Behind the lyrics - SGMP

I’m always intrigued by initials in song titles as they make you wonder what they stand for and want to find out more. Anthrax’s A.I.R and System of a Down’s B.Y.O.B are great examples. There are exceptions, of course, like YMCA. I actually like the song, but the title never intrigued me.

This song is about the wider implications of the murder of Lynette White and also the transformation of Cardiff Docks/Bay since then.

Cardiff in 1988, particularly south of the city centre was a totally different city to that of today. Much of today’s bay area was derelict and although there was a strong community spirit in Butetown it was generally considered a no-go area. Bute Street, Custom House Street and Canal Street were well-known Red Light areas.

Lynette was a 20-year-old prostitute who was killed by over 50 stab wounds on Valentine’s Day in 1988. There was much speculation as to who killed the young woman. She was due to appear as a witness in two major court cases as a witness. One case was that of two local men who were accused of procuring children for sex (Lynette herself had been trafficked and exploited for years prior to her death). The other case was that of two local women who were accused of attempted murder. There were also several sightings of a distressed white man, covered in blood outside the flat where she was killed.

Despite the sighting and theories, the killer remained at large.

Plans were already afoot to transform the Docks area into what it is today. An unsolved brutal murder was hampering the image that the new area wanted to portray. South Wales Police also had to be seen to be doing their job. The killer HAD to be found. “Ello ello ello, what’s all this? Butetown Slayer is taking the piss. Tarnishing the name of our new town. Someone’s going down”.

Eventually, five black and mixed race local boys were charged with the murder. They all protested their innocence. They all had alibis. There was no forensic evidence to link them to the crime. None of them looked like the distressed white man who was covered in blood outside the murder location. Yet they were all found guilty. After much publicity and appealing, two of the boys were released from jail. After yet another two years, the remaining three were released, yet South Wales Police said they were looking for no one else for the murder, implying that the boys were guilty and had got off lightly.

In February 2003, there was surprising news in South Wales. Jeffrey Gafoor, the white man seen crying and covered in blood outside the flat where the murder had taken place, was charged with Lynette White’s murder. This was thanks to forensic genius Dr Angela Gallop and her team with their pioneering technique Second Generation Multiplex Plus (SGMP).

In the meantime, innocent people went to jail, Cardiff Docks was practically all knocked down and rebuilt as a totally different place and Jeffrey Gafoor went about his life – working, buying antiques, playing computer games and sitting at home with his curtains drawn.

Read more about the murder of Lynette White

More about Anglea Gallop, The queen of crime-solving