'Twisted killer cut up my son and won't tell me where his head is'

Christopher Hartley was just 17 when he was murdered and decapitated by Stuart Diamond. His head has never been found and now Diamond could be released on parole

The mum of a murdered teenager whose body was dismembered and dumped in a bin is horrified that his killer might soon be back on the streets.

Jean Hartley's son Christopher was just 17 when he was murdered and decapitated by Stuart Diamond on December 30 1997. His head has never been found. Diamond was convicted of murder in 1999 but next month he will appear before a tribunal which, if it rules in his favour, could see him released on parole.

Mum of Jean, 73, from Liverpool, says: "There's not a day goes by when I don't grieve my son. Our family was ripped to shreds by his evil. Two of his sisters were unable to cope and we lost them too; one on Christopher's birthday, the second on his anniversary. "Diamond is a monster. He should never be released. I am speaking out to make sure he does not kill again. How can he be fit for release when he still has not told me where my son's head is?

Christopher was the fourth of Jean's five children and grew up in Burnley, Lancashire. She says: "He was full of mischief and fun. We lived on a hill and even as a toddler he'd race down in a go cart. His big sisters all made such a fuss of him. We loved him so much. When he got older, he started fixing bicycles. People would knock on the door with their broken bikes for him. He was so good with his hands. He made a cart at school for his younger brother."

In July 1997, Christopher, then 17, moved to Blackpool, where his older sister, Michelle, and brother, Steven, were already living and working. Jean says: "I didn't want him to go, but he said there was plenty of seasonal work there and he'd have a job waiting at the Pleasure Beach. He planned to stay with Michelle."

Jean says: "Every time he called, he sounded happy. He came home in August and brought presents for us all. He gave me a watch which I still treasure. He was working for Christmas but planned to move back home for good on New Year's Day 1998. I was looking forward to having him back."

But on December 30, Michelle's landlord said Christopher had to leave and he found himself homeless. That same night, Stuart Diamond offered him a place to stay. Jean says: "As far as we know, Diamond was a stranger who saw he was vulnerable and needed a place to stay."

Diamond lured Christopher back to his bedsit with the promise of a bed for the night, but instead strangled and smothered him and cut his body into three pieces in the shared bathroom of the flats. Remains of Christopher's headless body were later found in a bin at the back of the New Central Hotel in Blackpool, and in a sports bag dumped in the resort just before New Year's Day. Despite an extensive police search, Christopher's head was never found.

Jean says: "On New Year's Day we were expecting Christopher home, and I was planning a family get together and a nice meal. My neighbour told me a body had been found in Blackpool but I didn't for a minute connect it with Christopher. When the police came, my whole world fell apart. And hearing how he had been cut into pieces was horrific. There was no dignity at all in his death. I was desperate for police to find his head, so he could be buried with it."

At a trial in 1999, the court heard police found blood stains and tissue in the flat, as well as Diamond's fingerprint on a stool leg in Christopher's blood. Following his conviction, it was revealed he had two previous convictions for violence. In one incident a man needed 130 stitches after Diamond, who was handed an 18-month sentence in a young offenders' institution, slashed him in the face with a knife.

A psychiatric report from a previous conviction showed Diamond fantasised about carrying out a murder. He had only been out on licence for a matter of weeks when he murdered Christopher. The sentencing judge told Diamond: "It is clear you are a very dangerous young man. The most anxious consideration will be given as to whether it will ever be safe to release you."

Diamond is currently a restricted prisoner and is detained under the Mental Health Act. Jean's eldest daughter, Julie, died on Christopher's birthday, the year after his murder, following a short illness. Her second daughter, Michelle, died following Christopher's anniversary on New Year's Day 2024, following a mental health battle. His father, Phillip, died last year.

Jean says: "Diamond ripped my family apart. He took Christopher from us in such horrific circumstances that my daughters never recovered. In my mind, he is responsible for their deaths also." Jean recently learned that Diamond is due to appear before a mental health tribunal in September this year. The tribunal does not have the power to discharge Diamond, but if successful his case could be referred to the Parole Board which can determine if the test for release is met.

According to Ministry of Justice guidance, next month's tribunal could determine if Diamond is suffering from a mental disorder which continues to make it appropriate for him, for both the safety of himself and for the protection of others, to be detained in hospital for treatment. Following the conclusion of the tribunal, Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood has the power to remit them to prison.

Diamond could then be referred to the Parole Board to decide if he is suitable for release. Jean says: "He shouldn't be given the option to be allowed out. He is sick and is a real danger and a risk to the public. He was on licence when he killed Christopher. I have no doubt he would do it again. I've asked the probation service for a photo of him, but I've been told I can only see it and not copy it, so I won't know what he looks like.

"I've bene told he's allowed out for short periods now and the possibility of passing him in the street and not knowing fills me with dread. I am a nervous wreck at the thought of him getting out and destroying another life and another family. He has never even revealed what he did with my son's head how can he be considered safe for any kind of release?"