Murder Mile UK True-Crime Podcast - #149: The Abuse of Jane Andrews

Murder Mile UK True-Crime Podcast - #149: The Abuse of Jane Andrews - Part 2 (Tommy's Story)

27/10/2021

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Welcome to the Murder Mile UK True-Crime Podcast and audio guided walk of London's most infamous and often forgotten murder cases, all set within and beyond the West End.

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EPISODE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY-NINE:
On Sunday 17th September 2000, after a romantic break in the French Riviera, Tommy Cressman and Jane Andrews retired to bed. Their relationship was a tempestuous one, tensions were high and by the morning, Tommy would be dead. But did Jane kill him in an act of self-defence, or was this a cold-blood and brutal murder? Tbhis is Part Two of Two.

Date: Sunday 17th September 2000, at roughly 3am (time of death)
Location: 74 The Maltings, Fulham, SW6
Victims: 1 (Thomas Ashley Cressman)
Culprits: Jane Dawn Elizabeth Andrews

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Man in a Bag by Cult With No Name (Intro and interstitials)
Winsome Lose Some by Cult With No Name (credits)
Piano Piece 2 (unreleased) by Cult With No Name
A New Beginning by Esther Ambrami
Because For Everything There Is Something by Patches
True by NCTRNM
Crystalline by Amulets
Anxious by Sextile
Waiting by Peter Rudenko

UNEDITED TRANSCRIPT OF THE EPISODE:

Welcome to Murder Mile. Having returned to 74 Maltings Place on Saturday 16th September 2000, the couple’s turbulent relationship had descended into a bitter argument (Tommy) "we are rowing and someone is going to get hurt". Jane had endured a long history of physical, emotional and mental abuse at the hands of her boyfriend Tommy; a sexual sadist aroused by pain, domination and cruelty.

At roughly 3am, having already been anally raped, (Jane) "where do you want me to sleep?", (Tommy) "with me, of course", the abuse of Jane Andrews continued; (Jane) “he buggered me. I didn't resist because if I did it hurt like hell”, (Tommy) “you’ve got shit on my penis, lick it off”. And although she would find some peace in her sleep, the violence didn’t stop (Tommy) “I’m going to f**king kill you”.

It was self-defence, plain and simple. Living in fear for her life, she had placed a cricket bat by the bed and a kitchen knife by her side solely for protection, and as this wild-eyed sadist yanked her by the hair back across their bed to teach this terrified lady a lesson she would never forget (Jane) "I was holding the knife as he came towards me. I don't know, it just went into him. It must have done".

In a blind petrified panic over what this “sexual monster” would do if he ever caught her, Jane dashed into her white Volkswagen Polo and fled... not knowing that Tommy Cressman was already dead.

That was Jane’s story. But how much of it was true?

My name is Michael, I am your tour-guide and this is Murder Mile.

Episode 149: The Abuse of Jane Andrews – Part Two. (Interstitial)

There are two sides to every story and this is Tommy’s...

Thomas Ashley Cressman, known to his friends as Tommy was born 22nd October 1960 to Harry and Barbara Cressman, and with two older siblings - Rick and Cathy - Tommy was the baby of the family.

Raised in Hampton-in-Arden, just outside Birmingham, Tommy was blessed with a privilege upbringing thanks to his father’s entrepreneurial spirit. Alongside his brother Albert, Harry Cressman had founded the car firm Bristol Street Motors, as well as several other businesses and he later become a director of Aston Villa football club. Harry was a hard-working man who had a love of family and a passion for classic cars, all of which rubbed off on Tommy as a boy, and made him the man that he would become.

Given a great start in life, Tommy could easily have become a selfish, jaded, arrogant man-baby who took whatever he deemed to be his and treated others like dirt – but he didn’t. With twinkly brown eyes and a cheeky smile, Tommy was charming and caring with an infectious personality. He was the type of person you would naturally gravitate towards, as he exuded warmth and “always looked as if he had a laugh in his throat”. He was a lovely man who steered away from trouble and confrontation.

