EXCLUSIVE: EastEnders star’s double-killer ex lover appeals parole decision to block prison release
Michael Shorey was jailed in 1991 for the double-murder of his lover Elaine Forsyth and her flatmate Patricia Morrison but is appealing a Parole Board decision to keep him behind bars
The double-killer ex-lover of a former EastEnders star says he was denied his freedom because he refuses to admit his guilt.
Michael Shorey, 68, tried to establish an alibi at his trial by claiming he was making love to Sandy Ratcliff at the time of the murders in July 1990.
The former accounts clerk was convicted of killing his lover, Elaine Forsyth, 31, and her flatmate Patricia Morrison, 28. Their bodies were found in Patricia’s car in a North London street after being strangled at their flat.
A jury found him guilty of murder and he got a life sentence in 1991 with a mini-mum 20-year term.
Now documents reveal Shorey has appealed against a Parole Board decision to block his release. He was eligible for release in 2010 but remains in a closed prison.
Sandy Ratcliff and Nejdet Salih in EastEnders (
Getty Images)
Sandy Ratcliff Actress leaving Highbury Magistrates Court Provided an alibi for her boyfriend Michael Shorie (Shorey)in a murder inquest Dbase (
Daily Mirror)
He claimed the Board’s “approach to his appeal and to his denial of guilt led to a biased approach to the assessment of his application”.
But Barbara Mensah, of the Parole Board, dismissed his appeal, revealing he had failed to engage with professionals. Sandy – who played Sue Osman, wife of Ali (Nejdet Salih) in the BBC soap from 1985 to 1989 – died alone in 2019 aged 70. Sources said she was haunted by Shorey’s conviction.
Sandy provided him with an alibi at the Old Bailey, which heard blood was found in Patricia’s basement flat.
Prosecutors said Shorey tried to cover up the murders by propping their bodies up in a car. A driver reported them to police and gave a description that fitted Shorey.
Sandy, who had a heroin habit for 20 years, claimed that on the night of the murders they were making love and that she saw no scratches or marks on him.
Prosecutors said she had made up her account and her barrister said she was “torn to shreds” in court. A former cellmate of Shorey had told the jury: “I know he is the murderer.”
Sandy died after overdosing on morphine while suffering terminal lung conditions.
