Playground tribute for murdered daughter (From Bucks Free Press)

Playground tribute in Iver Heath for murdered daughter

10:21am Friday 20th July 2012 in News

THE family of murdered hotel receptionist Alice Adams is aiming to raise £100,000 to build a children's playground in Iver Heath in her memory.

Her former colleague Attila Ban, 32, was this week found guilty of murdering Miss Adams and another hotel worker, before he hid under a bed containing one of the bodies.

Ban had claimed diminished responsibility but was found guilty of two counts of murder at the Old Bailey.

He faces two life terms but sentencing was adjourned to a later date.

Family members have set up The Alice Adams Foundation which aims to build a tree house and play area in Iver Heath where she grew up. It has so far raised £1,000 (see link below).

The bodies of receptionists Tibor Vass and Miss Adams, both 20, were found in Ban's staff accommodation at the hotel where they worked near Heathrow airport in August last year.

Ban evaded police, crime scene investigators and a pathologist for two days after crawling into the divan bed where he had laid Mr Vass's body on top.

After the bodies were moved, he crawled out and cut his wrists and neck in an unsuccessful suicide bid before he was found.

All three worked at the Radisson Edwardian Hotel where openly gay Ban had been named "Employee of the Year 2010".

Miss Adams, from Iver Heath, had only been working there for three weeks. She was described as popular and fun-loving.

Mr Vass was a Hungarian student who was about to return home. Fellow Hungarian Ban had developed a crush on him and was devastated by the news even though Mr Vass was heterosexual and did not return his feelings.

Police were called after Ban updated his Facebook wall saying: "I would like to wake up from this nightmare" and all three failed to turn up for work.

They found Mr Vass naked on the double bed with two stab wounds. On the living-room floor, they found Miss Adams. She was dressed and had been stabbed 22 times.

A search was made for Ban at the cordoned-off flat, including in the attic, but there was no trace until he turned up.

Richard Whittam, QC, prosecuting, said: "Attila Ban was found naked on the single bed. He had wounds to his wrists, forearm and neck.

"It became apparent that he had been hiding in the divan base of the double bed.

"He must have been there throughout the attendance of the pathologist, the removal of the bodies and the examination of the scene by crime-scene examiners.

"He had the presence of mind to have concealed himself effectively and to remain undetected throughout the time they were on the premises."

After the case, Detective Inspector John Finch said outside court that police had not been negligent for not looking under the bed.

He said: "I have looked back at this several times with senior management. It was such a strange and bizarre thing for a person to do. It beggars belief."

He said crime-scene examiners would lose crucial forensic evidence if they lifted up beds looking for people who were not there.

Mr Finch added: "I would not want anyone to do anything differently in the future."

Ban had made himself a bolt-hole under the double bed by taking water and his mobile phone with him to update his Facebook page.

He had also cut a small slit in the side of the mattress so he could see the comings and goings outside.

Mr Finch added: "Someone hiding under a bed for two days with a dead man who he has killed is hard to believe. It was an astonishing and horrific scene."

During the hearing Sara Adams, mum of Alice, told Judge Gerald Gordon: "My heart is broken. My life will always be tinged with sadness.

"I would do anything for one more Alice squeezy hug, one more smile...Alice loved and cared for everyone she ever met, friends and strangers alike.

"It breaks my heart to know that the last thing she knew was hatred and violence.

"The most difficult thing to cope with is not knowing exactly what happened to my lovely Alice that night.

"Horrific as it would be to hear, the truth would be preferable to the constant struggle going on in my mind of trying to figure out the sequence of events leading up to Alice's murder.

"There are no words to adequately express what an amazing and unique person Alice was and how much love, joy, passion and compassion she brought into so many people's lives."