Joe's Story
23/12/03 - 28/01/22
Joe Dix was raised in a close, stable family network. He was sport mad, funny (always doing different accents) and protective over people he cared about
Who was Joe Dix?
The first born of Emma and Phil Dix. Joe was born in Brighton in December 2003 but moved to Norwich in 2004 to be closer to grandparents. Joe gained his only sibling, sister Bethany in 2007 and was always super proud of her.
Joe was always a confident child and old for his age. He was knowledgeable and would happily talk to adults at family occasions. He loved Bob the Builder and tools, sports and anything active.
Joe attended a small country primary school; he was bright and excelled at all sports. He was a popular pupil but also had a very cheeky side.
Pre teen
Joe was sport mad, he played football for Norwich Corinthians and Norwich Elites. He had a 12 week period in Norwich City football Academy.
Joe also played rugby and cricket, most evenings and weekends he was playing some type of sport.
Joes became aware of his image would ensure his hair was perfect. He developed a love for trainers, caps and nice clothes
Teenager- It can happen to anyone
Early Teens
Joe hit puberty young, he looked older than he was as he was taller and broad shouldered compared to his peers.
In his early teens Joe’s was criminally exploited by some unscrupulous men. They persuaded him by offers of easy money and a glamorous lifestyle, Joe became embroiled in the growing culture of countylines.
Joe’s behaviour and school attendance drastically declined. Joe would get very angry, often breaking things and had multiple episodes missing from home.
He was on a Child Protection Plan with Norfolk Children Services and known to Norfolk Police. Joe tended to gravitate towards his ‘friends’ more than his family.
Joe's First Arrest
Joe was arrested for the concern of suppling class A drugs. The money and drugs he carried were confiscated by the police, leaving him in debt. Joe was most vulnerable after he had been arrested.
He broke down recalling horrific events that had happen, how he had been mugged and beaten up, he said he would go missing from home because he didn’t want his family to see his injuries.
Joe was unable to escape this life as he was arrested several more times.
Youth Rehabilitation Order
The police fitted a panic alarm and a security camera at the family home. After months of delays Joe received a Youth Rehabilitation Order (YRO) from Norwich Crown Court.
The YRO including a home curfew, a GPS tag for 6 months ensuring he didn’t enter certain areas of Norwich.
Joe found it hard but did generally comply with all the rules. He even started back in education.
Turning It Around
With some home tutoring, Joe passed his maths and English exams. He didn’t have any missing episodes due to his curfew; he was limited to where he could go in Norwich.
He started labouring with Phil which gave him structure to his day.
He would always walk his dog before he went to work.
Joe's Death - 28th January 2022
Final Memories
Emma had been at work until 3pm, then collected Bethany from school. They travelled to Eye to collect the families new 8 week old Labrador puppy. Bethany facetimed Joe from the car with the puppy on her lap. The call didn’t last long as Joes phone ran out of battery as usual. Little did they know this would be the last time they spoke to Joe.
Phil and Joe had worked together until lunchtime, they had a good day including breakfast together. The job was completed at lunchtime, so they finished for the weekend. This was the last time Phil saw and spoke to Joe.
The Dreaded Call
From 19:11 there was a series of missed audio calls and a message via messenger from Lauren, Joes girlfriend. The message was ‘U need to call me’ Emma immediately worried as it was not normal for Lauren to call. When Emma spoke to Lauren, she was hysterical and sobbing saying that Emma needed to get to the hospital quickly as Joe had been stabbed.
Hospital
Emma and Lauren arrived at hospital at about the same time, 19:35. Emma was unaware how bad the situation was, despite Lauren sobbing ‘Its really bad, his insides were showing, don’t let him die’. Phil was now on his way to the hospital as he had been out collecting a takeaway.
Emma and Lauren were told the ambulance number and ran wildly round the ambulance bay trying to find it. They eventually found it but Joe had been unloaded already and the paramedic was cleaning up. When Emma said who they were looking for, other hospital staff came out and chaperoned us to a small clinic room.
Joe's Passing
Emma and Lauren remained in that room until 20:15 when 2 female staff members entered the room. The look on their faces said it all, they informed Emma and Lauren that ‘Despite their best efforts, Joe had sadly died on the way to theatre.’ Lauren became even more hysterical screaming, and Emma left the room to go outside. Emma proceeded to phone Phil to break the devastating life changing news.
Emma and Phil remained at the hospital for some time asking to see Joe. They were informed that they couldn’t as he was now evidence of a murder investigation. Lauren left at some point as she was in such a state. Emma and Phil made the horrendous calls to their daughter Bethany, and both sets of grandparents.
