She convicted her rapist years after her death - The Sunday Story
The Story
The Times
3.9 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 24 May 2026
⏱️ 31 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Sue Firth did all she could to bring the man who raped her to justice. Within hours of the assault, in the early morning of September 7 1985, she had reported it to police. A manhunt ensued, but yielded nothing. In 1997, aged 39, Firth died. But this was not the end of her story. Three decades after her death, all that she did on the night of the attack has helped to convict her rapist.
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Please be advised that this episode contains discussions of rape. If you or someone you know has been affected by anything in this podcast, help is available.
Rape Crisis England & Wales is the feminist charity working to end child sexual abuse, rape, sexual assault, sexual harassment and all other forms of sexual violence.
Call our free 24/7 Support Line on 0808 500 2222 or chat online at 247sexualabusesupport.org.uk.
Guests:
Martin Sills, brother of Susan Firth
Robert Varey, former detective sergeant, South Yorkshire Police.
Dave Stopfort, head of Major Incident Review team, South Yorkshire Police.
Host: Lottie Hayton.
Producer: Taryn Siegel.
Further reading: Sue died in 1997 — and got her rapist convicted in 2026
We want to hear from you - email: thestory@thetimes.com
Photo: Courtesy of Martin Sills.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Before we begin, a warning. |
| 0:04.0 | This episode contains discussions of rape, so do take care while listening. |
| 0:09.2 | From the Times and the Sunday Times, this is the story. |
| 0:13.6 | I'm Lottie Hayton. |
| 0:19.4 | So you took this one? |
| 0:20.9 | Yeah, yeah. took it and developed it |
| 0:22.4 | when she was about, I don't know, what you say, about 16, 17? |
| 0:26.4 | Yeah. |
| 0:26.9 | Yeah, so she was five years older than me, so. |
| 0:30.1 | I'm sitting in the kitchen of Martin Sill's beautiful home |
| 0:33.6 | on the Greek island of Skiathos. |
| 0:36.1 | Now 64, he's showing me some family photos of him and his older sister, Sue. |
| 0:42.2 | That one's a bit younger. |
| 0:43.8 | And is that you two? |
| 0:44.8 | Yeah. |
| 0:45.3 | Oh, that's adorable. |
| 0:46.7 | How old are you there? |
| 0:49.4 | Four, five? |
| 0:51.4 | Yeah, she'd still looked about ten. |
| 0:53.1 | Nine or ten, yeah. |
| 1:01.0 | Many of the photos were taken by Martin, who loved photography as a child. As he places each in front of me, he tells me if they belong to the time before or to the time after. |
| 1:10.0 | That's soon... Oh, she went on holiday to Malta once Malta once and I don't know who the other lady is. |
... |
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