It’s odd, as – so far – Tommy doesn’t seem like “a sexual monster” who Jane would later describe in court as “jealous, possessive and abusive with a violent temper”. But maybe he just hit it well?
In 1986, Tommy trained as a stockbroker for Prudential-Basche Securities in New York, but later quit as he didn’t have the instincts to make a killing in this cut-throat industry, and besides, money wasn’t his passion. Tommy loved classic cars, he owed eight including four vintage Mercedes, and having set-up a business making specialist car-covers, he partnered-up with British racing-driver Sir Sterling Moss.

It easy-to-see why many mistook Tommy as ‘immature’, as he didn’t fall into the traps laid down by life and society. His job wasn’t a nine-to-five grind to pay the bills; it was his passion. He loved fast cars, speed-boats and Tin-Tin cartoons, and although some said that he never grew-up, others would praise that fact that he never lost his enthusiasm for the things he loved as a child. Often, he was unfairly pigeonholed as a confirmed bachelor, but as marriage and children had never been his plan, he wasn’t ready to settle down, as he was only in his thirties and he still felt he had a lot of life to live.

Tommy had many girlfriends, which was unsurprising as he was handsome, funny and kind, but sadly, they never lasted long. This wasn’t down to a dark sadistic streak or a nasty brutal violence he would inflict on these terrified ladies. It ended because he was married to his work. He knew that, they knew that, he hoped to marry one day if he found Miss Right, and he remained on good terms with his ex’s.

As for Tommy’s dark side? It’s true, he collected British, American and German militaria, a hobby not uncommon among history buffs in a country still obsessed with World War Two. Some pieces were Nazi, others were not, and although it was a decent collection, it wasn’t a shrine to the Fuhrer.

In his beside drawer, Police would later find two S&M magazines - Desire and Stiletto Heel. Everybody has an outlet for their stress, and Tommy’s was sex-lines, role-play and masturbation. It may seem seedy, but he did it in private, everything was consensual and he stopped before anyone got hurt.

In intimate love letters, Police also discovered that he had a fondness for anal-sex, a predilection that some couples engage in, but many of his ex-girlfriends would state that Tommy was a considerate lover who never subjected them to physical or sexual abuse. Being a romantic at heart, he bought flowers, he was generous with money and he picked up his girlfriends from work as he worried about their safety. Tommy was kind, sweet and supportive, he disliked confrontation and he wasn’t a rapist.

Tommy Cressman was no angel - who is - but he certainly wasn’t a beast, or a monster.

In August 1998, at Min’s Restaurant in Knightsbridge, Tommy and Jane met on a blind date, and being instantly smitten with this stunning redhead, he swept her off her feet and their romance ensued.

Having recently been divorced and made redundant by the Duchess, with her life collapsing all around her, she saw this millionaire’s son as her one chance to return to the luxuriant life that she had loved. Even a close friend of Jane’s would state “the relationship was very important to her. It became her new obsession” and for fear of slumping back into obscurity, she became fixated on marrying Tommy.

Their first weeks of romance were passionate and loving. Tommy saw Jane as her friends would; “she was very sweet, quite shy. Jane reminded me of a delicate bird. You wanted to pick her up carefully so as not to damage her wings”. But there were many details about her past that Tommy didn’t know...

...especially about her dark side.

In April 1989, Jane met and later married Christopher Dunn-Butler, a divorced IBM executive. It wasn’t love for her, but a step-up the social ladder. She even admitted “I craved someone to take care of me”, but having had a string of affairs behind his back (Jane) “I'm not proud of it", and they later divorced.

In February 2001, she stated to a psychiatrist hired by the trial lawyers, "the relationship broke down amicably. There was never any violence or abuse". By November 2001, she told a different psychiatrist that “Christopher became violent and I was sacred to leave him”. His friends and family deny that any assault took place, there were no police reports and (as Jane also admitted) he was a good decent. Which explains why they remained on such good terms and whenever she needed a friend – including before and after Tommy’s murder – the first and only person Jane called was Christopher.

Not only was Jane deeply manipulative, twisting facts to suit her needs, she was also abusive.

