Bernadette Louise Padley was only a toddler when Scott Walker entered her life. It was 2006 and Walker and his second spouse had been residing subsequent door to three-year-old Bernadette and her household in Milnthorpe Lane in Wakefield.
He began an affair together with her mom, Sarah, then a pregnant single mom of 5. A decade and a half – and 4 extra youngsters – later, their risky, poisonous relationship would implode.
In July final 12 months, the person Bernadette had known as ‘Dad’ for so long as she may bear in mind, killed the 17-year-old to silence her claims of sexual abuse at his palms.
This week, as 51-year-old Walker was discovered responsible of homicide and perverting the course of justice, his estranged spouse Jill, to whom he’s nonetheless legally married, spoke solely to the Mail concerning the terrifying, evil man who tore aside her personal life earlier than transferring on to Bernadette’s mom.
She claims that ‘highly-sexed’ Walker commonly pressured her to have intercourse, verbally abused her and threatened to kill her earlier than she fled.
Jill additionally reveals that earlier than transferring away from Yorkshire to Walker’s residence city of Peterborough, Bernadette’s mom contacted her, involved about his behaviour and requested ‘whether or not he would damage her youngsters’.
‘Possibly I may have saved Bernadette,’ says 51-year-old Jill, an NHS help employee.
‘I’ve immense emotions of guilt about with the ability to save her if I might warned Sarah extra. I instructed Sarah to not transfer. I instructed her that he would alienate her from her family and friends and taking her away would make this worse.
Scott Walker began an affair together with her mom, Sarah, then a pregnant single mom of 5. A decade and a half – and 4 extra youngsters – later, their risky, poisonous relationship would implode
Bernadette Walker, 17, (left) of Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, pictured together with her mom Sarah Walker (proper)
Scott Walker (pictured left) instructed jurors that Bernadette’s (proper) allegations of sexual abuse had been ‘unfaithful’
‘Figuring out he has murdered Bernadette has shaken my world to the core. How are you going to course of the truth that anyone you might be legally married to has killed a baby?’
Bernadette’s 38-year-old mom Sarah, who modified her surname and people of all her youngsters to Walker’s by deed ballot, stood trial alongside her associate at Cambridge Crown Court docket and has been discovered responsible of perverting the course of justice, whereas ‘believing’ or ‘understanding’ her daughter was useless.
After Bernadette’s homicide, she and Walker hacked into her social media accounts and telephone, posting faux messages to make it appear she had run away. The tragic teenager’s physique has nonetheless not been discovered.
Earlier than Bernadette’s dying, life on the household’s five-bedroom council home in Peterborough had grow to be extremely chaotic.
Sarah had given delivery to her tenth youngster only a few weeks earlier. However she was additionally planning to go away Walker – father of 4 of her youngsters in addition to two others from earlier relationships – for a brand new lover. Walker was infuriated by her infidelity and the prospect of his household being damaged aside.
Within the midst of what was already a poisonous, emotionally-charged scenario between her mom and stepfather, images scholar Bernadette dropped the bombshell that ‘Dad’ had been secretly filming her within the toilet in addition to sexually abusing her over plenty of years.
However regardless of telling her mom of the abuse, she was betrayed in her hour of want by the very one who ought to have protected her. Her devastation at her mom’s refusal to consider her was made clear by a heartbreaking observe present in her rucksack – which itself was discovered by police at a lock-up storage in Peterborough visited by Walker and Sarah after Bernadette was killed. ‘Instructed my mum about Dad and the abuse,’ {the teenager} had written. ‘She known as me a liar and threatened to kill me if I instructed police.
‘What sort of mother and father would not consider their daughter? It is tremendous. I’ll fake it’s all OK till I depart residence, then I’ll block them out of my life. If I used to be courageous sufficient I most likely would have already left or killed myself.’
In line with Jill Walker, who has two grown-up youngsters of her personal from a earlier marriage, and has since moved away from the realm the place she lived with Walker: ‘He is a narcissist so I do know the specter of his step-daughter revealing abuse would threaten the picture he gave to the skin world.