Social Media
The word got round extremely quickly on social media about Joe’s death. Before Emma and Phil even arrived home from hospital, Bethany had received so many messages from friends and people who knew Joe. Over the night Emma, Phil and Bethany stayed together on the sofa, listening to the pings of messages from their phones.
They received 100’s of messages asking if the rumour was true, asking if it was their Joe, messages of condolences and wanting more information.
The Investigation & Trial
Operation Salvador
Murder Investigation
The next few days were a blur for the family due to shock. They can only explain that their life seemed like a Netflix series. Different ranking police attending their home, a house full of beautiful flowers and cards of sympathy.
All whilst dealing with a new puppy, who turned out to be a huge comfort and distraction.
Charged
On the 11th February 2022, Emma and Phil were at Vale Green with family and friends doing a balloon release in Joes memory.
During the evening Emma and Phil received the call from the police informing them that that Hans Beeharry, Benjamin Gil and Cameron Palmer had been charged with Joes murder. Early March 2022, Yaman Uslu was charged with assisted murder.
Beeharry, Gil and Palmer were remanded in custody, whilst Uslu was on put on bail with a list of people he wasn’t permitted to contact.
The First Trial
The murder trial started on the 3rd January 2023 at Norwich Crown Court. Emma and Phil attended court everyday clutching a photo and pot of some of Joe’s ashes. This was the first time Emma and Phil got to see and hear the evidence that the police had gathered. There was a video which was played multiple times throughout the trial. It showed the accused with knives chasing Joe. They all out of view, Joe then reappeared on camera 50 seconds later, he staggered back towards Laurens flat, before he collapsed.
For 5 weeks Emma and Phil sat in the court gallery looking at the 4 defendants and their families/friends. When all the evidence was served, and the defence had taken the stand and been cross examined, Emma and Phil were given the news that there was potentially new evidence. The computer program had finally cracked the PIN entry code on Palmer’s phone. The phone had been discovered months earlier by the Search and Rescue Dive team in a section of the River Wensum.
The phone was broken and water logged, it had been dried out and painstakingly reconstructed into a different phone shell before the interrogation of the PIN code.
There were several days of legal discussion, when on the 2nd of February 2023 the Judge declared that the trial would stop and a second trial would start on the 31st July 2023. No words can describe how devastating this news was to Emma and Phil.
The Second Trial
This started on the 31st July 2023 with the same judge but a new jury and some new evidence. Gil and Palmer had decided that not to give evidence this time and spent the whole trial talking to each other. They showed no respect, no remorse.
It was a relief when the trial went past the point where the previous trial had stopped. The summing up took place, and the judge gave her legal direction to the jury. The jury were sent out to start their deliberation late afternoon on 25th August.
It was bank holiday weekend, so they returned to deliberate on Tuesday 29th August. A verdict was reached on Wednesday 30th August.
Verdict
After 11 hours and 40 minutes the jury came back with a unanimous decision for 3 of the defendants. Everyone was in court when the spokesperson from the jury announced that Ben Gil was GULITY of murder, Cameron Pamer was GUILTY of murder and Yamen Uslu was NOT GUILTY in assisting with murder.
Emma and Phil sat in a daze, Gil and Palmer showed no emotion and Ulsu gave a fist pump and was let out of the dock. The Judge then stated that the jury had to continue their discussions and come up with a majority verdict of at least 10 agreeing for Beeharry.
The majority verdict was decided 12 hours and 42 minutes after initial deliberation started. Everyone was called back into court and the jury spokesperson announced that Beeharry was found GUILTY of murder. He hung his head low when the verdict was given.
Emma and Phil clung to each other in anticipation and gave a cheer of ‘Yes’ when they heard the result.
Sentencing - No one is a winner
4th October 2023
Sentencing took place in court 1 at Norwich Crown court on the 4th October 2023. After a delayed start, family and friends filed into the court room. There were so many people, some had to sit in the jury seats. Beeharry, Palmer and Gil, all attended wearing suits, they appeared shocked at how many people were present in the courtroom. You could feel the tension and emotion in the court room.
The prosecution started the case with Emma bravely reading her victim personal statement. The 3 defence teams each took turns informing the judge about their clients hardships and disadvantages and good behaviour in prison. At no point during the speeches did the murderers show any remorse. The court was adjourned for lunch.
In the afternoon the judge summed up her conclusions of the case. Then made Beeharry, Palmer and Gil stand.
Beeharry
Received a life sentence with a minimum of 20 years, upon released he will be deported to Mauritius.
Palmer
Received a life sentence with a minimum of 21 years
Gil
Received a life sentence with a minimum of 21 years
The courtroom was quiet as they were all lead down to the cells.