In 1996, Jane fell in love with Dimitri Horne, the son of a Greek shipping magnate. He was single, rich and seeing him as her shot at happiness, Jane became obsessed with snaring this man in matrimony.

Her friends would state “when things were going fine, she was lovely – prim and proper, like an English rose. But as soon as things didn’t go well, she would go absolutely crazy”. Dmitri said “I was living in fear... she followed me everywhere” and when he ended the relationship “she went berserk, turned violent, punching and kicking. I was afraid because when she got violent, she became unpredictable”.

The abuse of Jane Andrews was relentless; she sent him death-threats, she vandalised his car, she ransacked his flat, she smashed his possessions and she stalked him wherever he went. So terrified was Dmitri that he paid her to leave him forever, and when she wouldn’t, he called the Police. Her violence erupted – as it often did – whenever the relationship and her hopes of marriage ended.

But Jane – it is said - was not averse to concocting a tall tale to illicit sympathy when she needed it.

As a teenage girl gripped with bouts of depression, anxiety and an eating disorder, she attributed some of her psychological issues to the sexual abuse she said she suffered as a child, at the hands of one of her brothers. In which the sex was “our little secret” and that “bad girls who tell go to prison”. An allegation denied by the alleged offender, her mother, and the first time she ever mentioned being abused was in the spring of 1999, a quarter of a century later and one year before Tommy’s murder. Child abuse became a key part of her conviction appeal, but it was rejected owing to a lack of evidence.

It is even suggested, that of her several unsuccessful suicides, that these were not a concerted attempt to end a life she no longer wanted to live but to seek attention from those she sought something from.

There are no police reports of rape or abuse perpetrated against Jane by any of her partners (including Tommy), but there are reports of violence, threats, assault and criminal damage perpetrated by her. Even going so far as to threaten to kill an unborn child, out of spite, if her partner didn’t take her back.

Tommy had a few little secrets, as we all have...

...but then again, so did Jane.

The relationship was self-destructive. As Jane rightly said “I was the ultimate in insecurity. He was the ultimate in commitment-phobia”. She was a 33-year-old former royal dresser for whom the biological clock was incessantly ticking, the curse of spinsterhood hung overhead and who was desperate to snare a 37-year-old bachelor, unwilling to settle down or grow-up. It was never meant to be.

But Jane couldn’t see that, and she wouldn’t see that, as her life’s goal was to possess him.

Tommy found her jealous and overbearing. If he so-much-as looked at another woman, she would give him the evil eye. If he talked to another woman, she would drag him away. When he went on a stag-do, the second he got off the plane, he was barraged with texts and voicemails demanding to know; “where are you?”, “what are you doing?”, “why haven’t you called me?”, and whenever they went out together with friends, she was very vocal about the fact that he was not committing to her.

By the Autumn of 1999, barely a year into their relationship, they were no longer sleeping together.

Jane was struggling to adjust to an ordinary life after her royal redundancy, and lasting just two months as the PR Manager for Claridges’ Hotel, she was entirely reliant on Tommy. And like so many couples trapped in a loveless existence, they hung on... believing this was just a blip, but unwilling to change.

Maybe this is where and why they engaged in role-play and S&M? Maybe, like a couple disappearing off for a dirty weekend, this was an attempt to re-ignite and spice-up their love life? Maybe they both had a fondness for sexual sadism, with one playing the dominator and the other as the submissive (a fact impossible to prove, as one half of the couple was dead)? Or maybe, Jane only did this to please Tommy; “I would sleep with someone, because I was frightened if I didn't, they would go. I allowed men to do anything they wanted to me". Even acts which she said, she found abhorrent, like anal sex.

Every relationship is full of secrets and lies, but the more theirs collapsed, the further they retreated into their own private spaces and fantasies. For him, it was fetishes and masturbation. For her, it was seeing a psychiatrist and (perhaps) inventing stories to illicit sympathy, in which she was the victim.

We shall never know the real truth, as even the smallest details about their private lives can be inflated and twisted into unfair proportions to make them both look like the Holy Mother or a monster. But it was during their frequent fights that those secrets became a weapon with which to beat each other; she threatened to tell Tommy’s business partners and parents about his “dirty little habits”, and he threatened to go to the press or the police to expose the things she had seen in the royal household.

