Stuart Diamond killed and dismembered 17-year-old Christopher Hartley, whose determined mum will oppose his parole this month – still not knowing what happened to her son’s head
The mum of a teen who was brutally dismembered and dumped in a bin will fight to keep his killer behind bars – because “he still has not told me where my son’s head is.”
Jean Hartley’s son Christopher was just 17 when he was butchered by depraved killer Stuart Diamond on December 30, 1997. Christopher’s dismembered remains were recovered from a bin at the rear of a hotel in Blackpool, but his head hasn’t been found in the nearly 30 years since.
Despite being told following his 1999 conviction that he was too dangerous to ever be released from prison, a review panel will decide this week whether he could be released on parole – and Christopher’s determined mum will give evidence to make sure this doesn’t happen.
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Mum of Jean, 74, from Liverpool, said her son’s devastating murder ripped her family “to shreds”, and, although living in fear that she could encounter Diamond at any moment, she will make sure he is “never freed”.
She said: “There’s not a day goes by when I don’t grieve my son. Our family was ripped to shreds. Two of my daughters were unable to cope and we lost them too; one on Christopher’s birthday, the second on his anniversary. I’ve been told Diamond is allowed out of hospital on days out which fills me with terror. “
“The police have given me a panic alarm because I am terrified he will come for me. The only thing keeping me alive is my determination to make sure Diamond is never freed.
“How can he be fit for release when he still has not told me where my son’s head is? Sometimes he says he threw it into the sea. Other times, he says he didn’t. What kind of monster would torture a grieving mother in that way? I’m a pensioner, and I am in poor health, but I will make sure I am at the hearing to speak up for my son and to make the world a safer place.”
Christopher was the fourth of Jean’s five children and grew up in Burnley, Lancashire. She said: “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 in 2023.
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.” Diamond is due to appear for a parole review on January 22. According to Ministry of Justice guidance, the 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.
Diamond could then be referred to the Parole Board to decide if he is suitable for release. Jean said: “I am giving evidence at the hearing. It fills me with dread but I have to do it, for Christopher.
“Diamond 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 know he is allowed out and I petrified he will hurt me, or someone else. He has never yet revealed what he did with my son’s head – how can he be considered safe for any kind of release?”
A Parole Board spokesperson said: “An oral hearing has been listed for the parole review of Stuart Diamond and is scheduled to take place in January 2026. Parole Board decisions are solely focused on what risk a prisoner could represent to the public if released and whether that risk is manageable in the community.”
“A panel will carefully examine a huge range of evidence, including details of the original crime, and any evidence of behaviour change, as well as explore the harm done and impact the crime has had on the victims.
“Members read and digest hundreds of pages of evidence and reports in the lead up to an oral hearing. Evidence from witnesses including probation officers, psychiatrists and psychologists, officials supervising the offender in prison as well as victim personal statements are then given at the hearing.
“The prisoner and witnesses are then questioned at length during the hearing which often lasts a full day or more. Parole reviews are undertaken thoroughly and with extreme care. Protecting the public is our number one priority.”
