Retired detectives receive awards for their work during Wisbech murder case

Two retired detective inspectors have received Judge’s Commendation awards for their work during the Una Crown murder case, which was finally solved 12 years after the Wisbech pensioner’s death.

Graham McMillan and Dave Grierson were involved in investigating the death of the 86-year-old Una, with 70-year-old David Newton convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison earlier this year.

The pair received their certificates from Chief Constable Nick Dean at Cambridgeshire Police headquarters in Huntingdon this week.

Mr McMillan and Mr Grierson were not able to make the original awards ceremony last month in which DSI Iain Moor, DS Simon Oldfield, DS Dan Harper, DC Gareth Purdy and DC Nigel Ebdale were given their awards.

Una was discovered in her bungalow on Magazine Lane back in January 2013 after she was fatally stabbed multiple times in the neck and chest, while her body was set on fire.

Originally, police did not treat the widow’s death as suspicious, and admitted during the trial that “bad decisions were made” during the initial investigation.

Newton was initially interviewed at the time of the murder but denied any involvement. He was later charged in 2023, when the new evidence came to light.

A trial took place at the beginning of this year, which resulted in Newton being found guilty of her murder thanks to new technology revealing his DNA on Una’s fingernail clippings.

Neil Garnham, the high court judge during the trial, commended the team and said: “The conviction was the result of what, after a difficult start, was an impressive police investigation.

“It necessitated analysing more than 10,000 items of material for disclosure to the court – the largest ever general disclosure exercise by Cambridgeshire Constabulary.”

Newton was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum of 21 years.