Situated opposite the Roman Catholic Church of Our Most Holy Redeemer and St Thomas More – which was itself damaged by a bomb which killed 19 people in September 1940 – 30 Upper Cheyne Row could easily be passed off as just another ritzy London townhouse.

Sadly, however, behind the gate of this Old Chelsea residence, on Monday 29th November 2004 at 7.30pm in the evening, a “well-respected” 49-year-old financier named John Monckton was murdered and his wife, Homeyra, severely assaulted also in front of their nine-year-old daughter.

Attacked by two clearly deranged thugs, Damien Hanson – who was tellingly nicknamed “666 Devil’s Child” – and Elliot White, posed as postmen to “trick” their way into the house, the Downside and Oxford educated managing director of bonds at Legal and General Investment Management was repeatedly stabbed whilst his wife sustained injuries that “partly paralysed” her.

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Saved by the quick-thinking actions of her daughter Isobel, who had hidden on an upper floor of the residence and who then called 999, Old Bailey judge The Hon. Mr Justice Calvert-Smith later told Hanson: “Without her prompt action Mrs Monckton would have died and you would have faced two charges of murder.”

In a statement subsequently, the Monckton family remarked of “an incredibly gentle and thoughtful man” whom “apart from his outstanding career in the City, also devoted a great deal of his time to charitable works.” Speaking to The Guardian, the now 12th Duke of Marlborough added: “It’s very out of character. SW3, and especially this area, is a very good address. It’s quiet, which I suppose is its worst offence.”

At trial in February 2006, where Hanson’s lawyer Michael Wolkind QC “said he could offer no mitigation except that some murderers were even greater monsters,” it was revealed that the killer had “kept an arsenal of knives under his bed at a children’s care home and funded his lifestyle through muggings and drug dealing.” Shockingly, he had been given early release from jail despite a parole board assessment that he had a 91% chance of reoffending whilst White was on bail on drug charges at the time of the killing.

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Of him, an “ex-friend” added: “Damien was never an angel but he found an identity through hip-hop and gangsta culture. It corrupted him and fuelled an obsession with violence, guns, knives, gold and diamonds – anything luxury.”

In another development, in November 2006, Hanson’s sister, Laura Campbell, was sent down for four years for giving him a false alibi in which she claimed he had been watching EastEnders with her at a friend’s flat on the night of the murder. The clearly equally deviant then 20-year-old had even penned notes that “had the appearance of prompt cards, which would remind her of the story she would have to tell,” shared prosecutor Parmjit Cheema.

Mrs Monckton understandably subsequently placed the house for sale in 2013 for £5.5 million and it is now for sale for a significantly lower sum of £4.5 million. The four floor, Grade II listed property, which extends to 2,196 square foot, has 2 reception rooms, 5 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms.

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There is off-street parking for one car and a courtyard garden and since the brutal events there in November 2004, the property has had significant security measures installed.

The Names & Numbers – 30 Upper Cheyne Row, Chelsea, London, SW3 5JN

April 2022 – Offered for sale for £4.5 million ($5.8 million, €5.4 million or درهم21.2 million) by agents The London Broker, a sum % lower than its April 2013 marketing price.

April 2013 – Offered for sale for £5.5 million ($7.1 million, €6.5 million or درهم25.9 million) by W. A. Ellis.

29th November 2004 – John Monckton (born 13th October 1955) murdered at the house. His killer Damien Hanson was subsequently sentenced to serve three life sentences for killing him and the attempted murder of his Homeyra Monckton.

His associate, Elliot White, received a sentence of 18 years for manslaughter, wounding with intent and robbery whilst the trial judge recommended that Hanson should serve a minimum of 36 years before being considered for parole.