It was these secrets which destroyed their relationship...

...but Tommy still had one more secret hidden away.

At a conference in Las Vegas, Tommy met Deborah DiMiceli. They were never intimate together, but she was someone who shared his sexual predilections and they regularly corresponded. In January 2000, just nine months before Tommy’s death, Jane hacked into his laptop and found the emails.

Described in court as being written in a ‘cheap novelette style’; some contained a sexual fantasy about a submissive woman in a maid's outfit tied to a four-poster bed and crying "finish tying me up and rape me", with many references to “large kisses and licks in all the right places” and vigorous anal sex.

Jane admitted she was “very angry and very upset" by the emails, which Tommy said was "just a bit of fun" and he promised to stop. But what hurt her most was what he had written about her. In the emails, Jane is described as “getting a little like that pair of slippers I can't throw away!"

The relationship was dead, the love was gone and they were both treading water...

...but Jane was still fixated on marrying Tommy...

...as somewhere there was hope.

In the bin, at 74 Maltings Place, Police would later find an undated torn-up letter written by Tommy. In it, he wrote “Dearest Jane. I do care about you. Yes, times have been difficult for us over the last year but I do like you. However, over the last two months, I have felt like I’ve been walking on egg shells all the time. Your mood swings have been hard to predict”. In it, he admitted his mistakes, he apologised for his failings, he noted that he hadn’t tried hard enough, and he signed it off “Tom.xxx”.

But was Tommy using her love as a weapon (Jane) “he knew which carrots to dangle and which strings to pull" in order to emotionally break her, or as a very loving man - deep down - did he really care?

In the Summer of 2000, they went house-hunting in the Cotswolds. This definitely happened as they registered with an estate agent in Chipping Norton under the name of ‘Mr & Mrs Cressman’. But did he really want to buy a house with Jane? Did he want her to become his wife? Was he trying to make a disintegrating relationship work? Or was he simply pacifying her, to make a difficult life less terrible?

Either way, it’s easy to see why Jane became confused.

From the 1st to 15th September 2000, they went on a romantic holiday in the French and Italian Riviera; a taste of the luxuriant life she was so desperate to return to, and - she hoped - a marriage proposal. But it was not to be. Amidst the stunning sunsets which glistened over the clear-blue sea echoed their bitter words, as Tommy made it abundantly clear that he had no intention of marrying Jane... ever.

As a last-resort to lure him back, she threatened suicide by driving off the edge of a cliff. But the love was gone, and it is alleged he replied: “don’t do that darling, that’s my brother’s car you’re driving”.

By Friday 15th September 2000, Tommy and Jane had split-up, for good.

At Nice Airport, the couple were seen bitterly arguing, an incident which Jane would later dispute. "If it was true that he said he wasn't going to marry me, then I'd say so”. And yet, she made several calls to her ex-husband Christopher and her friend Gil Hancox confirming “this time it is definitely over”, some of which were made in the car with Tommy and his mother in earshot. When later asked why, Jane stated “I was trying to goad him. I was being a complete bitch. It was the thing I said whenever we fought: 'You don't love me anymore, you don't want to marry me'. I'm not making excuses for what ended up happening, I'm just trying to get across that there was no premeditation, no plan to kill him".

Over the next thirty-six hours, right up to the point when Tommy was murdered, the two were alone.

According to Jane, they returned home to Maltings Place. Collecting their post, she took a small knife to the bedroom to open the letters, and later - although exhausted from arguing – they made love.

Saturday 16th September 2000 - the next morning - was Tommy’s last day alive. As the couple had continue to argue throughout the day, Tommy went to his office nearby, as Jane had called in sick.

At 8.47am, he called his mother, during which he sounded harassed. Jane made an appointment for both of them to see Michael Cameron, a relationship counsellor, but Tommy later cancelled this.

