Child of Chaos

In the summer of 2009, fifteen-year-old Lorraine Thorpe was living on the edges of Ipswich, England, with her father, Desmond Thorpe, a 43-year-old street drinker in very poor health. She spent much of her time with Paul Clarke, 41, who drank in the same circle. Rosalyn Hunt, a 41-year-old woman who lived nearby, was part of that world too.

Over several days in early August 2009, Clarke and Thorpe held Rosalyn in a flat and tortured her before beating her to death. Desmond found out what they had done and threatened to tell the police. On August 10, the pair smothered him with a cushion and kicked him, and a mark from his daughter’s trainer was later found on his head. A member of the public raised concern about Rosalyn, police found her body, and both suspects were arrested.

Clarke and Thorpe denied murder, but after a seven-week trial at Ipswich Crown Court a jury convicted them on August 3, 2010. Both received life sentences, Clarke with a minimum term of 27 years and Thorpe with 14, making her Britain’s youngest female double murderer. Clarke died at HM Prison Whitemoor in September 2014. Thorpe was refused parole in 2023. In February 2026 the Parole Board again declined to free her but recommended a move to an open prison, and in June 2026 Justice Secretary David Lammy rejected that recommendation.