Speaker 1: Hi, and welcome back to The Unseen Podcast, a podcast
Speaker 1: dedicated to missing people, unresolved cases, and UK true crime. Today,
Speaker 1: we're going to be discussing the murder of twenty three
Speaker 1: year old Camille Gardon in Soho in two thousand and four.
Speaker 1: Her murder is still unsolved and gave rise to a
Speaker 1: conversation about the area of Soho and some of the
Speaker 1: dangerous practices that were happening there. These practices contributed to
Speaker 1: Camille's death, and her family have raised awareness since her
Speaker 1: murder occurred. This episode contains descriptions of violence that some
Speaker 1: people may find distressing. Sole listener discretion is advised. South
Speaker 1: Norwood is a district of South London in the borough
Speaker 1: of Croydon. It's known as a quiet suburb which grown
Speaker 1: significantly over the century. Being only three miles away from
Speaker 1: Croydon's a good option for people who want to live
Speaker 1: in the commuter bell of London but also want to
Speaker 1: be a little away from the hustle and bustle. Twenty
Speaker 1: three year old Camille Garden lived in South Norwood in
Speaker 1: two thousand and four and was relatively new to living
Speaker 1: in the capital. Camille was born in Jamaica, and had
Speaker 1: originally traveled to the UK in two thousand and one.
Speaker 1: She initially went to live in Birmingham and then moved
Speaker 1: down to London in August of two thousand and three.
Speaker 1: She had a dream of studying to become a nursery
Speaker 1: assistant and was waiting to enroll on a course to
Speaker 1: do just that. Education was clearly important to Camille and
Speaker 1: her family, as her elder sister, Debbie, was working as
Speaker 1: a teacher back in Jamaica. It was Camille's hope that
Speaker 1: she could return back to Jamaica after gaining her education
Speaker 1: and experience. She had run into some difficulties while living
Speaker 1: at home as she was unable to work part time
Speaker 1: and study, and so this made it impossible for her
Speaker 1: to afford the course. This was her motivation for traveling
Speaker 1: to the UK, as she could hopefully enroll on her
Speaker 1: course but also work to afford it. This was her
Speaker 1: plan in two thousand and one. When she arrived in
Speaker 1: the UK. However, she felt like moving to London would
Speaker 1: give her the greatest opportunities, and so this is why
Speaker 1: she moved in two thousand and three. In March two
Speaker 1: thousand and four, Camille had been in the city for
Speaker 1: seven months and had mostly settled down into a routine
Speaker 1: in her new home. She had enrolled onto her course
Speaker 1: and was just waiting to begin her studies. She had
Speaker 1: also got a part time job working at the Blue
Speaker 1: Bunny Club on Archer Street in Soho. This was all
Speaker 1: to fund her future studies and to Camille, this was
Speaker 1: a means to an end. Soho is well known for
Speaker 1: its reputation as historically, during the twentieth century it had
Speaker 1: been at the heart of the red light district, where
Speaker 1: sex workers would go to find customers and people could
Speaker 1: visit bars until well into the next morning. It still
Speaker 1: has lively night life restaurants and bars, and some residents
Speaker 1: of Soho have expressed that today is becoming more of
Speaker 1: a gentrified area which has lost some of its original
Speaker 1: charm and freedom. The Blue Bunny Club was one of
Speaker 1: many clubs which had its home in Soho, and while
Speaker 1: it was just one of many establishments in the area,
Speaker 1: it did have a difference. The Blue Bunny Club was
Speaker 1: what has become known as a clip joint. A clip
Speaker 1: joint was a club that would use specific techniques to
Speaker 1: get particularly men to come in using the suggestion of
Speaker 1: sex or sexual favors. Men would enter into the bar
Speaker 1: and spend time with the hostesses and waitresses, while sexual
Speaker 1: acts would not take place. The men would be charged
Speaker 1: exorbitant prices for the time that they'd spent there and
Speaker 1: would essentially be forced into paying them before leaving. This
Speaker 1: was a fraud and the people who entered these clip
Speaker 1: joints would lose their money. While this was clearly a
Speaker 1: very unethical way of doing business, these clubs were not
Speaker 1: breaking any laws and therefore they were very difficult to
Speaker 1: shut down. Often, they didn't serve alcohol and they were
Speaker 1: not selling sexual favors, and so they were not, in
Speaker 1: the eyes of the law, doing anything wrong. In two
Speaker 1: thousand and four, Detective Inspector Andy Mortimer stated at the
Speaker 1: time these clubs are based entirely on artifice. They attract
Speaker 1: people by implying that there will be some sort of
Speaker 1: sexual activity, but they provide no real service and charge
Speaker 1: huge sums to clients for merely spending time with girls.
