BREAKING: Dennis McGrory, who was cleared of raping and murdering 15-year-old Jacqueline Montgomery in 1975, has been convicted after DNA evidence in a second trial proved his guilt. SkyMartinBrunt reports. Latest: 📺 Sky 501, Virgin 602 and YouTube
A sex killer cleared of murdering a teenage girl nearly half-a-century ago has been convicted after DNA evidence in a second trial proved his guilt.
Jacqueline's father found his daughter's body when he got home. She had been raped, stabbed and strangled. She was lying on the floor of the front room, which showed signs of a struggle. The law was changed in 2003 to allow retrials of acquitted defendants if new and compelling evidence emerged and the Director of Public Prosecutions was convinced that each case was fair and in the public interest.In an exclusive interview the DPP Max Hill KC said:"A circumstantial case suggesting that McGrory had been at the scene of this murder became a compelling scientific case when DNA linked him to the body of Jacqueline Montgomery. That's what made the big difference here.
She said McGrory had become"wild with anger" after finding out that his ex-partner, with whom he had two children, was having an affair with a good friend of his. The defendant thought Jacqui would know where she was and he could force her to tell him. Jurors were shown other parts of the diary which gave a sad insight into her teenage life, including being dumped by a boyfriend. She wrote:"Just before we left the place Dave finished with me…I'll never know why."When her aunt Josie left the home she shared with McGrory, Jacqueline described how she went with her on a desperate trip north. She wrote:"We went to the housing people in Manchester.
"The circumstantial case, even with a page from the diary, was less than the scientific case we have now. And it sometimes happens that in circumstantial cases, judges will allow the evidence to proceed in front of a jury, sometimes they won't. So undoubtedly, judge and jury heard a certain amount of evidence 50 years ago, that was deemed insufficient. It's not for me to question that decision.
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