This is an incomplete list of unsolved murders in the United Kingdom that were committed between 1980 and 1989. The list excludes any murders in Northern Ireland related to The Troubles, or that are related to IRA bombings which occurred in England.

Victims believed to have been killed by the same perpetrator(s) are grouped together below.

Year Victim(s) Location of body or bodies NotesJanuary 1980Mohammed ArifAttacked in Nelson, Lancashire, died in hospital18-year-old Arif was beaten with a stick in Southfield Street, Nelson, on 4 January 1980. Four people interrupted the attack and the assailant then began to move away from the scene, but he went back to strike Arif one more time before running off between some flats. No arrests have taken place over this killing.January 1980Leonard McIntoshMuswell Hill, London19-year-old McIntosh was knifed to death at a party in Muswell Hill on 12 January 1980. A man was charged with the musician's murder and the jury at the subsequent trial reached an impasse, but he was cleared at a retrial. This man would later be found guilty of the December 1984 murder of Anthony Smith (knifed to death at another party) and the October 1985 murder of PC Keith Blakelock (attacked in Tottenham by rioters using various weapons), but his conviction for Blakelock's murder was quashed in November 1991.February 1980David ThomasLiverpoolThomas, a 24-year-old former boxer, was battered over the head with a metal instrument with sharpened edges after leaving a wine bar in Hardman Street, Liverpool, on Friday 1 February 1980 at about 10:30 p.m. His body was found a week later on derelict land off St Bride Street.February 1980Tracy MainGlasgowMain, 13, was stabbed seven times in her home in a Gorbals tower block when she was off school due to illness on 5 February 1980. Both of her parents also lived there but were at work at the time. A neighbour of theirs – a man in his 40s but with a mental age of eight – was charged but acquitted after the court was made aware that he was not told while under arrest that he had a right to remain silent.February 1980Elizabeth McCabeDundeeMcCabe, a trainee nursery nurse aged 20, was strangled to death and dumped naked in Templeton Woods after parting company with a friend and leaving a nightclub on 11 February 1980. A former taxi driver was charged with murder in 2005 but found not guilty by a majority decision at the conclusion of his trial in 2007. A suspect in the initial murder inquiry, an apparent DNA link to him was later discovered, with the odds of the DNA belonging to someone unrelated to him being 1 in 40 million. Following the verdict, the police said they were not looking for anybody else, although after the rules on double jeopardy were changed in 2011, allowing the possible retrial of a previously acquitted suspect, the case was reviewed again.