Leah Croucher murder suspect Neil Maxwell ‘once tried to strangle ex-girlfriend in fit of rage’
The prime suspect behind the disappearance of 19-year-old Leah Croucher tried to throttle his ex girlfriend.
Neil Maxwell, who had a string of past convictions for sexual offences including rape, was wanted by police when Leah went missing in connection with an attack in Newport, Buckinghamshire.
Police admitted Maxwell, 49, had evaded arrest 18 times while on the run from 2018 to 2019.
He moved around the country and used fake names to avoid detection, and in February 2019, was based in Milton Keynes, working as a handyman in the house in which human remains were found this week.
A friend told The Sun: ‘Neil could be charming but evil.
‘He tried to strangle his girlfriend in 2009. He lost it. No one knows why.’
Neil Maxwell took his own life two months after Leah’s disappearance and is the prime suspect
Maxwell was wanted by police in connection with a Newport attack when Leah went missing
Police outside the property where human remains were found in the hunt for missing Leah
Police are investigating whether Maxwell kept Leah as a prisoner in the house, possibly for weeks, after finding the remains in the loft of the house, along with her backpack and other possessions.
At the time, he was the only person believed to have had a key.
He was on the sex offender’s register having been convicted of multiple offences, including a teenager aged 13-15.
A former friend of Maxwell said he had received a call from the convicted sex offender out of the blue just a few weeks before Leah went missing.
The friend said he told them: ‘I can’t go back to prison.’
They told the Sunday Mirror: ‘He insisted he hadn’t done what the police were saying.
Leah Croucher, 19, was last seen on CCTV on her walk to work on February 15, 2019
Officers continue to guard the house and its surroundings as forensics teams are expected to continue working on the scene for several weeks
People continued to lay tributes today outside the house where remains were found this week
‘He said he was scared. He couldn’t face going back inside.’
Maxwell killed himself two months after the 19-year-old’s disappearance.
It comes after a former girlfriend of Maxwell revealed he had a ‘sinister character’ after he was named by police.
She described Maxwell as controlling and said he groomed her and took advantage of her, as she told the Mirror: ‘I always knew he was a wrong ‘un.
‘He was well known in the area for trying to pin down girls and force himself on them… Eventually everyone kept away from him.
‘He was a deeply sinister character. It’s horrible that he did this to Leah but, to be honest, I’m not surprised in the slightest,’ she said.
Matthew Barber, Thames Valley Police and Crime Commissioner, has asked the force’s chief constable to conduct an investigation into the handling of Leah’s disappearance to determine if an inquiry is needed.
‘Given the time that has passed questions have inevitably been raised about the earlier investigation and there is an understandable desire for more information,’ he said.
‘None of the information I have received so far leads me to conclude that there were shortcomings in the earlier missing persons investigation. Nevertheless I have requested that the Chief Constable presents me with a review of the case in order to determine if any further inquiry is required.
Flowers, candles, teddies and heartfelt notes of condolence have been gathering outside the property all week
This was the final image of Leah ever captured before she disappeared and failed to show up to work
A bunch of flowers were left at the scene by Leah’s parents, with a heartbreaking note to ‘our darling Leah’
Various posters were released to try and find the teenager after she went missing in February 2019
‘If mistakes have been made I will ensure a thorough review of the missing persons investigation, but I must stress that this will be evidence-led and so far I have seen nothing to suggest any reasonable lines of enquiry were missed.’
Maxwell had previously been in prison for raping a teenage girl in 2009, for which he was handed a four-and-a-half year sentence.
Maxwell, then aged 48, admitted committing a sexual assault on a woman in Milton Keynes in February 2018 and was sentenced to 200-hours of unpaid work and made to pay £85 court costs and £1,000 compensation. He was also placed on the sex offender’s register for five years.
The pervert went on to strike again just nine months later. He was on the run for that offence at the time of Leah’s disappearance but had managed to evade arrest on 18 occasions
Detective Chief Superintendent Ian Hunter said yesterday formal identification of the body has not yet taken place, but they do believe it is Leah.
He said police were unaware of any potential links between Maxwell and Leah until a maintenance worker alerted police on Monday to a suspicious object in a loft of the property.
The human remains were found in the loft of the property at Loxbeare Drive in Furzton, Milton Keynes, DCS Hunter, Thames Valley Police’s head of crime, said.
A Home Office pathologist is carrying out a post-mortem examination to try and determine a cause of death.
Despite the number of times Maxwell evaded police, Leah’s family released a statement at a press conference on Friday saying they believe Thames Valley Police ‘could not have done anything differently.’
The statement said: ‘We would like to take this opportunity to thank Thames Valley Police for all their efforts over the past three years and eight months.
‘We believe that they could not have done anything differently, they have always approached every conversation with dignity and compassion.
‘As a family, we ask that everyone respects our privacy as well as our immediate family, at what is one of the most difficult times of our lives.’
On Thursday night Leah’s family arrived to tearfully lay tributes to a beloved daughter and sister.
An undertaker carried a bouquet of flowers as he then accompanied the parents to a makeshift memorial at the front of the house which is at the centre of the police investigation.
A note left with the flowers read: ‘To our darling Leah. Our darkest fears have come true, we only need to be apart a little longer now.
‘We have so missed you for so long already. The future looks so bleak now. We know we will never see your smile or hear your laughter again. We will cherish your memories forever. We love you, Mum and Dad’.
Another note, by Leah’s elder sister Jade, read: ‘To my beautiful sister Leah, My heart has broken, my mind racing with thoughts and my body numb. How can a life as beautiful as yours come to an end in such a tragic way.
‘I have loved you from your very first breath and I will love you until my last. There has never been a moment when you were not in my thoughts and there never will be.
‘My only comfort is that you and Hayden are together in heaven. All my love forever your big sister Jade and nephew Reggie.’
Hayden, Leah’s brother, tragically took his own life after being so tormented by the loss of his sister. He was discovered by his mother and sister Jade.
Leah was last seen on CCTV on her way to her job on February 15, 2019, but never made it to work.
If you are affected by the issues raised in this article, you can contact the Samaritans for free and completely anonymously on 116 123.