Man jailed for lies over body of missing Claudia

Former York man Richard O’Rourke sent text messages to a police officer and a barmaid giving an exact location of where the missing chef could be found claiming “I put her there”.

As a result of the messages sent on the first anniversary of Claudia’s disappearance North Yorkshire Police carried out a fruitless four-day search of fields at The Outgang at Heslington near to York University.

Phil Howes, prosecuting, told Lincoln Crown Court that the text messages were sent from O’Rourke’s phone on March 18, 2010.

O’Rourke told barmaid Alison Hall: “I know where Claudia Lawrence is buried. YO10 5EF. I’ve just told you where she is. Third field after the sports field. I put her there. The Outgang in Heslington, York.”

The following day he sent a second message to PC Jane Pickworth, who at the time was investigating O’Rourke for harassment of a local estate agent.

This time he said “Why don’t you listen to me. I know where Claudia Lawrence is. The Outgang, Heslington. I put her there. You’re next. I’ve found you on the net”.

Mr Howes said “Because there were references to Claudia Lawrence it was obvious they would be referred to the investigation team in North Yorkshire.

“That became, in the words of one of the officers, an investigation priority.

“Searches began for a possible body deposition site. Two specialist dogs with their handlers were deployed from South Yorkshire in order to search that area. It was a very specific area that the defendant was referring to. No body was found.“

Officers linked the texts to a phone owned by O’Rourke and subsequently travelled to his home city of Lincoln to see him.

Mr Howes said “The fact that this caused upset to the parents of the missing person goes without saying.”

O’Rourke, 48, of Keddington Avenue, Lincoln, admitted wasting 390 hours of police time in March 2010 at a cost of £13,500.

He also admitted three charges of sending menacing messages and harassment of Lincoln estate agent Jason Sedlan.

O’Rourke also admitted possession of three child pornography images and one extreme pornographic image found on his computer when police raided his home in April 2010.

Judge Michael Heath told O’Rourke “You had no ideas where Claudia Lawrence was or is. Not only was police time completely wasted but also every time that some piece of information is given to the police which may lead to the possibility of closure of some sort for the parents it raises their hopes. When it turns out to be a false trail those hopes are dashed.

“That is something that is so serious that the only sentence I can justify is a custodial sentence.”

Gareth Weetman, defending, said O’Rourke suffered from depression and his life spiralled out of control following the deaths of both of his parents.

“He had no real concept of the wider implications of saying the body was buried there. It was not his deliberate intent to set off what happened which was a very high level police search of the area.

“At the time his depression was starting to deteriorate markedly and his life was starting to fall apart.

“He was, in every sense of the word, a loner. He suffered from alcoholism and was drifting from one drinking session to another.”

Mr Weetman said that O’Rourke has since sought help with his addiction to alcohol and has cut down his drinking.

“He is actively engaging with the substance misuse team. He says he has not had a drink for 10 days.”