After an investigation that lasted over three and a half months, police confirmed the death of local wife and missing mother of two. Gillian Merrick was found on the afternoon of Tuesday 17th March, only 3 miles from her home where she was last sighted on 2nd January. Continued…
On the 22nd of October 2007 Kevin Murphy died suddenly at the age of 49. Kevin lived in Oundle with his wife Maureen, son Oliver and daughter Chloe.
As well as being a family man, Kevin also loved football and was a passionate Leeds United Fan. He started coaching at Buckingham Junior Football Club and coached at Oundle Town Junior Football Club from 1999 to 2007. Kevin’s hard work was appreciated at the Junior Football Club and his sessions were full of humour but also full with a real sense of purpose. His ability to bring out the best in his players was demonstrated when his team won the league under his leadership at Oundle.
He attended the Thomas Danby Bakery College in Leeds before beginning work in Edinburgh. Due to career progression, he lived in several different places, including Chester and Sussex, working at Unilever and at Kerry Foods and Moguntia. In 1998 he was head hunted for British Sugar, which brought him to Oundle.
A former Oundle School pupil was killed in Afghanistan over the summer, becoming the first old Oundelian to die in combat since the Second World War. Captain David Hicks, from 1st Battalion of the Royal Anglian Regiment, which includes dozens of Peterborough soldiers, died after his patrol came under attack near Sangin in the volatile Helmand Province on Sunday. The 26-year-old was the second British serviceman to die in Afghanistan in as many days. Captain David Hicks passionately believed he was “helping to build a better world”.