At 11.35am, as they argued further, Tommy called the Police; stating "we are rowing and someone is going to get hurt", (officer) “is anyone hurt?”, (Tommy) “not yet, but if you don’t get here soon, someone is going to get hurt”. On the call, a woman can be heard screaming, and one minute later, Jane telephoned her ex-husband (Christopher) and told him “Tommy is attacking me”. Allegedly, a physically fight ensued and Tommy tried to throttle her... but neither of them sustained any injuries.

It’s around this time that both version of the story dramatically deviates.

At 12pm, moments after the call ended, according to Jane, he tied her to the bed with the cord of her dressing gown and anally-raped her, saying, "I'm really going to hurt you and nobody will believe you".

Only, it was at that moment that Tommy was seen in the street, making a call to his friend Richie Gore, in which he said they’d had an argument, she had driven-off and that she’d threatened to kill herself.

Police records prove that Tommy and Jane exchanged insults and accusations by mobile phone over the next few hours, with Tommy in or near Maltings Place, and Jane driving in her car in West London.

But with neither party looking to deescalate their bitter fight, Tommy suggested ways in which - if she was actually serious –Jane could kill herself, and – out of spite - at 1.54pm, Jane faxed the illicit emails to the employer of Tommy’s secret sexy pen-pal Deborah DiMiceli and later to his parents.

Across the next few hours, they both called their closest friends and family for support, explaining their versions of the events, but at no point did Jane accuse Tommy of violence, imprisonment or rape.

At 8pm, Jane returned home.

She would later state; "a part of me still wanted to go back. I couldn't believe what had happened in the morning. I remember watching him through the window. He was sitting in an armchair watching television. I was scared, and when he heard me, he leaped up. I thought he was going to be angry but instead he threw his arms around me and said 'welcome home'. It was all mind games".

Later that night – having been made to feel worthless - Jane reluctantly returned to the bedroom they shared, asking (Jane) "where do you want me to sleep?", (Tommy) "with me, of course", as again he tried to anally rape her, shouting "you know you like it, you know you do". All of which was true...

...but only if you believe Jane’s version.

A Police investigation would confirm that - when Jane returned home at 8pm - she packed a black bag with spare clothes, underwear and toiletries, and hid it in a cupboard. Earlier that day, she had already filled her car with fuel, and with a small kitchen knife (used to open the mail) still in the bedroom and Tommy’s prized cricket bat nearby, she placed an eight-inch carving knife under her side of the bed.

That night, Tommy had sat quietly watching the Sydney Olympics, and at 10pm, he went to bed. He was dressed in boxer shorts and a t-shirt, and – being so short-sighted that he could barely see just 20cm in front of his face – he placed his glasses on the bedside table and drifted off to sleep. He didn’t wake in the middle of the night, he didn’t punch her in the face, he didn’t rape her, he didn’t drag her across the bed by her hair, and he didn’t scream “I’m going to f**king kill you”, as he strangled her...

...as when Jane attacked him with the cricket bat, Tommy was lying face down on the bed, fast asleep.

Stunned but not unconscious, as Tommy slowly moved, Jane grabbed the eight-inch knife, later stating "I was holding the knife as he came towards me. I don't know, it just went into him ". Only, an autopsy would confirm that she hadn’t stabbed him in the front, but the back. And as the blade plunged deep into his rib-cage, through his left lung and nicked his heart - as his body filled with blood and he slowly drowned in a pool of his own fluids – she partially withdrew the blade and then twisted it, watching him in his last moments alive, as this terrified man struggled to remove the knife from his own body.

Jane claimed she disliked S&M and his “dirty little habits” ... but that is epitome of a sadist.

After that, she said she fled in panic. Only, she was calm enough to take a shower, to grab the bag she had hid, to get changed, to clean-up some of the blood, to call her ex-husband Christopher at 3:10am during which – again – she bemoaned how Tommy had refused to marry her (but said nothing about the murder or rape) and tied the cord of her bathrobe from the banister to the door handle - for fear of what this sexual monster would do if he ever caught her - even though, Tommy was dead. In Police interviews, Jane would state "I didn't go out of my way to hurt him, I was just protecting myself". (End)

Jane Andrews’ trial began at The Old Bailey on the 23rd April 2001. In this three-and-a-half-week trial, where as the prosecution set-out to prove without a shadow of doubt that this was a premeditated cold-blooded killing by a woman scorned, Jane stuck to her story about rape and pleaded self-defence.

