Suzy Lamplugh Trust is a charity focused on helping people improve their personal safety. It was set up by Paul and Diana Lamplugh, whose daughter Suzy, an estate agent, disappeared in 1986 after arranging to meet an unknown client at an empty property in Fulham.
Since the announcement of the EastEnders storyline we were pleased to learn that through this storyline the dangers of personal safety are highlighted. EastEnders reaches millions of people so it can raise huge awareness of this subject. Our first blog can be viewed here. http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/eastenders/posts/A-message-from-the-Suzy-Lamplugh-Trust
As the storyline is now taking another turn, we felt it was worth updating our blog, as this time the storyline focuses on Lauren’s actions in meeting a mystery person she thinks could have been involved in Lucy’s murder. We’ve been closely following what’s happening and are grateful for the opportunity to highlight any safety issues that are raised by the ongoing storyline.
This week saw Lauren decide to take the investigation it to her own hands and arrange to meet someone, who she thought could be the person Lucy went to meet on the night she was killed. Not the wisest thing to do Lauren! If they were the last person to see Lucy, i.e. her killer, then she could have put herself in serious danger. She did have the sense to arrange to meet them in a public place but they could have easily followed her home to find out where she lived – so it would have been much safer to leave any investigating up to the police, as Peter told her.
Luckily for Lauren it turned out to be Jake but she still could be in potential danger. As Lauren quizzed Jake about his and Lucy’s movements on the Friday night, his version of events raised another – sadly very common safety issue – which is the use of unlicensed minicabs in London.
Taxis (called Black Cabs) can be hailed in the street. Minicabs should only ever be pre-booked. If a minicab is pre-booked it is legal and insured and there will be a record of you getting into that cab and where you are going, making it safe and secure. If it’s un-booked, it is illegal, uninsured, there is no record of you getting in that car and the driver knows this! You’re simply getting into a stranger’s car and driving off with them so it can be extremely dangerous.
Jake claims that Lucy and he took an unlicensed minicab from the flat to the Square. However there is no way to check this if a booking wasn’t taken.
Could it be that it was the cab driver who last saw Lucy alive or could he/she have vital information that could help the police? Or has Jake just made this up knowing that unlicensed cabs can’t be traced?
We’re looking forward to future episodes to see what other important safety issues the storyline will raise.
For safety tips from Suzy Lamplugh Trust, visit http://www.suzylamplugh.org/personal-safety-tips/free-personal-safety-tips/
