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12July 2002;23 years ago(2002-07-12) Approximately 02:50 BST
Attack type
Stabbing
Weapon
Knife
Victim
Jong-Ok Shin
Convicted
Omar Benguit
In the early hours of 12 July 2002, 26-year-old Jong-Ok Shin, a South Korean international student, was fatally stabbed in Bournemouth, England. In 2005, Omar Benguit was found guilty of Shin's murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. Benguit maintained his innocence since his conviction and has been the subject of appeals and campaigns arguing that he was wrongfully convicted.[1][2]
Shin was stabbed while walking home through the Charminster area after a night out with friends.[3] She died of her injuried less than an hour later at a hospital. Her final words reportedly described her attacker as "a man wearing a mask who ran away".
With no immediate suspect, Dorset Police launched a public appeal. Several weeks later, a local woman known publicly only as "BB" came forward during an unrelated police interview and alleged that three men (Omar Benguit, Nicholas Gbadamosi, and Delroy Woolry) had been involved in the killing. Her account changed several times, but ultimately formed the basis of the police case against the men, which is that she had been driving them in her car when they spotted Shin walking home. They jumped out of the car and accosted her before running back into the car, leaving Shin lying on the pavement, having been stabbed in the back three times.
The men then ordered BB to take them to a crack house, where Benguit's clothes were put into a plastic bag and dumped in the river Stour at Iford Bridge. They then ordered her to drive them to another location where the three men gang-raped her while using "red-handled" pliers to sexually assault her. Later before daybreak, Gbadamosi raped her again. Benguit was charged with Shin's murder and the rape of BB, while Gbadamosi was charged with rape and assisting an offender.
Two of the cars of BB that were said to have been possibly used on the night of the crime were examined for DNA (as were the red-handled pliers found in one of the cars) but no forensic match could be made to any of the three men. A bag of clothes was however found in the river at Iford Bridge which a scientist said seemed to have been stained with blood and a witness said was identical to Benguit's attire; and another witness signed a statement almost a year after the crime to say that she recalled seeing Benguit in possession of a 15cm long knife with a curved tip in the weeks leading up to the crime, which fitted that of the murder weapon described in the autopsy report.
After two trials failed to reach a verdict on the murder accusation, in January 2005 Benguit was convicted of Shin's murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. Benguit has twice had appeals to overturn this conviction, in 2005 and 2014. In 2021 Benguit launched a third appeal.
Background
Location and context
The murder took place in the Charminster area of Bournemouth, Dorset, an area popular with international language students due to its proximity to local colleges and the town centre. At the time, local media reported concern about attacks on foreign students, though Dorset Police stated such incidents were rare and that overall crime rates in the area remained low.[4]
Jong-Ok Shin
Jong-Ok Shin (Korean: 신정옥)[5] was born in early July 1976[6] in South Korea, where she completed a university degree in trade and commerce. She travelled to the United Kingdom in November 2001 to improve her English. She enrolled at the Anglo European School of English on Lansdowne Road and lived in the nearby Charminster area. She was known as "Oki" to friends.[7][8]
During her time in Bournemouth, Shin worked part-time at a bank and at a local hotel. Friends and teachers described her as kind, hard-working, and well-liked by other students.[9] She celebrated her 26th birthday with friends and her host family a week before her death.[6]
Her parents, Tae Yeon Bae and Jong Geun Shin, had hoped she would return to South Korea in the near future. Her death prompted widespread sympathy both in the United Kingdom and South Korea.[10]
Omar Benguit
Omar Benguit (Arabic: عمر بن غيث) was born 1972or1973[8] in Morocco. He moved to the United Kingdom as a child, receiving British citizenship[11] and later living in Hampshire and Dorset. Before his arrest, he was living in Bournemouth and had a history of drug addiction and minor criminal offences, which featured prominently in the prosecution’s case.[12]
Benguit was tried three times between 2003 and 2005, being convicted of Shin’s murder at the third trial and sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 20 years. His conviction was upheld on appeal in 2005 and again after review by the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) in 2014.[13]
His case has since attracted attention from campaigners and journalists who argue that another individual, convicted murderer Danilo Restivo, may have been responsible for the killing. The CCRC has stated that it continues to consider the case.[14]
Incident
On the night of 11–12 July 2002, Jong-Ok Shin went out with friends in Bournemouth and left a nightclub shortly after 02:00, walking toward the Charminster area. Near Malmesbury Park Road she parted from a friend and continued alone. At about 02:50 she was attacked from behind and stabbed three times. Neighbours summoned emergency services and Shin was taken to Poole Hospital, where she died at 03:40 on 12 July 2002. Before losing consciousness she told police and medical staff that her attacker was a man wearing a mask who ran away.[15][16][17]
