The son of a woman murdered over five decades ago has launched a scathing attack on the Metropolitan Police, accusing them of actively obstructing his search for her missing remains. Ian McKay believes his mother, Muriel McKay, is buried in the yard of a former East London tailor's shop with connections to the notorious Kray twins.
A Decades-Old Mystery and a Deathbed Revelation
Muriel McKay was kidnapped from her London home on 29 December 1969 after being mistakenly identified as Anna Murdoch, the then-wife of media mogul Rupert Murdoch. Brothers Nizamodeen and Arthur Hosein demanded a £1 million ransom for her safe return, but she was never seen alive again. The pair were convicted of her kidnap and murder in 1970 and sentenced to life imprisonment, but they consistently refused to disclose the location of her body.
Now, a potential breakthrough has emerged from an unexpected source. The family of Percy Chaplin, a tailor who made suits for gangsters Ronnie and Reggie Kray, have come forward with new information. They state that on his deathbed in 2022, the 98-year-old Mr Chaplin revealed his suspicion that Muriel McKay's body was buried in the shared rear yard of his former shop on Bethnal Green Road, where Arthur Hosein had once worked for him.
Family's Plea Met with Legal and Police Resistance
Armed with this new lead, Ian McKay and his sister, Dianne Levinson, sought permission from the High Court to conduct a non-invasive ground-penetrating radar survey of the yard. However, their application for an injunction was rejected last month by Mr Justice Richard Smith, partly due to opposition from a current occupant of the property.
Ian McKay's frustration is directed squarely at the Metropolitan Police. In a video statement, he alleged that while publicly stating they are not involved, officers have privately told the current owners that the information from the Chaplin family is "flimsy and should not be taken seriously."
"Publicly the police say they are not involved, yet privately they undermine our efforts at every turn," Mr McKay stated. He suggested a successful search might "highlight the ineptitude" of the current Met kidnap department in solving the 56-year-old crime.
Historical Links and a Trail of Clues
The connection to the location is supported by historical police records. A statement held in the National Archives reveals that after his arrest in 1970, Nizamodeen Hosein told Detective Chief Superintendent Bill Smith that he and his brother had visited several tailors in London on 6 February that year, specifically naming "Percy Chaplin, a tailor in Bethnal Green Road."
Furthermore, Mr McKay claims the police failed to inform his family when Percy Chaplin's daughter, Hayley, first came forward with her father's suspicions in 2022. At that time, officers were searching Rooks Farm in Hertfordshire, where Arthur Hosein lived at the time of the murder. "They withheld her very existence from us," said Mr McKay. "We had no idea that new information had been given to the police."
Hayley Chaplin has added her voice to the call for action, stating plainly: "That yard should now be searched thoroughly. They should not give up looking for her." The Metropolitan Police were contacted for comment regarding the allegations.
Nizamodeen Hosein, who was deported to Trinidad after his release in 1990, has previously claimed Muriel was buried on the Hertfordshire farm, but exhaustive searches there found no trace. The family of Muriel McKay, whose remains have been missing for 56 years, continue their quest for closure, convinced the answer lies in the shadow of the Krays' old East End haunt.