Speaker 1: The Blue Bunny Club was one of these clubs, and
Speaker 1: Camille was one of the women that was hired to
Speaker 1: spend time with the customers. On the first of March
Speaker 1: two thousand and four, Camille headed into work at around
Speaker 1: six thirty pm on that evening. She was working on
Speaker 1: the door at the club when a man approached her
Speaker 1: and paid the five pounds to enter the club. Camille
Speaker 1: went with the man into a private area. It's known
Speaker 1: that they were together in that area for a short
Speaker 1: time when another member of the club gave the customer
Speaker 1: a bill for three hundred and seventy five pounds. The
Speaker 1: man stated that he didn't have that much money to
Speaker 1: pay the bill, but agreed to give them eighty pounds.
Speaker 1: He was then escorted out of the exit. This was
Speaker 1: a usual interaction at clip joints, and there was nothing
Speaker 1: in particular that stood out as unusual about it. While
Speaker 1: this interaction was usual for inside the club, the actions
Speaker 1: of the customer once he was escorted out of the
Speaker 1: building were not. It's known that he walked along the
Speaker 1: Archer Street, where the club was located, but then returned
Speaker 1: back to the club. Not long after, he was spotted
Speaker 1: by a different member of staff, and he raised his
Speaker 1: hands up in what has been described as a submissive
Speaker 1: manner and walked away. Not long after, at around seven
Speaker 1: ten pm, Camille returned to the door of the club.
Speaker 1: All of a sudden, the staff heard Camille screaming and
Speaker 1: then saw her stagger down the stairs of the club
Speaker 1: covered in blood. She told them that she had been
Speaker 1: stabbed in the chest. Camille's wounds were fatal, when the
Speaker 1: post mortem would later establish that she had died from
Speaker 1: one stab wound to the heart. Camille passed away from
Speaker 1: the injuries that had been inflicted around an hour later
Speaker 1: after being taken to University College Hospital. The series of
Speaker 1: events that took place at the Blue Bunny Club were
Speaker 1: both tragic and seemed completely unnecessary, and investor was soon
Speaker 1: underway by the Metropolitan Police, and it very quickly centered
Speaker 1: on the customer that had been with Camille not long
Speaker 1: before the attack. The theory of the case took shape
Speaker 1: and it was believed that the man had returned after
Speaker 1: feeling ripped off by the interaction. The police did have
Speaker 1: a good description of the customer and as part of
Speaker 1: the investigation, they were able to locate the suspect on
Speaker 1: CCTV images. The images were from Piccadilly Circus tube station
Speaker 1: not long after the murder. He was described as black,
Speaker 1: between twenty to twenty five years of age and between
Speaker 1: five foot five and five foot eight inches tall. He
Speaker 1: was wearing a dark jacket which had a distinctive Cleveland
Speaker 1: Indians logo on the front, along with dark jeans, white trainers,
Speaker 1: and a hat believed to be a baseball cap. While
Speaker 1: they had this information, trying to track down who that
Speaker 1: could be would not be the easiest given the limited
Speaker 1: evidence they had. The CCTV images, however, were a big
Speaker 1: help and could be distributed to the public in the
Speaker 1: hope that they would recognize the person. Public appeals were
Speaker 1: made immediately after the murder took place, and just two
Speaker 1: days afterwards, a man entered into Kennington Police station. This
Speaker 1: man asked to speak to a CID officer in relation
Speaker 1: to the Blue Bunny Club murder. CID officers were not
Speaker 1: there at the time, and the man left before they
Speaker 1: could arrive at the station. This was a blow for
Speaker 1: the investigation as it was not known what information this
Speaker 1: man could have provided. He's described as white, about thirty
Speaker 1: five years old, about five foot eight inches tall. He
Speaker 1: had a skinny build with the fine cheekbones and light
Speaker 1: brown hair. This was an interesting piece of information as
Speaker 1: it meant that there could be someone out there that
Speaker 1: knew who perhaps the killer was or at least knew
Speaker 1: something that they were willing to share. This made police
Speaker 1: appeals all the more important in this case, as they
Speaker 1: could persuade someone to come forward with information. Camille's family
Speaker 1: were quite obviously devastated by the news of what had
Speaker 1: happened to her, and traveled over to the UK to
Speaker 1: be part of the police appeals and to try and
Speaker 1: keep Camille's story in the public eye. Her mum Duet,
Speaker 1: spoke to the press about Camille and her dreams of
Speaker 1: coming to the UK for an education and a career.
Speaker 1: She said Camille was a wonderful girl and in her
Speaker 1: sharp life she made a positive impact on so many people.
Speaker 1: She had been studying in Birmingham for a couple of
Speaker 1: years before she moved to London, and I think she
Speaker 1: was just working in this club as she settled down.
