There is no crime more serious than murder. It can rip apart a family and devastate tight-knit communities.

And long after the police cordons are taken down its impact remains.

Part one of this feature looking back at the 11 unsolved Oxfordshire cold cases was published last Friday.

Now we turn to part two, starting with a 51-year-old who was found beaten to death in 2002. 

Brian Francis - 2002

Oxford Mail: Brian FrancisBrian Francis (Image: NQ)

The 51-year-old was found beaten to death in his ground floor flat in Knights Road, Blackbird Leys, in February 2002.

Paramedics were alerted by an anonymous emergency call. The telephone box in Merlin Road from which it was thought the 999 call was made was later removed by police for forensic tests.

Detectives’ enquiries were said to have been hampered by the fact that key witnesses were drug users and suspicious of the police. Mr Francis’ flat, where his body was found, was reportedly a known haunt for addicts.

Appealing for witnesses four years after Mr Francis’ death – and following the coroner ruling that he had been unlawfully killed – investigating officer DS Kevin McGuire urged anyone who had not felt able to come forward at the time to tell detectives what they knew.

"It may be that, four years on, these people are in better circumstances and will feel more comfortable about speaking to police about information that could help our investigation,” the detective said.

"No matter how small or insignificant, it could help solve a brutal murder.”

 

Joseph Byrne - 2002

Oxford Mail: Joseph Byrne Joseph Byrne (Image: NQ)

A former carpenter, 61-year-old Joseph Byrne was doused in a corrosive liquid.

When paramedics found the injured man in a flat in Herschel Crescent, Littlemore, in May 2002 he told them that he had been assaulted.

He died three weeks later, having been transferred from the John Radcliffe Hospital to a specialist burns unit in Buckinghamshire, from a heart attack brought on by his injuries.

At an inquest in 2006 a doctor said Mr Byrne’s burns were likely to have been caused by a household cleaning product.

Following Mr Byrne’s death, Det Supt Steve Morrison said officers believed he had been involved in an ‘altercation’ with at least one other man at the corner of Cowley Road and Long Lane on May 5 – a day before he was admitted to hospital.

"We want to speak to anyone who witnessed this altercation, or who has any information which could help us identify the person or persons involved in the dispute,” he said in 2002.

A 42-year-old woman was arrested on suspicion of murder shortly after his death but released without charge.

It emerged during the inquest in 2006 that medics had not informed police about the possible chemical attack following Mr Byrnes’s admission to hospital.

DS Kevin McGuire told the coroner: "Had we been informed we could have carried out investigations, taken evidence from the address and carried out forensics."

Evidence from the Herschel Crescent flat was missing after landlords carried out renovations. No witnesses were found to an earlier assault, the inquest heard.

Peter Henderson - 2002

Oxford Mail: Peter Henderson

Three men were arrested on suspicion of murdering retired motor racing engineer 58-year-old Peter Henderson, whose body was found at his flat in Danvers Road, Rose Hill, in July 2002.

All three men were eventually released without charge and an inquest held in 2007.

At the inquest, Oxford Coroner’s Court heard that Mr Henderson had suffered a bleed on the brain caused by skull fractures. The pathologist believed it was more likely the fractures were caused by a fall than by a blow to the head.

The police officer in charge of the case said no forensic evidence or bloodstaining was found in the flat.

Deputy Coroner Dorothy Flood said: “On the balance of probabilities, it could have been a fall but there could have been other people involved in the fall."

Kevin Lavelle - 2004

Oxford Mail: Kevin Lavelle Kevin Lavelle

Dad-of-two Kevin Lavelle died from a blow to the head at Banbury pub the Cricketer’s Arms in June 2004. It was the night England took on Portugal in the Euro 2004 football tournament.

Police said there were 10 people in the Grimsbury pub on the night of the attack – including a group from South Wales, and at least one of them must have known who killed 29-year-old crane driver Mr Lavelle.

In 2006, a criminal prosecution against a South Wales man collapsed after a judge ruled it was impossible to say who struck the fatal blow.

Three years later, detectives renewed their appeal and travelled to Pontypridd to distribute leaflets urging anyone with information to come forward.

An emotional appeal was again made in 2014, a decade on from the murder, by members of Mr Lavelle’s family.

The victim’s mother, Joan, said: “We are just existing. It is not a proper life. Every day we stumble through.

“We are still hoping that one day justice will be done. And if we give up hope we may as well go with Kevin.

“All you can do is keep your hopes up. You cannot give in.”

Harun Jama – 2018

Oxford Mail: Harun JamaHarun Jama (Image: NQ)

Birmingham teenager Harun Jama was stabbed to death on the Thames towpath near Friar’s Wharf on January 3, 2018.

One man living nearby described hearing a gunshot-like sound ring out; through the window, a man on a bicycle could be seen pedalling after then delivering a number of blows to another on foot.

Tests showed that the teenager had gunpowder residue on his hand, indicating he had been in close proximity to a gun when it was fired.

A man was charged with his murder but the Crown Prosecution Service later dropped charges.

A week-and-a-half before his death, police in Oxford had arrested Harun on suspicion of drug dealing after finding him with drugs.

His inquest in 2021 heard that 16-year-old Harun had begun working for dealers in late 2017.