In the latest episode of On The Case, brought to you by The Crime DeskPresenter Alex Matthews is joined by crime reporter Ryan Hooper to revisit the 2006 murder of an ‘extremely vulnerable’ man with learning disabilities in Cornwall.
Steven Hoskin, 39, could not read or write when he befriended known criminal Darren Stewart, 30, in St Austell, Cornwall.
On the night of July 5, 2006, Stewart and his 16-year-old girlfriend, Sarah Bullock, tortured and murdered Hoskin after falsely accusing him of being a pedophile.
Hoskin’s final moments were “unimaginable,” Hooper told the podcast. Due to his fear of heights, Steven was eventually marched with a dog collar to a 30-meter high viaduct and forced over the safety rail.
“Darren and Sarah had decided in their own kind of kangaroo court, which was the bedroom, that Steven was a pedophile,” Hooper said.
‘There was nothing to indicate that this was the case. It was just people being rotten to someone who had the misfortune of having people rotten to him all his life.
The torture and murder of vulnerable Steven Hoskin in 2006 sent shockwaves through the South West of England
Hoskin’s final moments were “unimaginable,” Hooper told the podcast. Steven was terrified of heights and was eventually marched with a dog collar to a 30 meter high viaduct and forced over the safety rail.
“So they imposed different punishments. They had burned him with cigarettes. They defeated him. They kicked him.
‘Sarah put a collar on him and Steven had to effectively crawl around the flat… he was also given a large quantity of tablets and alcohol.
‘He was then led with his collar on to the St Austell railway viaduct, which was a very short distance from where Steven had lived.
‘They marched him over a safety rail and as he desperately tried to hold on to the overpass they meted out more punishment… as he screamed for mercy, Sarah kicked him and stamped on his fingers. He fell to his death about 100 feet away.”
Stewart received a life sentence with a minimum term of 25 years for Hoskin’s murder. Bullock, who the judge accepted had been under the career criminal’s spell, was also jailed for life, with a minimum of 10 years.
A third man, Martin Pollard, 21, was convicted of manslaughter and jailed for eight years.
The case sent shockwaves far beyond Cornwall, not only because of its brutality, but also because it exposed glaring holes in the system designed to protect vulnerable adults.
Hoskin had been known to social services since his youth. Housing officials and police were aware of his new friendship with Stewart, and that the violent criminal had even moved into his bed, but no one intervened.
Darren Stewart was given a life sentence with a minimum term of 25 years for Hoskin’s murder
“Shortly before he was murdered, Steven had told social services that he no longer wanted to deal with them,” Hooper explained.
‘Nowadays that couldn’t happen anymore. That certainly doesn’t happen anymore in Cornwall. If someone with certain problems says that he or she no longer wants to get involved, he or she will not be taken off the books.
“But in 2006, when this tragedy happened, it did. In fact, Steven was able to remove himself from the network that was supposed to protect him.
‘There was no shortage of information about Steven, to get a picture of what was happening to him, but nothing was just done about it. His life could have been spared if more action had been taken.”
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