Legal win could see killer paedophile freed
A CONVICTED paedophile, who beat a child to death and dumped his body in Northumberland, has won a legal battle that could see him freed.
Dominic McKilligan was 18 years old when he strangled 11-year-old Wesley Neailey, from Newcastle, and dumped his body in a remote spot in Hexham. McKilligan was jailed for life on July 23, 1999, with a minimum 20-year term.
He has remained behind bars after being denied parole three times as it was ruled he was manipulative and a pathological liar. But now he has been granted a personal Parole Board hearing after taking his case to the High Court.
Wesley’s mum responded to the development by saying her son’s killer “should never be let out.” Speaking to The Sun, Liz, now 57, said: “When he has his hearing, I want to be in the room too so I can tell everyone exactly how he has destroyed my family.
“He is a deceitful, evil monster and monsters deserve to be behind bars.”
Wesley had gone out to the shops on his bike but never came home. It would later be revealed he was dead within hours of disappearing.
Detectives began to focus their attention on McKilligan. The convicted sex offender from Bournemouth had been housed in Newcastle after being held at Aycliffe Young People’s Centre in Durham. Wesley vanished from near his home, in Arthur’s Hill, Newcastle, on June 5, 1998. McKilligan had lured him to a derelict garage and killed him.
On July 23, 1999, a jury at Newcastle Crown Court took just two hours and 50 minutes to find McKilligan guilty of murder and rape. He eventually admitted to the boy’s death but claimed it was an accident and not a murder. However, McKilligan later successfully appealed his rape conviction, meaning he will not be on the sex offenders’ register following his release.