A countryside murder in Worcestershire

 

Coronavirus means that we all spend much more time indoors watching television than ever before. What we need in times of misery and fear is escapism. Hollywood understood this well in the 1930s, and produced a wonderful series of musicals and comedies to entertain a depressed nation. UK television has responded by multiplying the number of travelogue programmes and game shows. But a large proportion of viewing hours is taken up by murder. The most entertaining of these are a sort of game show, in the sense of presenting a puzzle for the viewer to solve. They are often also travelogues: Death in Paradise in Guadeloupe; the Mallorca Files; and Midsomer Murders (and many others) which take place in beautiful English rural villages.

Needless to say, murder in the English countryside occurs much less frequently than in the fictional County of Midsomer, in which every village seems to harbour a serial killer. But we have recently had a real murder of a well-known figure from the next parish. On the night of the 12th to 13th of December 2020, West Mercia Police were called to a car on fire in a lay-by on the Ankerdine Road, about a mile from the birthplace of Edward Elgar in Broadheath. The car contained a body, identified as that of Neil Parkinson (66) from Clifton-upon-Teme. Three people were soon arrested. Mark Chilman (51) from Bromyard was charged with murder and also with stalking Juliet Adcock. A 30-year old man from Wichenford and a 28-year old man from Worcester were charged with conspiracy to murder. Chilman has pleaded not guilty, and the trial will take place in the Crown Court on the 2nd of August. Until then, as is usual with the English legal system, we shall learn little about the circumstances of the crime.

Ankerdine Road, Clifton-upon-Teme and Wichenford are pleasant places, though not as picturesque as the villages in Midsomer Murders. But the death of Mr Parkinson is much more real. A life cut short so suddenly and unjustly brings pain and suffering to family and friends that can persist for a lifetime. Murder is not entertaining at all.