'Justice' over double murderer
The families of the victims of cold blooded killer Garry Harding said justice had been done after the murderer was sentenced to at least 25 years in prison. The families of the victims of cold blooded killer Garry Harding said justice had been done after the murderer was sentenced to at least 25 years in prison. Harding, from Welshpool, was jailed yesterday after dramatically confessing during the first day of his trial to the killings of Annie Eels and Samantha Tapper at a Shrewsbury massage parlour last year. Mr Justice King said Harding would serve a minimum of 25 years before he would even be considered for parole. Read the full story in today's Shropshire Star
Harding was jailed yesterday after dramatically confessing during the first day of his trial to the killings of Annie Eels and Samantha Tapper at a Shrewsbury massage parlour last year.
Mr Justice King said Harding would serve a minimum of 25 years before he would even be considered for parole.
The daughter of murdered Mrs Eels, of Llansantffraid, Powys - the receptionist at Rachael's Health Studio, in Frankwell - said her family wanted to rebuild their lives but would never forget the 55-year-old grandmother.
In a statement Zoe Eels said: "We are relieved that justice has been done and we thank West Mercia Police for their hard work and support. We hope to rebuild our lives but we will never forget Ann who we all loved."
She added: "Our Ann was a loving wife, mother and grandmother. She was the backbone of our family. She was a bubbly and lively woman who would help anyone.
Jackie Jones, mother of murdered prostitute Samantha Tapper, 23, from Wolverhampton, said: "I, as Sam's mother, remain proud of her. She did not deserve to be taken from us. We will always love her and miss her dearly."
Harding showed no emotion at all yesterday as he was sentenced by Mr Justice King, who told him: "This was a frenzied attack on two defenceless women that was particularly brutal, violent and sustained."
He said it was a planned and premeditated attack and a "callous taking of these two lives".
His lawyer Melbourne Inman QC said he had no "formal mental illness" and could not blame the attack on diminished responsibility but said his upbringing had been one of emotional depravation.
The chilling confession of a murderer:
Garry Harding confessed his brutal crime in a chilling letter to his mother and brother after realising CCTV footage would lead to him being recognised.
He wrote the letter on August 21 last year, admitting that he had killed Annie Eels and Samantha Tapper with a hammer taken from the shed at his family home in Welshpool.
Extracts from the letter were read out just before Harding was sentenced to life in jail yesterday for the Shrewsbury massage parlour murders.
Addressed to his mother Sylvia and brother Brendan it said:
"I have gone to the police station to confess to the murder of the two women found at a Shrewsbury massage parlour.
"I stole £300 to £400 from the parlour to pay the rent. My money problems didn't start when I went to Blackpool. I was worried about telling you both that I had lost all my money.
"I realise now that nothing is as bad as I thought it was and I deeply regret doing what I have.
"I took a hammer out of the shed and bludgeoned them to death. I always knew I would be caught.
"It has been so difficult living with this and now I need to be punished. I hope you can both forgive me. Mum you have to live with the shame of having a murderer as a child for the rest of your life - something I am deeply ashamed of."
Harding handed himself into police shortly after writing the letter but then changed his confession, claiming he had been to Rachael's Health Studio but did not kill the two women.
He eventually admitted the double murder in a dramatic U-turn on the first day of his trial on Wednesday.
By Steve Todd
