Essex has seen a large number of shocking murders which remain unsolved.

For families and loved ones it only bring more pain as they continue to campaign and push for justice for their lost relatives and friends.

If those responsible are brought to justice, it can enable some of those affected to find a way of moving forward. But to have no answers on who was responsible will wrench at people every day that goes by.

In one of the most disturbing cases, Albert Williams, 67, was found dead in his small flat in Cedar Close, Southend, on August 8, 2015. Mr Williams had been stamped on, strangled and set on fire.

Two men - Simon Smith, of no fixed address; and Anthony Smith, of Ceylon Road, Westcliff – were cleared of his murder in December 2016. However, they were jailed for eight-and-a-half-years each for a violent burglary at his home seven days before his death.

They were said to have exploited his vulnerabilities and targeted him because of it, kicking and punching him taking a box containing £2,000.

One of the most high profile is the death of Stuart Lubbock. Stuart died after being found in the swimming pool in the garden of Michael Barrymore's Roydon house in 2001. A host of suspects were held and Essex Police arrested a man in March, on suspicion of the indecent assault and murder of Mr Lubbock, and released him without charge in August.

Shop owner Ladi Benson, 27, was stabbed to death in Chelmsford in November 2015. He was from Westcliff. The father-of-two ran a shoe and clothes shop called Numero 88, based in Princes Street.

An inquest held into his death in 2016 heard his friends have refused to cooperate with the police. As a result, they have not been able to follow lines of enquiry and his killer has never been identified.

Bulgarian national Denis Petkov, 19, died from a single stab wound to his neck in East Hanningfield Road, Rettendon, on March 11 in 2017.

A 39-year-old man was charged with his murder, but the case was dropped due to lack of evidence amid claims that he had acted in self-defence.

Mr Petkov’s family said at the time of his inquest that they had “no faith” in the justice system.

The body of homeless woman Angela Millington, 33, from Southend, was discovered on Foulness Island in June 2014.

DNA results did not identify her until more than a month later, and a mask of gaffer tape was around her face. A 66-year-old Eastwood man was arrested but never charged with her murder.

John Palmer, nicknamed Goldfinger due to his links to the £26m Brink’s-Mat gold bullion robbery at Heathrow in 1983, was shot at his South Weald home on June 24, 2015.

It is thought there could be up to 16,000 people with a motive for killing him, due to his timeshare scams.

Detectives have made no secret of his death being a targeted assassination.