Police actions during a murder investigation in 1976 - North Wales Police, August 2016
In 1976, a teenage girl was found dead in North Wales. A post-mortem established that she had died of suffocation during a serious sexual assault. A man was charged with her murder after reportedly admitting to the offence. He was subsequently convicted of manslaughter, and served six years of a 12-year sentence.
In 2016, a second man was arrested in connection with an unrelated rape allegation. A sample of his DNA matched DNA from the 1976 crime scene, and the man was ultimately charged with the rape and murder of the girl. He was found guilty of rape and manslaughter in 2017, and sentenced to 12 years’ imprisonment.
The man who was originally convicted alleged that the police had coerced him into making a confession. His conviction was quashed and he was wholly exonerated at the Court of Appeal in 2019.
This matter came to our attention in August 2016 after the Senior Investigating Officer who led the reinvestigation raised concerns about discrepancies in the evidence obtained during the 1976 investigation.
We also investigated allegations that an officer who chaired an unsolved crimes meeting in 2010 at which the 1976 murder was discussed failed to take action to undertake a more complete review of the murder or additional examination of forensic potential; failed to recognise that a potential miscarriage of justice may have taken place; and failed to disclose new information to the Crown Prosecution Service to assess the safety of the conviction of the man charged with the murder in 1976.
Our investigators interviewed three former officers under criminal caution, and obtained a written account under misconduct caution from a serving officer.
Investigators also interviewed a number of witnesses, including the man originally convicted of the offence, reviewed material from the original murder investigation, and sought advice from expert witnesses in relation to the man’s confession statements and other documentary evidence pertaining to his confession.
At the end of the investigation we were of the opinion that there was insufficient evidence against the officers to support the allegation that their actions could amount to an offence of Perverting the Course of Justice, or Misconduct in Public Office.
Furthermore, we were of the view that there was insufficient evidence against the officers to support a finding of case to answer for a breach of the Discipline Code.
We also found that the officer involved in the subsequent review, who chaired an unsolved crimes meeting in 2010, had no case to answer and did not breach the (current) standards of professional behaviour.
We concluded our investigation in September 2018 but waited until all legal proceedings had concluded before publishing its outcomes.