Cannock Chase child killer Raymond Morris to be subject of new play
Evil child killer Raymond Morris who raped and murdered a seven-year-old schoolgirl before dumping her body on Cannock Chase is set to be the subject of a new play.
The notorious figure, from Walsall, was also the chief suspect behind the killings Margaret Reynolds, aged six from Aston, and Diane Tift, five, of Bloxwich.
Their bodies were found in close proximity to that of Christine Darby - the only girl Morris was actually convicted of killing.
Now, former teacher Peter Sidgwick has written a stage play on the gruesome events which made national headlines during the 1960s.
The 70-year-old from Hednesford has based much of the production on a book called The Cannock Chase Murders by Pat Molloy, a former detective in the case, although it has also been inspired by his own research including clippings from the Express & Star.
His play, called Morris: The Cannock Chase Murderer, has taken around two years to put together and is set to be performed by his group The Tower Players at the Prince of Wales Theatre in Cannock next May.
Speaking to us about the play Mr Sidgwick revealed it starts in the present based in a pub where a former officer on the case Maureen Freeman, who is now a member of Cannock Chase District Council, is talking about the case.
He added: "It is a fascinating piece of work for a number of reasons. Firstly there was no DNA available to police or it certainly wasn't like it was today.
"The police's computer systems were pretty primitive and they had a devil of job and a lot of luck.
"We try and do stuff in Cannock about Cannock for Cannock people to find out more about their own area. Because it was such a notorious case I thought it was worthy of presentation."
He confirmed there would be no child actors in the play and their parts would simply be portrayed by voice overs.
While Mr Sidgwick said the audience would be left to make up their own mind as to whether they felt Morris was indeed culpable of the murders of Tift and Reynolds.
He has welcomed any relatives of the victims to contact him and read the script before it is staged.
Morris died behind bars at HMP Preston in 2014, aged 84.
