How a police grad student cracked an attempted murder case by uncovering key evidence

A Met Police detective managed to crack an attempted murder case while he was still on a graduate programme.

The officer, who cannot be named due to his role within counter terror policing, helped form a rapport with the victim of an attack carried out by Brandon Ruck.

Ruck, who was found guilty of attempted murder, stabbed the man 16 times at a property in Lewisham, south east London, last year.

The attack left his victim, a former friend, with ‘very significant injuries’ and a ‘high chance’ of future complications.

The victim suffered a stab wound to his face, which went through his cheekbone and damaged nerves. He may not be able to move his tongue or swallow in later life.

He was initially reluctant to work with the police but the detective, who was in charge of the case, built up a relationship with him.

This was vital to the case’s success, along with a key piece of evidence – a voicemail recording.

The detective told Metro: ‘The case involved two men who had previously been friends.’

‘They knew each other through playing football, and had had a minor altercation a year earlier.

‘On the day of the incident, the defendant, Brandon Ruck, let himself into the victim’s property overnight, as he was due to carry out some painting and decorating the next day.

‘The defendant inflicted 16 knife wounds on the victim, using two kitchen knives, which led to extreme, significant injuries.’

Trust grew between the detective and the victim, who are both in their 30s, through a love of sport.

It was this relationship that led to the uncovering of a 30 second voicemail that captured the distress he was in during the attack.

‘Building trust was a key part of this case’, he added. ‘The victim had a few troubles with the police in the past, so he wasn’t overly keen to speak to us about what had happened.

‘I knew I was a similar age to him, so I just thought I would speak to him like a normal person.’

During the incident, the victim called a friend and threw his phone just before Ruck unleashed the attack. The audio was recorded.

‘The first time I listened to it, I had to take my headphones off after 10 seconds’, the detective added.

‘The victim was screaming for help and for the defendant to get off him. The victim also repeatedly shouts “please”, “help” and “what is wrong with you?”.

‘By the time it got to court, I must have heard that voicemail about 400 times, and even when it got played, I was still shocked to hear it.

‘For members of the jury who don’t do this job every day, I can’t
imagine how that would be.

‘It’s traumatic to listen to but in terms of impact for the jury, it was probably the most key piece of evidence we had, along with the medical report of the victim’s wounds.

‘Eventually they decided on the verdict – guilty for attempted murder.’

Ruck will be sentenced on July 14.

The detective, who studied a criminal investigation course at a university in the Midlands, added: ‘This is definitely one of the largest cases I’ve worked on in a sole capacity. It’s scary when you haven’t dealt with something like this before.

‘But I think my age and newness actually helped me. I went into everything with very open eyes.

‘I was just a university student when I made the application, and the Police Now programmme looked appealing.

‘I wouldn’t say I had a dream as a child of being in a role like this, but ever since I started out I realised it’s where I’m meant to be.’