonely hearts advert in the local paper.
One woman took a note he wrote her to police, who then planned a “honey trap” undercover operation, with a female detective pretending to be “Liz”, his would-be love interest.
I am definitely of the opinion that Patricia Anne Hall was murdered by her husband . . . and that her body has been deliberately destroyed by burning and therefore cannot be recovered.
West Yorkshire David Hinchliff Senior coroner
Following a handful of dates and phone calls, and 13 months after Patricia’s disappearance, Keith, now 72 and a retired bread delivery man, told Liz that he loved her and wanted to share a life with her.
On a cold February evening in 1993, sitting in a pub car park in an unmarked police car, Liz told Keith she was worried about Patricia suddenly returning, and sought reassurance she would not.
Keith eventually said: “I strangled her, but it wasn’t easy,” and claimed he dumped “it” — her body — in an industrial incinerator.
His confession was secretly taped, but the recording was not allowed to be heard by a jury a year later when he was brought to trial, as the judge ruled it broke police interviewing guidelines.
Keith was cleared of his wife’s murder and the case remains open.
Christine said: “At pre-trial hearings, two separate judges said they would allow the tape, but the trial judge refused.
“What is the point of trial by jury if they are denied what could be vital evidence?
“Everywhere I have turned to get justice for my sister, I met a brick wall.
“How can this be fair to Pat?”
Christine’s efforts to have her sister declared dead have been blocked over the years.
That is despite the then West Yorkshire senior coroner David Hinchliff writing to the Home Office in April 1994 asking for an inquest, and stating: “I am definitely of the opinion that Patricia Anne Hall was murdered by her husband . . . and that her body has been deliberately destroyed by burning and therefore cannot be recovered.”
In February 1995, the case was debated in Parliament by Patricia’s then MP, Sir Giles Shaw, with his request for an inquest rejected.
Ex-detective constable Andy Kennedy worked on the case from day one, interviewing Keith under caution four times.
He said: “Some members of the public thought we were hard on him, but we were not working for Keith, we were working for Pat — and she was not there to defend herself.
“She had left home without her glasses, coats or shoes.
“If Keith cared about where she was, he would have helped us.
“Instead, he was cocky, arrogant and refused to answer our questions.
“I hope the review gives Pat’s loved ones the answers she and they deserve.”
Hall told police Pat had got into her blue Ford Sierra and sped off into the night, leaving behind their sons Andrew, then nine, and Graeme, fiveAmazon PrimePatricia vanished from this semi-detached house in Pudsey, West YorkshireAmazon PrimePrime VideoWest Yorkshire cops have confirmed they are again looking at Patricia’s disappearance[/caption]
Julie speaking at the time of Patricia’s disappearanceAmazon PrimeHappier times for Keth and Patricia, on a day out before their relationship souredsupplied
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