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Camden New Journal - by DAN CARRIER
Published: 20 December 2007

Bid to hold pensioner murder trial in secret

AN unprecedented court gagging order has been put on the trial of the man accused of killing reclusive Hampstead pensioner Allan Chappelow.
The body of the eccentric biographer Mr Chappelow, 86, who wrote two books on the playwright George Bernard Shaw, was discovered in his ramshackle mansion in Downshire Hill in June 2006. A post-mortem examination found he had died of head injuries and when large sums of money were reported missing from a bank account in his name, police launched a massive murder hunt.
A police investigation led to the arrest of Wang Yam, 42, in a small Swiss village in the summer of 2006.
Home secretary Jacqui Smith has issued a “public interest immunity” certificate – a move believed to be the first time a gagging order has been requested in a murder trial. The case is due to start at the Old Bailey at the end of January.
It means evidence can be given in camera by defendants instead of in person.
Wang Yam, 42, a Chinese national who formerly lived in Denning Road, West Hampstead, appeared before Highbury magistrates in November last year charged with Mr Chappelow’s murder. Mr Yam also faces charges of burglary and deception, and has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Meanwhile, Mr Chappelow’s home in Downshire Hill looks set to be at the centre of a planning wrangle as developers consider their options for the property in one of Hampstead’s most expensive streets.
Heath and Hampstead Society chairman Tony Hillier said: “The society would like to see it renovated."

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