‘When you did not know him, he’d be the nicest man you’d ever need to meet however inside the house he’s vile and nasty. I would not even name him a human being.’
Jill was 39 when she met Walker, who was working away from residence, in August 2004. The son of a buildings inspector, he labored as a glazier, a locksmith and an odd-job man however was typically unemployed.
‘He was completely different,’ she says. ‘Not overly charming and smarmy however very well mannered and considerate.’ Seven weeks later, he’d moved in with Jill and her two teenage sons.
Cracks quickly appeared within the type of possessive and controlling behaviour. ‘He would take me to work and quiz me on whether or not that’s what I used to be actually doing. If we noticed any man I knew, he would ask me if I might had intercourse with him. He did not ever truly hit me however there have been fixed threats to slit my throat or set me on hearth. I used to be frightened of him.’
By the point he proposed 9 months later, she was in his thrall and too frightened to say no. They married in Lindos city corridor on the Greek island of Rhodes in September 2005 with simply instant household current. Her reminiscences of that day are blurred by the ‘residing hell’ that adopted.
‘He would demand intercourse from me virtually daily,’ says Jill. ‘It did not matter if I used to be unwell or if I might labored three days straight. He would at all times say ‘I’ve my wants’. If I stated no, he’d badger me for hours and simply get into mattress and do what he needed. One time I used to be crying through the ordeal and he stated: ‘What are you crying for, you exhausting, Northern b****h’.’
Bernadette Walker, 17, pictured together with her father Scott Walker, 50, who murdered her
‘I instructed my mum about my dad and the abuse. She known as me a liar and threatened to kill me if I went to police’: Bernadette Walker’s chilling diary entry concerning the abusive stepfather who has immediately been convicted of her homicide
Chilling alternate between Bernadette’s mom and police name operator as she reviews her 17-year-old daughter lacking.
Pictured: Bernadette Walker’s rucksack. The tragic diary entry by Bernadette Walker was revealed as her father Scott Walker, 51, was discovered responsible by a jury of the teenage scholar’s homicide
Bernadette Walker’s rucksack in a lockup. Bernadette Walker, 17, was final seen alive on July 18 final 12 months when 51-year-old Scott Walker, who was not her organic father, collected her from his mother and father’ home in Peterborough, Cambridge Crown Court docket heard
She has since destroyed each single {photograph} she owned of Walker, together with their wedding ceremony album.
Jill will not be positive if Walker started his affair with Sarah whereas they had been nonetheless collectively or when she lastly managed to get away from him, a few years after they wed.
She and Walker had moved to their home in Milnthorpe Lane not lengthy after they married. Sarah and her youngsters moved in subsequent door round a 12 months later.
She typically noticed Walker flirting together with her throughout the fence.
‘I used to suppose: ‘Go on, take him off me’,’ says Jill.
When the native housing authority refurbished their residence they usually emptied out their belongings, Jill took the chance to flee. A solicitor put her in contact with a council-run scheme for weak adults and, on the day she made her escape with a buddy, Walker was served with a ‘non-molestation order’ and banned from going anyplace close to her.
A number of months later, Sarah messaged her, telling her of her plan to maneuver to Peterborough with Walker and her youngsters – however she already had issues.
‘I instructed her he’s nice with younger youngsters however he does not like them once they get a voice,’ says Jill. ‘I instructed her to not transfer, that he would alienate her from her family and friends and taking her far-off would make this worse.
‘I used to be torn as a result of I used to be relieved he was leaving however I used to be additionally anxious for her. And I did not need to get entangled, to draw his consideration or trigger any bother for her.’
To neighbours in Century Sq., Peterborough, nonetheless, Scott and Sarah Walker appeared devoted mother and father.
The couple had been prolific social media customers and looked like a contented, close-knit household, posting pictures of their youngsters with hashtags comparable to ‘familylife’ and ‘proudparents’.
