31 years for prowler who killed A-level girl in park

A VIOLENT prowler was jailed for a minimum of 31 years yesterday for murdering a promising A-level student in an attack described as ‘every parent’s worst nightmare’.

Mark Buckley cut Ellen Higginbottom’s throat after ambushing her in daylight at a beauty spot.

Her body was found partially undressed and although police found no forensic evidence of a sex attack a judge said yesterday he had no doubt her murder was sexually motivated.

Judge David Stockdale told Buckley, 52, the facts of the case were ‘chilling’. ‘You subjected Ellen to a savage and brutal attack, inflicting many wounds, cutting her throat and killing her,’ he said.

‘Your attack on her was as cowardly and callous as it was brutal. You were armed with a knife and physically stronger than her. She simply did not stand a chance. What must have been going through her mind is beyond imagining.’

Detectives, who described the murder as one of the most brutal they had ever investigated, agreed it was ‘every parent’s worst nightmare’.

Ellen, 18, from Worsley, Greater Manchester, attended Winstanley Sixth Form College in Orrell. She was a talented singer and hoped to become a vet.

Peter Wright QC, prosecuting, told Manchester Crown Court that Ellen was revising at college on June 16 this year when she took a lunchtime break at Orrell Water Park. At 1.43pm she sent a Snapchat message to friends, Ellen and killer Mark Buckley joking: ‘I have been out for like 20 minutes and I’m already lost.’

Buckley had been prowling the area since 5.30am and had spoken to at least three women. A witness came forward to say that around 2.15pm she heard what she thought was a couple having sex in undergrowth. But the court was told it was likely she heard the attack on Ellen.

Buckley, who has a history of violence and served time in jail for arson, tried to conceal the schoolgirl’s body before returning at night with a spade to bury her. But he was disturbed by a police helicopter that was searching for Ellen, who had been reported missing.

Officers on the ground discovered her body. A spade and belt, which had been wrapped around Ellen’s feet and used to drag her body through a field of wheat, were found close by. Tests on them later revealed traces of Buckley’s DNA.

He had managed to slip away at the time but was arrested the following day. He admitted killing Ellen, but denied raping her.

Buckley, of Preston, offered no explanation for the killing and said he ‘must not be quite right in the head’. He admitted murder and was jailed for life, with a minimum term of 31 years.

‘She didn’t stand a chance’