Bathpool Park is a public park in a rural area between Newcastle-under-Lyme and Kidsgrove, Staffordshire (near the border with Cheshire). The park became notorious in 1975 as the location for the murder of Lesley Whittle. Lesley's body was found hanging from a steel wire at the bottom of a shaft in the park. Lesley fell or was pushed by a killer known as the Black Panther, Donald Neilson. Neilson was sentenced to life for Whittle's and four other murders, eventually dying as a prisoner in December 2011.
In 1977, a feature film about Whittle's murder, entitled The Black Panther, was released. Parts of the film were shot on location in Bathpool Park.
Bathpool Park is owned and managed by Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council.
References
- "1975: Kidnapped heiress found strangled". BBC News. 7 March 1975. Retrieved 11 June 2011.
- "Murderer Donald Neilson, the 'Black Panther', dies". BBC News. 19 December 2011.
53°04′41″N 2°14′31″W / 53.078°N 2.242°W / 53.078; -2.242
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