Murder of Sally Anne Bowman

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Sally Anne Bowman

Born	September 11, 1987(1987-09-11) Sutton, Greater London, United Kingdom
Died	September 25, 2005 (aged 18) Croydon, Greater London, United Kingdom
Occupation	Model

Sally Anne Bowman (September 11, 1987 – September 25, 2005) was an up and coming model from the United Kingdom. She was violently murdered and raped near her home in Croydon, South London, just two weeks after her 18th birthday.

1 Life and career
2 Murder
3 References
4 External links

[edit] Life and career

Sally Anne had attended a British School for the performing arts in Croydon. She had dreams of one day appearing on the cover of Vogue magazine and also being the next Kate Moss. In January 2005, she joined Pulse Model Management, a local talent agency in pursuit of her dream. Sally took part in the Swatch Alternative Fashion Week in April of the same year and described her experience there. "I was so nervous all week particularly when all the models were lined up and the designers chose who they wanted to model their clothes - luckily I was picked by loads of designers which gave me more confidence." ^[1]^[2]

[edit] Murder

In 2005 Bowman was brutally murdered. Mark Dixie was accused and charged with the assault and murder of Bowman. At the Old Bailey on 22 February 2008, Dixie was found guilty of Bowman's murder by a jury of seven women and five men after only two days of deliberation. The jury sat for three hours and Dixie was found guilty by a unanimous verdict. He was sentenced to life imprisonment with a recommended minimum of 34 years. It was then revealed that Dixie was already a convicted serial sex offender.^[3]

Following Dixie's conviction, Detective Superintendent Stuart Cundy, who had led the Bowman investigation, said: "It is my opinion that a national DNA register — with all its appropriate safeguards — could have identified Sally Anne's murderer within 24 hours. Instead it took nearly nine months before Mark Dixie was identified, and almost two-and-a-half years for justice to be done."

The calls for a such a register were, however, turned down by ministers and other politicians who claimed that it would raise practical as well as civil liberties issues.^[4]

A documentary about the murder was broadcast on BBC1 at 10.35pm on 8 April 2008.