Stephen Beadman

Stephen Beadman

34, Male Custodial - 35y

Ibstock, Leicestershire

Offender ID: 447acd63-235e-4368-a86f-3f1e5635ad33

Offence Summary

Stephen Beadman raped and murdered 15-year-old Kayleigh Haywood after she was groomed online by his associate, falsely imprisoning her before chasing her, assaulting her, and battering her to death in woods near Ibstock, Leicestershire.

Full Description

In November 2015, 15-year-old Kayleigh Haywood from Measham, Leicestershire, was groomed online by Luke Harlow, who contacted her via Facebook and exchanged over 2,600 messages with her, leading her to believe he was her boyfriend. On 13 November 2015, Kayleigh was dropped off by her father outside Ibstock Community College, ostensibly to meet friends, but instead went to Harlow's flat in Ibstock where she was kept prisoner.

Stephen Beadman, who lived next door to Harlow, met Kayleigh for the first time on the evening of 14 November 2015 when he visited the flat. Between 21:00 GMT on Saturday 14 November and 03:00 GMT on Sunday 15 November, both men falsely imprisoned Kayleigh. In the early hours of Sunday, a neighbour witnessed Beadman chasing the naked-from-the-waist-down Kayleigh as she attempted to flee the flat. Beadman caught her, took her across a road, raped her, and then marched her approximately 1.5 miles across rough terrain to a wooded area near a stream, where he battered her to death with severe head injuries.

Kayleigh's body was discovered three days later on 18 November 2015, hidden in a hedgerow, following an extensive search involving over 300 officers from Leicestershire Police. Beadman admitted to the murder and rape of Kayleigh at Nottingham Crown Court. He was also convicted of false imprisonment. The court sentenced him to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 35 years. Beadman died in HMP Wakefield in April 2021 at the age of 34.

According to Leicestershire Police reports, the case highlighted the severe dangers of online grooming and child sexual exploitation. Vikki Rundle-Brown, Kayleigh's former PE teacher and senior safeguarding lead at Ashby School, described the impact as 'devastating' and emphasised the school's commitment to educating students about online safety to prevent similar tragedies. Detective Superintendent Helen Schofield of Leicestershire Police noted that the incident underscored the ongoing prevalence of grooming in the county and the importance of awareness campaigns.

Location

City: Ibstock

County: Leicestershire

Case Details

Police Force: Leicestershire Police

Name heritage (predicted origin)

Country: United Kingdom

Confidence: 95%

Special Thanks

A huge thank you to Leicestershire Police for their tireless dedication in bringing this offender to justice. Your commitment and hard work truly help keep our communities safe, and we are deeply grateful.

Source: bbc.co.uk

Request a correction or removal

If anything on this page is inaccurate, out of date, or should no longer be published — for example, if an appeal has been granted, a conviction overturned, or reporting restrictions apply — please let us know and we will review it promptly.

Requests are reviewed by our team. Where a valid reason is provided we will remedy the situation as quickly as possible. Please include any supporting evidence or official source links to help us act fast.

Important notice — this is not an official register

sexoffenders.co.uk is an independent, unofficial publication. We are not affiliated with, nor endorsed by, any government body, police force, or official sex offenders register. We research, write about, and republish information drawn from cases already reported in the media, published in court records, or released by police forces. We disclose our source for each entry where available.

Whilst we take care to be accurate, we cannot guarantee the completeness, currency, or ongoing accuracy of any information. Nothing on this site constitutes legal advice. Users must not use information from this site to harass, intimidate, threaten, or otherwise harm any individual. Any such conduct may be unlawful.

If you believe any information is inaccurate, out of date, or requires removal for legal reasons (including reporting restrictions or matters involving a child), please use the correction form on the relevant offender page, or refer to our Privacy Policy for how to contact us. We will review all reports promptly.