The murder prompted public sympathy and media attention in Bournemouth. Flowers and messages were left near the scene, and local officials expressed condolences to Shin’s family and the South Korean student community. The director of the Anglo-European School of English, where Shin had been studying, described her as “a very nice girl” and said the school was cooperating fully with police inquiries.[18]
Investigation
Bournemouth police station, where the investigation was based
The investigation was led by Detective Superintendent Pete Jackson of Dorset Police. More than 300 officers took part in the inquiry, which was coordinated from an incident room at Bournemouth police station.[19]
Police quickly ruled out robbery or sexual assault as motives after finding Shin's handbag and phone near her body. They established that she had been stabbed from behind with a single-edged knife that was never recovered.[20][21]
Early enquiries
Initial attention focused on individuals known to Shin, including a former boyfriend who was arrested and later released without charge. Witnesses described hearing an argument near the scene and a vehicle making a U-turn shortly after the attack, but no reliable forensic or CCTV evidence identified a suspect.[22]
Appeals and public response
Dorset Police conducted repeated appeals for information in Bournemouth’s nightlife areas and offered reassurance to foreign students after the killing attracted attention from the South Korean Embassy. Shin’s parents travelled to the United Kingdom and joined detectives at a press conference to appeal for witnesses.[23]
Reward and continuing inquiry
In mid-August 2002, the non-profit Crimestoppers offered a £10,000 reward for information leading to the killer’s arrest.[24] Despite extensive forensic work and hundreds of witness interviews, no direct link to a suspect was established during the first months of the investigation. The inquiry later expanded to consider local drug users and transient offenders in the Bournemouth area.[25]
Post-mortem and inquest
A Home Office pathologist concluded that Shin had been stabbed three times in the back with considerable force, fracturing ribs and causing fatal internal bleeding. She had no defensive injuries, indicating a surprise attack from behind. The inquest opened on 24 July 2002 at Bournemouth Coroners Court and was adjourned pending the outcome of the criminal proceedings.[26]
Funeral
Shin’s funeral took place on 27 July 2002 at the Sacred Heart Church (Bournemouth Oratory) and was attended by family members, police officers, and members of the local community. Her remains were cremated privately at Bournemouth Crematorium before being repatriated to South Korea.[27]
Key witness and subsequent arrests
In late August 2002, Dorset Police received information from a woman later referred to in court under the pseudonym “BB.” Her statements, which changed over time, implicated local men including Omar Benguit and Nicholas Gbadamosi in events on the night of the murder. The defence later challenged her credibility and consistency, and no murder weapon or forensic evidence linked the accused to the attack; however, her evidence became a central part of the prosecution case considered by the juries and later reviewed by the Court of Appeal, which upheld the conviction.[28][29]
Police arrested Benguit on 22 August 2002 and charged him with Shin’s murder the following day. Gbadamosi was arrested several days later and subsequently bailed pending further enquiries. Both men were later tried; the first two trials did not reach a verdict on the murder charge, and at a third trial in 2005 Benguit was convicted. Appeals in 2005 and 2014 were dismissed.[30][31]
Trials
Benguit's trials were held at Winchester Crown Court
Benguit was tried three times at Winchester Crown Court for the murder of Shin. Each trial attracted close media and diplomatic attention, with a representative from the South Korean Embassy attending throughout.[32]
The prosecution argued that Benguit had shown a sexual interest in women of East Asian appearance and attacked Shin after seeing her walking alone. The defence maintained that there was no physical or forensic evidence linking him to the murder and challenged the reliability of the witness testimony presented by the prosecution.[33][34]
First and second trials
The first trial, held in 2003, ended with the jury unable to reach a verdict.[35] A retrial later that year also concluded without a verdict after further testimony and cross-examination failed to resolve conflicts between witness statements.[36]
Third trial (2005)
Permission for a third trial was granted in early 2005 by the then Director of Public Prosecutions, Kenneth Macdonald QC—an unusual step after two hung juries.[37] This third trial, also held at Winchester Crown Court and presided over by Mrs Justice Heather Hallett, resulted in Benguit’s unanimous conviction for murder. The prosecution relied primarily on the testimony of witnesses from Bournemouth’s drug community, including “BB,” whose accounts were inconsistent but accepted by the jury. The defence continued to argue that there was no forensic or physical evidence linking Benguit to the attack.[38]
Mrs Justice Hallett, in her sentencing remarks, said Benguit had been “fuelled by drink and crack cocaine” and described the attack as “gratuitous violence.” She sentenced him to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 20 years.[39]
