Year in crimes: 1995

Stabbed while helping: Philip

Jailed: Chindamo O n 8 December 1995, a head teacher was fatally stabbed outside his west London school. Dad of four Philip Lawrence, 48, was attacked while protecting a pupil, 13, who was being assaulted outside St George’s Roman Catholic School, Maida Vale. Medics battled to save Philip but he died in hospital. Learco Chindamo, 15 at the time of the attack, was found guilty of murder and jailed for life, to serve at least 12 years.

Notorious serial killer Fred West was found dead, having killed himself in his cell at Winson Green Prison, Birmingham, on 1 January 1995. He was 53. He was due to stand trial for killing 12 women, including two of his daughters. That November, his wife Rosemary West was convicted of 10 murders and sentenced to life in prison.

In November, Diana, Princess of Wales, spoke about adultery, depression and bulimia in an interview on the BBC Panorama programme. More than 22 million people watched.

West never stood trial

Innocent bystander: Richard

In November 1995, Badrul Miah was found guilty of conspiring to murder 15-year-old Richard Everitt. Richard was attacked by a gang and stabbed with a kitchen knife in Camden, north London. One of those responsible for Richard’s death, Miah boasted of ‘stabbing up a white boy’. During the trial, the judge acknowledged that whoever had actually administered the fatal stab wound had not been brought to justice and that some of the gang had returned to Bangladesh. Miah, 20, was given a life sentence, to serve a minimum of 12 years.

Killed: Patrick Tate... Anthony Tucker... ...and Craig Rolfe

Three drug dealers were shot dead on 6 December 1995 as they sat in their Range Rover down a dirt track in the village of Rettendon, Essex. Patrick Tate, Anthony Tucker and Craig Rolfe were gunned down with a pump-action shotgun. Michael Steele and Jack Whomes were later convicted of the murders and sentenced to life imprisonment. In 2000, Sean Bean starred in the film Essex Boys , based on the murders.

L-R: Steele and Whomes

Toy Story became the first-ever completely computer animated film, hitting US cinemas in November. It was the first feature film made by Pixar.