Richard Blenkey (born 1959) is a British murderer.
On 14 August 1991, he molested and strangled seven-year-old Paul Pearson in a chicken hut on an allotment in the Cleveland village of Marske. Pearson disappeared while riding his BMX bicycle near his home and his body was found in a ravine two days later when Blenkey was arrested.
While on remand, Blenkey exchanged letters with a man called Bernard O'Mahoney and one of those letters included a written confession to the murder. Mr O'Mahoney showed the letter to police and it was used as evidence against Blenkey when he went on trial at Teesside Crown Court on 26 October 1992. This influenced him to enter a guilty plea and end the trial on the same day that it had started.
Blenkey was sentenced to life imprisonment and the trial judge recommended that he should serve a minimum of 20 years before being considered for parole. As of 2007, Blenkey is now entering his 16th year in custody. The earliest date that he can be released is August 2011.
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