Speaker 1: She never told us about it. She was a wonderful, happy,
Speaker 1: upbeat kind of person who loved to dance and made
Speaker 1: so many people happy. We miss her so much. Douett
Speaker 1: was certain about one thing that her daughter's death shouldn't
Speaker 1: have been for nothing, and that there was one thing
Speaker 1: that could come from it. She wanted the Clip Joint
Speaker 1: Establishments to be shut down, as this was a huge
Speaker 1: factor in why Camille had been murdered. Camille's sister, Debbie,
Speaker 1: believed this too, saying, the responsibility for this attack lies
Speaker 1: with the man who stabbed my sister. But these places
Speaker 1: are putting girls like Camille at risk. Camille is dead now,
Speaker 1: but the one thing that can come from this is
Speaker 1: that establishments like these can be closed down for good.
Speaker 1: What we've been through is so painful, and we're worried
Speaker 1: that other men will do the same thing and more
Speaker 1: girls will be murdered. The police theory was also that
Speaker 1: this perpetrator had attacked Camille due to the fact that
Speaker 1: he'd felt ripped off in his interaction with her. Trying
Speaker 1: to close down these establishments was difficult for the local council,
Speaker 1: and it was only in two thousand and seven that
Speaker 1: they were made to register as sexual entertainment premises. Camille's
Speaker 1: case highlighted the danger that these premisses posed for the
Speaker 1: people who worked in them, and particularly for the women
Speaker 1: who were being made vulnerable by the interactions with customers.
Speaker 1: Camille's case was shocking, However, unfortunately, it was not the
Speaker 1: only violent incident to have occurred at a clip joint,
Speaker 1: with many incidents being recorded of crimes related to them.
Speaker 1: Just a few weeks after Camille's murder, another hostess at
Speaker 1: a club on Warder Street in Soho fled from the
Speaker 1: premisses after being assaulted by someone at the doorway to
Speaker 1: the club, in a very similar manner to that of
Speaker 1: Camille Garden. The Blue Bunny Club did eventually shut down
Speaker 1: and the idea of a clip joint began to fade
Speaker 1: from people's memories, although premisses working in sea ways will
Speaker 1: always exist in some form or another, and the exploitation
Speaker 1: of vulnerable people is something that's still happening all over
Speaker 1: the UK. Despite numerous appeals and a large scale investigation,
Speaker 1: Camille's murder remains unsolved and the perpetrator is still at large.
Speaker 1: Twenty twenty four marks the twenty year anniversary of the murder,
Speaker 1: and the Metropolitan Police made an appeal along with the
Speaker 1: announcement of a twenty thousand pound reward for anyone with information.
Speaker 1: On the sixteenth of October twenty twenty four, detective spoke
Speaker 1: to BBC's Crime Watch Live about the case and asked
Speaker 1: for anyone with information to come forward. Detective Inspector Amanda Grieg,
Speaker 1: from the met's Specialist Casework team, who's leading the investigation,
Speaker 1: said it may have been more than twenty years since
Speaker 1: Camille was brutally murdered, but her family remained just as
Speaker 1: heartbroken today. They want answers and they want the person
Speaker 1: responsible for Camille's death brought to justice. This is something
Speaker 1: we want too, and we've not given up trying to
Speaker 1: get that for them. This is why we're now offering
Speaker 1: a reward of up to twenty thousand pounds for information
Speaker 1: that leads to the successful charge and conviction of the
Speaker 1: person responsible. A lot can happen in twenty years. Allegiances
Speaker 1: can change. Maybe you've felt unable to talk to us
Speaker 1: at the time for whatever reason, but you're now in
Speaker 1: a position to do so. Maybe you saw the attack,
Speaker 1: or you are at the club or in the area
Speaker 1: at the time of the murder. Maybe the person responsible
Speaker 1: has since confided in you. I would urge you to
Speaker 1: share whatever information you have with us. It will be
Speaker 1: treated in the strictest confidence and could bring much needed
Speaker 1: closure to Camille's family, as well as an appeal. They
Speaker 1: also released new CCTV images of the suspect that they
Speaker 1: were able to recover from Piccadilly Circus tube station. This
Speaker 1: showed the suspect wearing the distinctive Cleveland Indians jacket and
Speaker 1: while the images are grainy, they would probably be recognizable
Speaker 1: to someone who knew him. This is important new information
Speaker 1: for the case and there is hope that someone will
Speaker 1: notice something relevant that can help. I will put these
Speaker 1: pictures up on social media so you can take a look.
Speaker 1: Police are taking any information or tips from the public
Speaker 1: and there is the twenty thousand pound reward for any
Speaker 1: one who knows anything. If you do have information about
Speaker 1: Camille Gordon's murder in two thousand and four, then please
Speaker 1: call the Incident Room on zero two zero eight seven
Speaker 1: eight five eight two six seven, or information can also
Speaker 1: be submitted online at the public portal mipp dot police
Speaker 1: dot UK. You can also call crime Stoppers at eight
Speaker 1: hundred five five five one one one. I will link
Speaker 1: these in the show notes. Thank you for listening to
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Speaker 1: and this has been unseen