A jury of ten women and two men deliberated for twelve hours and found her guilty of murder.

On 16th May 2001, she was sentenced to life in prison, but owing to changes in the law, this was reduced to eleven years before parole can be considered. In 2012, having served the remainder of her term at HMP Bullwood Hall in Essex – a Category C, not a Category A prison, the type reserved for violent offenders – her parole was rejected as she was judged a 'danger to the public', especially men.

That aside, on 19th June 2015, she was released on licence and sent to a probation hostel, with the hope of re-integrating her back into society. Three years later, she was arrested for breaching the terms of her licence having harassed a former lover. She was re-convicted, sent back to prison, but was re-released from prison on 8th August 2019 and is now living somewhere in the East of England.

Jane Andrews; the former dresser to the Duchess of York, who dreamed of a great life, an amazing career, hobnobbing with the elite and settling down with a wealthy husband - a far cry from her upbringing – was last known to be stacking shelves for £8.50 an hour in a Morrison’s Supermarket...

...a job she could easily have got back home in Grimsby.

OUTRO: Ladies and gentlemen, thank you so much for listening to Murder Mile.

As always, if the highlight of your day is listening to the aimless bluster of a fat bald loser with an Eva Green fixation and three bellies; one for tea, one for cake, and one for everything else, stay tuned till after the break for more info on this case and a little quiz in Extra Mile.

A big thank you to my new Patreon supporters who are Claire Lou Bee and Barry Wilson. Thank you for supporting the show, it’s very much appreciated. Plus, a belated thank you to Beth, James and two anonymous people who made donations via Supporter link. I thank you too. Plus, a thank you to everyone who listens to the show and shares it with their pals.

Murder Mile was researched, written and performed by myself, with the main musical themes written and performed by Erik Stein & Jon Boux of Cult With No Name.

Thank you for listening and sleep well.

*** LEGAL DISCLAIMER
The Murder Mile UK True Crime Podcast has been researched using the original declassified police investigation files, court records, press reports and as many authentic sources as possible, which are freely available in the public domain, including eye-witness testimony, confessions, autopsy reports, first-hand accounts and independent investigation, where possible. But these documents are only as accurate as those recounting them and recording them, and are always incomplete or full of opinion rather than fact, therefore mistakes and misrepresentations can be made. As stated at the beginning of each episode (and as is clear by the way it is presented) Murder Mile UK True Crime Podcast is a 'dramatisation' of the events and not a documentary, therefore a certain amount of dramatic licence, selective characterisation and story-telling (within logical reason and based on extensive research) has been taken to create a fuller picture. It is not a full and complete representation of the case, the people or the investigation, and therefore should not be taken as such. It is also often (for the sake of clarity, speed and the drama) presented from a single person's perspective, usually (but not exclusively) the victim's, and therefore it will contain a certain level of bias and opinion to get across this single perspective, which may not be the overall opinion of those involved or associated. Murder Mile is just one possible retelling of each case. Murder Mile does not set out to cause any harm or distress to those involved, and those who listen to the podcast or read the transcripts provided should be aware that by accessing anything created by Murder Mile (or any source related to any each) that they may discover some details about a person, an incident or the police investigation itself, that they were unaware of.
*** LEGAL DISCLAIMER

Michael J Buchanan-Dunne is a writer, crime historian, podcaster and tour-guide who runs Murder Mile Walks, a guided tour of Soho’s most notorious murder cases, hailed as “one of the top ten curious, quirky, unusual and different things to do in London”, nominated "one of the best true-crime podcasts at the British Podcast Awards", one of The Telegraph's top five true-crime podcasts and featuring 12 murderers, including 3 serial killers, across 15 locations, totalling 50 deaths, over just a one mile walk

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Murder Mile UK True-Crime Podcast - #149: The Abuse of Jane Andrews - Part 2 (Tommy's Story)

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