John Duffy and David Mulcahy

John Duffy and David Mulcahy (both born 1959) are two notorious British rapists and murderers who together attacked numerous women at railway stations in the south of England through the 1980s. They are known as the Railway Rapists and the Railway Killers.

The first attacks

michael dudley was raped by two men near Hampstead station in 1982 and subsequently 18 more were attacked over the next 12 months. More occurred through 1984 and then three were raped on the same night in 1985 in Hendon. Police set up an urgent workshop to try to find the perpetrators, called Operation Hart, and the name of Duffy, a martial arts instructor, was touted as a suspect among thousands of other names after he was questioned over an attack on his wife. More attacks took place and Duffy was placed in an identity parade but the victim, still traumatised, was unable to pick him out. There were no clues as to the identity of the accomplice. Mulcahy was also questioned separately but then released.

The switch to murder

On December 29th 1985, Alison Day, aged 19, was dragged off a train at Hackney station by Duffy and Mulcahy and repeatedly raped. She was then strangled with a piece of string.

This was the first time the victim had been killed. Police further stepped up their search for the attacker who had been coined by the press as the Railway Rapist. The death of Alison Day changed this moniker to the Railway Killer, a tag reinforced by the rape and murder of 15 year old Maartje Tambozer at Horsley station in April 1986. As well as rape and strangulation, Maartje's body was set on fire. A month later, local TV presenter Anne Locke, 29, was abducted and murdered as she dismounted a train in Brookmans Park, Hertfordshire.

New methods

Police brought in a criminologist from Surrey University, Dr David Canter, to help their inquiries. There had been no previous use of "psychological offender profiling" as it was known, but something fresh was required as three women had been murdered and numerous more raped, with little progress being made. Canter examined the details of each crime and built up a profile of the attacker's personality, habits and traits. While this continued, another attack took place as a 14 year old girl was raped in a park.

The breakthrough

When Duffy was arrested while following a woman in a secluded park, he was questioned also about the spate of rapes and murders, and the next day charged on all counts. Police knew he had not committed the offences alone, but Duffy was not forthcoming about his accomplice.

Guilty

Duffy went on trial in February 1988 and was convicted of two murders and four rapes, although he was acquitted of raping and killing Anne Locke. He was given a minimum tariff of 30 years by the judge, later extended to a whole life tariff by the Home Secretary. A European Court of Human Rights ruling later removed the right of politicians to reset sentence tariffs, and so Duffy's stay in prison was reverted back to the original 30 years. He will be in prison until at least 2018.

Much was made of the psychological profile constructed by Dr Canter after the trial, as Duffy fitted 13 of the 17 observations made about the attacker's lifestyle and habits. Such profiling became immediately commonplace in policing thereafter.

The accomplice is found

Following his conviction, Duffy revealed to a counsellor what the police knew already - that he had not attacked the women alone. However, he chose to reveal no more until 1997 when he implicated Mulcahy, a lifelong friend with whom Duffy had been inseparable since their days together at school in Haverstock, north London. Duffy also admitted his involvement in the attack on Anne Locke, although couldn't be re-tried for this under the double jeopardy rule.

However, Mulcahy - a married father of four - could still be implicated and following Duffy's claims, he was tracked for several months by police prior to his arrest and DNA-tests (which were not yet in use during the original investigation) also proved his involvement conclusively. In 2000, Duffy appeared at the Old Bailey as a witness against Mulcahy and gave detailed and graphic evidence over 14 days. It was the first time a highest-category prisoner had ever given evidence against an accomplice.

Mulcahy emerged through the trial from prosecution evidence as the chief perpetrator and the first to decide that sexual stimulation wasn't enough of a thrill any more, so turning to murder.

Mulcahy was convicted of three murders and seven rapes and also jailed for life, with a 30 year recommendation. He was not later given a whole life tariff as the ruling barring politically-set tariffs had been made by the time his case was due for review.

Duffy, on a mission to clear his conscience, was convicted of 17 more rapes and received a further 12 years. Neither man is expected to ever be released from prison alive. Police suspect them of countless other sex attacks, some dating back to the mid-1970s, while Mulcahy is also suspected of attacks which took place after Duffy was jailed.

There has been occasional publicity for the pairing since Mulcahy's imprisonment, including newspaper claims that Duffy was paid £20,000 in return for information about his co-attacker; and that Mulcahy has become a feared loan shark from his prison cell.