John Monckton murder scene Homeyra Monckton
Victim John Monckton (right), the scene in the aftermath of the murder (centre) and widow Homeyra Monckton (right). The podcast ‘Murder Mile’ – which reported on the tragic events of 29th November 2004 in May 2021 – “With two violent and dangerous men in his home, who would stop at nothing to get what they wanted, although he wasn’t a fighter, John would do anything to protect them… even if it meant his life. With his face beaten, as Elliot gripped him from behind in an immovable bear-hug, John’s fight to force both men out of his home and away from his family was failing. And yet it was then – without warning – that the Devil’s Child lashed out in a volley of frenzied stabs against an unarmed outnumbered man. John’s hands were slashed and bloodied as he valiantly fought off his attacker; as the stained six-inch blade sunk into his shoulder, his right arm and his pelvis. So ferocious was this assault, that having mistakenly stabbed Elliot, with the full length of the blade he buried the knife deep in John’s chest, as one wound ripped through his right lung, and the last, fatally skewered though this good man’s heart. John slumped to the floor in the doorway of his lounge, and as the robbers fled up Glebe Place, Elliot whooped ‘ah man, you’re the business’ and Damian giddily fingered his haul of a few hundred pounds and some inexpensive costume jewellery, as the two cowards left John and Homeyra to die… which they would have done, had it not been for Isobel, who was only nine-years-old. Doing as her mother said, Isobel locked the door, called the police and set off the panic alarm, alerting the street. Sat amongst the blood-spattered room, with Homeyra feeling weak, pale and partially paralysed, there was no denying that the quick-thinking of this little girl had saved her mother’s life. But with John lying motionless, his eyes closed and his moans barely a whisper, even the paramedics couldn’t save him.”
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Damien Hanson and Elliot White
Convicted criminals Damien Hanson and Elliot White. The former has now been in jail for 16 years whilst the current situation of the latter – who was sentenced to 18 years – is unknown. Of the murderer’s term, Wikipedia remark: “This is one of the lengthiest minimum terms ever handed out in British legal history, and is expected to keep Hanson behind bars until at least 2041 and the age of 61.”
In May 2021, ‘Murder Mile’ featured the case in a two-part podcast. They described the “brutal murder” in detail and aside from referencing the victim’s “humanity” and “goodness in his blood,” commented on his having been “a moral man who was old-fashioned but effective.” In a clearly well researched feature they referenced how the family had moved to 30 Upper Cheyne Row in 1994 and that they and their two children, Isobel and Sabrina, had lived an “idyllic” life there prior to the tragic events on Monday 29th November 2004. The podcast revealed that the killer knew the name of his victim and had tracked his wife in the days prior to the slaying and had appeared at the door to the house with a postal sack over his shoulders. Hanson and his cowardly accomplice had brought with them both a gun and six-inch blades and left the couple to die after having stolen items and money valued at just £4,000.
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30 Upper Cheyne Row 1
A photograph of the house taken in 1949 and shared on the blog ‘A London Inheritance’ shows it to then be painted white and lacking the “ornate ironwork” entrance gates now installed (left) whilst today it has exposed brickwork (right).
30 Upper Cheyne Row 2
The drawing room of the property measures 24’6” by 15’4” and is the main entertaining area in a property that the selling agent lauds as having 25 windows.
30 Upper Cheyne Row 3
The dining room is located on the ground floor and has doors onto a courtyard garden.
30 Upper Cheyne Row 4
The dining kitchen is perfectly functional, but clearly any buyer will likely rip it out and replace it with something a little more modern.
30 Upper Cheyne Row 5
One of five bedrooms in the four-floor house.
30 Upper Cheyne Row 6
The courtyard garden is enclosed and private. Note the security measures which includes bars on the windows and spikes on the entrance gates to the parking area above.
30 Upper Cheyne Row 7
The Catholic Church of Our Most Holy Redeemer and Saint Thomas More stands opposite the house where a murder most horrid occurred on 29th November 2004. The church was used as an air raid shelter during the Second World War and on the night of Saturday 14th September 1940, when 100 people were sheltering in the crypt, a high explosive bomb hit the building. It killed 19 people, but amazingly “the overall fabric of the church did not suffer major damage.”
30 Upper Cheyne Row 8
A floor plan of the 2,196 square foot property currently offered for sale for £4.5 million by The London Broker.