Shani Warren: Murder accused 'showed no inclination to kill'

A man accused of murdering a woman whose body was found in a lake 35 years ago had "not shown any kind of inclination" to kill, a court heard.

Shani Warren was found bound and gagged in Taplow Lake, Buckinghamshire, in April 1987.

Donald Robertson denies the false imprisonment, indecent assault and murder of the 26-year-old.

The 66-year-old also denies the kidnap and rape of a 16-year-old girl in July 1981.

Reading Crown Court previously heard traces of DNA matching Mr Robertson's were found in the underwear of the 16-year-old girl, who reported being attacked less than four miles away from where Ms Warren's body was found.

There were also traces of DNA matching his on the underwear of Ms Warren and a mouth gag used on her, the prosecution said.

Mr Robertson, who is currently serving a life sentence, has convictions for raping two girls, who were aged 14 and 17, in separate incidents in 1981 and 1987. He also has a conviction for burglary with intent to commit rape and kidnap in 1990, the court heard.

His barrister, Michael Ivers QC, said the jury should not convict Mr Robertson on the basis of his other crimes.

He said while Mr Robertson had an "awful" criminal record, it did not mean he was guilty of murdering Shani Warren or raping a 16-year-old girl in the 1980s.

Mr Ivers said the rapes committed by Robertson do not give "any hint of attacking someone in a sense of either leaving them for dead or killing them".

"In a way his convictions actually show that these do not fit the bill," he said.

Mr Robertson had "not shown any kind of inclination" to kill, Mr Ivers told the jury

He referred to evidence from a pathologist at the time of Ms Warren's death that said it could have been suicide, despite the fact she was found bound and gagged.

Before Ms Warren's death, Mr Ivers said, there were "a number of conversations about suicide" and people who knew her said she had been "paranoid about Aids" and concerned she might have it.

He told the jury the prosecution's case "could have been made bluntly" against a lorry driver who had convictions for offences including kidnap, rape, robbery and attempted murder between 1982 and 1995.

Mr Ivers listed similarities in crimes committed by that man and the death of Ms Warren, including tying his victims and gagging them and, in the case of one woman, throwing her into a canal,

The man was treated as a suspect during a police reinvestigation into Ms Warren's death and a file was passed to the Crown Prosecution Service but he was not charged.

Mr Ivers said the facts in the case of the teenage rape victim were "stronger" in terms of similarity to Mr Robertson's previous convictions, but they "can't form the case".

The trial continues.

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