Each Scott and Sarah made a number of journeys to the lock-up in addition to to Cowbit, a rural space of Lincolnshire
However based on Bernadette’s older brother, 19-year-old Anthony, his stepfather was ’emotionally and bodily abusive’ to all of the household and had ‘wives and girlfriends all over’.
He was additionally a fantasist. Regardless of being unemployed, on his LinkedIn profile he wrote ‘by no means knew my true potential’ and claimed to be an ‘Affiliate of Arts and Sciences (AAS)’ – an American diploma. In recent times he reinvented himself as an expert gambler, calling himself the ‘Telegraph Tipster’ and posing as a horse racing professional.
He had additionally taken to carrying a black baseball cap marked ‘POLICE’ which he teamed with aviator sun shades, posing for macho selfies.
He took up images, a interest he shared with Bernadette.
After taking GCSEs at Peterborough Academy the place she was a prefect, Bernadette started finding out images and artwork at Peterborough Regional School in September 2019.
The next month, she posted a collection of unusual and spooky close-up pictures of a doll in Victorian garments mendacity in undergrowth. Walker photographed the identical doll, tied to a tree in a number of poses.He had additionally taken a number of disturbing pictures of a unadorned man tied up with belts which he captioned: ‘Psychological bodily’ and ‘contained location’.
When Bernadette posted on Fb a few new boyfriend, Walker wrote: ‘Any boy who kisses you higher have the picture of me of their head,’ together with a posed-up {photograph} of himself holding his fists in entrance of his face.
By July final 12 months, the ambiance at residence was unbearably tense. Sarah had been conducting a long-term affair with Chris O’Connell, a instructor she’d met at a night class.
Scott Walker was additionally discovered responsible of two counts of perverting the course of justice
Police had been standing guard outdoors the 17-year-old’s residence
Specialist forensic officers had been seen going out and in of the home together with a police canine
Walker, nonetheless, refused to go away the household residence regardless of understanding of Sarah’s new relationship.
In line with Bernadette’s brother Anthony: ‘It was unusual as a result of Mum and Scott had been residing along with all the youngsters and she or he was seeing Chris. Scott kicked off about it and threatened him and he was by no means allowed to remain on the home and Mum was solely allowed to remain for at least two days at a time. He at all times appeared besotted with Mum however he emotionally abused her.’
When Bernadette instructed her mom that Walker had been secretly filming her showering within the toilet and abusing her within the video games room at residence, her mom packed her off to her grandparents – Walker’s mother and father – for the evening.
She confiscated her telephone earlier than she left for the home, additionally in Peterborough, in order that she could not inform anybody concerning the abuse. In courtroom, Bernadette’s grandmother, Walker’s stepmother Julie Walker, stated that Bernadette ‘was very upset. She was crying. She stated she needed her mum to consider her. She stored repeating ‘I am not mendacity’.’
Walker collected her on the morning of July 18 and later claimed that {the teenager} merely jumped out of the automobile and ran off, a narrative concocted to cowl up her homicide. Traditionally, ‘no physique’ murders have been virtually unattainable to show, however due to advances in forensic science, specifically cell phone information evaluation, the couple’s net of lies shortly unravelled.
However whereas Bernadette’s killer –and her mom – have now been dropped at justice, this tragic, despicable crime is not going to be resolved till she is discovered and laid to relaxation.
Within the remaining weeks of her life, as she summoned up the braveness to inform her mom she was being abused, her on-line posts turned darker, virtually prescient, of their references to dying.
‘Can you purchase PLZ play this at my funeral’ she wrote on Instagram after posting the lyrics to a track by The Irrepressibles: ‘I bled on a regular basis now, for a 12 months, for a 12 months’. She had just lately modified her Fb cowl image to {a photograph} she had taken of a headstone exhibiting an angel on a cross. Beneath her identify, she’d written: ‘Life is only a dream for the useless’.
Extra reporting: Samantha Xmas
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