Police apologise to man accused of child murder as real killer convicted after 31 years

A POLICE force has apologised to a man wrongly accused of murdering seven-year-old Nikki Allan in 1992, after the real killer was finally convicted 31 years later.

Northumbria Police also apologised to the victim’s family for mistakes made in the original investigation of her murder and the length of time it has taken to bring 55-year-old David Boyd to justice.

After Boyd was convicted at Newcastle Crown Court, the force wrote to George Heron, the innocent man who was tried for the offence in 1993 and cleared on the directions of the judge.

Mr Heron was subjected to “oppressive” questioning and denied having any involvement in the murder 120 times during three days of interviews before making some kind of confession.

Det Supt Lisa Theaker led a complex reinvestigation, which began in 2017 and culminated in Boyd’s conviction last week. She said: “In terms of the earlier [1992] investigation, it has been well publicised that the interviews that were conducted back in the day were oppressive and some of the evidence was misrepresented before George Heron ‘confessed’, and we know the judge excluded that confession.”

Asst Chief Constable Alastair Simpson has written to Mr Heron, who was understood to have had his face slashed while on remand in the 1990s and had to leave Sunderland despite being cleared. He was taken in by a religious order.

After Mr Heron was cleared, police said they were not looking for anyone else in connection with Nikki’s murder, although Boyd remained at large.

Mr Heron has provided a statement, which will be read out to the court when Boyd is sentenced on May 23.

Mr Simpson’s letter states: “I have had the opportunity to read your victim’s impact statement, and appreciate the effects your arrest, charge and trial had on you, and continue to have.

“On behalf of Northumbria Police, I would like to apologise for the mistakes that were made in the investigation and I hope [that] the conviction of Mr Boyd will finally bring closure on this matter for you and allow you to move on with your life.”

Det Supt Theaker said the investigation team were certain Boyd was the only person responsible for Nikki’s murder and that no one assisted him.

During the reinvestigation, which she led and continued to manage despite moving to Cleveland Police, the team looked at more than 1,000 men who could have been linked to the inquiry. This inquiry has not identified any further offences that Boyd could have committed.

Det Supt Theaker said that now the trial had finished, the team would be able to share information with Nikki’s mother, Sharon Henderson, who had campaigned for more than 30 years to bring justice for her daughter, to reassure the family that no one else was involved in the murder.