From the MIRROR
Surviving Kidnapping: When Stephanie Slater was kidnapped by killer Michael Sams back in 1992, he kept her captive in a lockable wheelie bin. But rather than murder her – as he had done with his previous victim Julie Dart – he demanded a ransom and let her go after it was paid. But why did Sams release her? In a fascinating new revelation about the case, it seems the Mirror’s own health expert Dr Miriam Stoppard played a key part. Stephanie had read Dr Miriam’s advice book on how girls can deal with dangerous situations including how to build a rapport if you find yourself in a vulnerable situation. Sams was later jailed for life for murdering Julie and abducting Stephanie. Dr Miriam says: “I have never expected anything I have written to have such a big effect on somebody’s life.”
Stephanie Slater
Preserving a Dunkirk Artefact
For many years, the little Count Dracula ship has been languishing in a West Sussex boatyard. The boat was part of the 800-strong flotilla which helped evacuate 300,000 soldiers from Dunkirk in 1940. On board was the Mirror’s Ewart Stanley Brookes, who reported vividly on the rescue mission. Now, boatyard owner David Wilson – whose father was rescued by the ship – is appealing for help to pay the £4000 a year storage costs. He hopes a museum or other institution will be able to restore it to its former glory. “It’s deteriorating quite rapidly and is in a poor state. I’m under pressure to get rid of it but I am loath to do this. It saved my father’s life and his freedom in the war,” he told us. Ewart later described Dunkirk as “hell with the lid off.”
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ALSO NOTE
