Father of murdered Dinah McNicol speaks out over use of Margate home
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Exclusive by Martin Jefferies
"It feels like the carpet has been pulled up and my daughter's
ashes swept underneath."
That's how the elderly father of murdered teenager Dinah
McNicol described his emotions after learning that the Margate
house where his daughter's remains were found continues to be used
as a family home.
Ian McNicol visited the house of horrors in Irvine Drive in
November 2007, shortly after detectives made their grim
discovery.
The council home was boarded up after its dark secrets were
uncovered but the property has since been let to new tenants.
Speaking exclusively to the KM Group, Mr McNicol, from
Tillingham, Essex, said: "It's as if no one will acknowledge that
my daughter was buried in Irvine Drive.
"I wanted the house knocked down and replaced with a memorial to
Dinah but that was refused by Thanet council.
"They would rather have new tenants living in the house but how
can you possibly allow that without telling people what happened
there in the past?
"These people may have children or grandchildren who could be
innocently playing in the garden where Dinah’s remains were
found."
During the police investigation at Irvine Drive, it was mooted
that number 50 could be demolished, as happened at 25 Cromwell
Street, Gloucester, where serial killers Fred and Rosemary West
buried nine of their victims.
At the time, Cllr Zita Wiltshire, cabinet member for housing at
Thanet council, said demolition might be considered but warned:
"It’s too early to tell if this is a realistic option."
The authority decided to re-let the house after speaking to
local residents.
A spokesman for Thanet council said: "The overwhelming response
from the community was that they wanted to see the property being
reused to house families in need.
"The council wrote to the victims of the families to inform them
of the situation and the tenants living there are fully aware of
the history of the property."
A tree of remembrance similar to one at Dinah’s former school in
Chelmsford - one of the only permanent memorials to her - could
still be planted in Thanet, the council said.
Dinah was 18-years-old when she went missing in August 1991 on
the way home to Tillingham from a music festival in Hampshire.
Her body was found 16 years later in Margate wrapped in
heavy-duty refuse bags and buried under concrete.
The corpse of a second teenager - Falkirk schoolgirl Vicky
Hamilton - was found just metres away in the same back garden.
Peter Tobin, 63, was jailed for life in December for Dinah’s
murder.
A year earlier, the handyman, from Johnstone, Renfrewshire, was
given a life sentence for killing Vicky, who disappeared while
waiting for a bus in Bathgate, West Lothian, in February 1991, aged
15-years-old.
Tobin had already been convicted of the murder of Polish student
Angelika Kluk, whose body he hid in a Glasgow church in 2006.
Mr McNicol, a former jazz musician, says his daughter’s death is
still "very painful".
"She will always be my daughter," he said. The 70-year-old
added: "I’m glad for me and my family that the man responsible for
Dinah’s murder is behind bars where he cannot hurt anyone else.
"I haven’t been back to Irvine Drive since 2007 but I’m grateful
to all those in Margate who have leant their support over the past
couple of years."
Tuesday, February 23 2010
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