Following the verdict, senior investigating officers described Benguit as a dangerous offender and expressed satisfaction that justice had been achieved on behalf of Shin’s family.[40]
Benguit’s appeals in 2005 and 2014 were both dismissed, with the Court of Appeal finding that the conviction was safe despite the inconsistencies in witness evidence.[41][42]
Appeals
2005 appeal
On 12 July 2005 the Court of Appeal dismissed Benguit’s appeal against conviction. Grounds included challenges to the decision permitting a second retrial and to the admission of certain witness and bad-character evidence. The court held that the judge had been entitled to order a further retrial and that the trial process had not been unjust or prejudicial. The conviction and sentence remained in place.[43]
CCRC referral and 2014 appeal
Following an application to the Criminal Cases Review Commission, the case was referred back to the Court of Appeal in 2012. On 9 April 2014 the Court of Appeal again dismissed the appeal. The court considered arguments about the credibility and inconsistencies of the key witness known as “BB,” CCTV material, the absence of forensic evidence, and submissions that another man, Danilo Restivo, was a more likely perpetrator. The court concluded that, taken as a whole, the evidence afforded significant circumstantial support for the jury’s verdict and that the alternative-suspect theory did not undermine the safety of the conviction.[44][45]
Subsequent developments
In 2021 BBC Three broadcast a documentary that reported additional material and questioned aspects of the case. Benguit’s lawyers submitted a further application to the CCRC the same month. The CCRC confirmed receipt of a re-application and said it would conduct an initial assessment to determine whether there was significant new evidence or argument before deciding on full review.[46][47]
Some campaigners and commentators have suggested that Danilo Restivo — later convicted of the murders of Heather Barnett in England and Elisa Claps in Italy — might have been responsible for Shin’s killing. Dorset Police were aware of Restivo during the inquiry, and the possibility of his involvement was raised again in post-conviction reporting and during Benguit’s 2014 appeal, because a clump of hair was found on the pavement where the victim was initially stabbed. The Court of Appeal considered those submissions, including arguments about the proximity of Restivo's home to the scene of the crime and alleged similarities between the cases, but concluded that the Restivo theory did not undermine the safety of Benguit’s conviction and that the evidential record as a whole provided significant circumstantial support for the jury’s verdict.[48][49]
Life in prison
While on remand awaiting trial, Benguit was reportedly assaulted several times by other inmates.[50] He has served his sentence in several high-security prisons, including HM Prison Wakefield and HM Prison Long Lartin. In August 2017, while at Wakefield, Benguit was stabbed by fellow prisoner Stuart Hazell, who had been convicted of the murder of Tia Sharp. Benguit was later transferred to Long Lartin for his safety.[51]
Commentary and criticism
Media and academic sources have occasionally questioned aspects of the police investigation, including the handling of witnesses and reliance on circumstantial evidence. A 2015 article by Marika Henneberg and Barry Loveday in the *British Journal of American Legal Studies* examined the case in the context of investigative bias and tunnel vision, arguing that further review could be warranted.[52]
In popular culture
Television
The Jury Room – Episode 6 of the 2017 CBS Reality series presented by Will Hanrahan, in which a jury of twelve members of the public re-examined the case of Omar Benguit. The programme concluded with the jury finding him “not guilty” of the murder of Jong-Ok Shin.[53]
Unsolved: The Man With No Alibi – A six-part BBC Three documentary series broadcast in 2018, presented by journalist Bronagh Munro, which re-examined the circumstances of Benguit’s conviction and featured interviews with his family and witnesses.[54]
Unsolved: An Alibi for Omar – A follow-up BBC Three documentary broadcast in 2021, again presented by Munro, exploring newly discovered material connected to the case.[55]
Books
Guilty Until Proven Innocent by Jon Robins (2018, Biteback Publishing, ISBN 9781785903694) – A non-fiction work examining alleged miscarriages of justice in the British legal system, including the Benguit case.[56]
↑ "Killer on the loose". Daily Echo. 23 July 2002.
↑ R v Benguit(Court of Appeal (Criminal Division)2014),Text.
↑ Henneberg, Marika (2015). "Criminal Justice and Forensic Science Evidence: Current Controversies". British Journal of American Legal Studies. 4 (2): 513–517.
↑ "Murder suspect quizzed". Dorset Echo. 16 July 2002.
↑ "Shin family in UK plea". BBC News. 25 July 2002.
↑ "Reward offered over student murder". Dorset Echo. 16 August 2002.
↑ Henneberg, Marika (2015). "Off-track investigations and flawed forensic practices: an analysis of three fatal stabbings". British Journal of American Legal Studies. 4 (2): 499–526.
↑ "Student's inquest opens". Daily Echo. 24 July 2002.
↑ "Grief and pain as Oki is laid to rest". Dorset Echo. 27 July 2002.
↑ R v Benguit(Court of Appeal (Criminal Division)2014),Text.
↑ Henneberg, M. & Loveday, B. (2015). “Off Track Investigations: Case Construction and Flawed Foresight.” *British Journal of American Legal Studies*, 4(2).
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