Officer: I will never forget finding Elaine
The police officer who found schoolgirl murder victim Elaine Doyle’s body has told how he will never forget the moment.
Retired constable Alan Stewart has spoken publicly for the first time about discovering the 16-year-old’s body in a lane just 40 yards from her home in Greenock.
The June 1986 murder investigation only concluded five years ago when ex-soldier John Docherty was sentenced after cold case investigators discovered his DNA on Elaine’s body.
“It was the first call that morning, just after 7am, a code 44,” said Alan. “I had never heard of it, but I kept the codes in my hat and when I checked, it said murder.
“When I got there I saw the body of a female, naked, lying on her side.
“I was the unlucky one, the first there. It wasn’t nice standing there with no one round about, not knowing what had happened to her or who she was. That’s the part I will never forget.”
Elaine had gone to a disco in the town the night before and decided to walk home afterwards, a 15-minute stroll.
At Docherty’s trial, Alan was the first in the witness box.
Inanew documentary, he said: “When he was charged, I knew I would be in the witness box – a number of the witnesses and senior police officers from the time were now deceased.
“I was trying to do my best for the family.”
In 2014, Docherty was sentenced to a minimum of 21 years for Elaine’s murder.
Murdertown: Greenock, Crime + Investigation channel, 9pm, October 28