Former Beenham man in court on murder charge

David Burgess to appear before Newbury magistrates today (Tuesday) charged with murder of Beenham teenager in 1966

A FORMER Beenham man is to appear before Newbury magistrates today (Tuesday) charged with the murder of a teenager in Beenham in October 1966.

David Burgess, aged 64, was charged with the murder of 17-year-old Yolande Waddington by Thames Valley Police last Wednesday (November 16), having been arrested the previous day.

Miss Waddington's near naked body was found in a ditch, just yards from a barn at Hall Place Farm in Beenham on Sunday, October 30, 1966.

Her body was found lying on one side, half submerged in water. She had been strangled.

At the time, the murder rocked the quiet village of Beenham and brought it unprecedented media attention, with every male villager and visitor to Beenham on the night of her disappearance providing blood samples in a revolutionary step by police.

Last week, villagers expressed shock at news of the arrest, while Glynis Snow, the current landlady of The Six Bells in Beenham - where Miss Waddington was last seen alive - said: “It's horrible. It's not what we want the village to be known for.”

Mr Burgess is set to appear at West Berkshire Magistrates' Court today.

For more on this story, see Thursday's Newbury Weekly News.