Charlene Downes: Campaigners call for public inquiry into case of missing Blackpool teenager

Ronay Crompton, who is behind the Justice for Charlene campaign, and acclaimed cold case private investigator Jen Jarvie who is looking to solve the case, say no lessons have been learnt from the disturbing story behind Charlene’s disappearance.

And they say only a multi-agency investigation can bring issues into the spotlight and help prevent another case like Charlene’s occurring in the resort again.

Charlene, whose background was troubled, was just 14 years old when she disappeared on November 1 2003.

During the police investigation, they found she and other girls in the area had been groomed by several men for sexual favours.

Two men went on trial in May 2007—one accused of her murder, the other for helping to dispose of her body—but the jury failed to reach a verdict amid lurid claims that Charlene had been "cut up and made into kebabs".

After a re-trial was scheduled, the accused were released in April 2008 because of concerns about the evidence gathered by Lancashire Constabulary.

The body of Charlene, who came to Blackpool from the Midlands with parents Bob and Karen and brother Robert when she was 10, has never been found and no one has been convicted of her murder.

What emerged from Charlene’s disappearance was a worrying picture of child sexual exploitation in Blackpool which the campaigners say hasn’t gone away.

While Ronay campaigns for an enquiry, Jen has amassed a number of new leads as she continues to her quest to bring those responsible to justice.

Ronay, who is from Bradford in Yorkshire, is a justice campaigner who first became aware of the case when she saw Joe Cusack’s documentary The Murder of Charlene Downes.

As the 19th anniversary of Charlene’s disappearance looms on November 1, she said: “I’ve spent a lot of time looking into the background of this case and it is unbelievably harrowing.

“There is no way that it should just be left like this, when so many different leads need properly looking at and so many questions answering.

"I set up this campaign to bring justice to Charlene but also to shed a light on the sexual exploitation of vulnerable children in Blackpool, which hasn’t gone away.

"Blackpool is the kind of place where people with backgrounds in sexual abuse can come and just start again, they can go there and get lost.

"With all the vulnerable families there, it is another nightmare waiting to happen again.

"We need a public inquiry to stop this continuing and help prevent another case like Charlene’s.”

Jen , a private investigator specialising in cold cases, is a member of the Association of British Investigators who was named ‘Investigator of the Year’ for 2022 and she is also a policing lecturer at York St. John University.

She agreed to look into Charlene’ case earlier this year because she found it so compelling and says: “My remit is to look at this case as if it happened yesterday, investigating it with fresh eyes.

"The aim is to find Charlene’s body and those responsible for her death and already we have a number of new leads.

"In terns of the campaign, I absolutely support the calls for a public inquiry and an examination into child sexual exploitation in Blackpool which is one of the key issues at the core of Charlene’s case.

"This should not involve issues of ethnicity, it should go right across the board.

"What I would say is that we work with the police, not against them. The sole purpose is to make the people responsible for Charlene’s death accountable and to try and prevent the issues which led her into such trouble in the first place.”

Jen’s other high profile case saw her investigating the 1990 killing of Darlington care worker Ann Heron, and she was featured in a Channel 5 documentary which unearthed new evidence.

There was further tragedy last December when Charlene’s brother Robert died from an accidental heroin overdose aged just 30.

Today there remains a £100,000 reward on offer from the police for information leading to the conviction of Charlene’s killer.

A spokesman for Lancashire Police said: “The case remains open and we would appeal for anyone with information to contact us.”

A Blackpoool Council spokesperson said: “Tackling any type of exploitation of our young people is a high priority for the council.

“The Awaken project, which was set up in the wake of Charlene’s disappearance, was one of the first teams in the country to combine the resources of the police, social services and health to tackle Child Sexual Exploitation. Since it was established in 2003 hundreds of vulnerable young people have been identified and protected from harm and offenders brought to justice.”