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| Janet Commins: Stephen Hough guilty of 1976 rape and killing | Janet Commins: Stephen Hough guilty of 1976 rape and killing |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| A man has been convicted of raping and killing a 15-year-old girl in 1976. | A man has been convicted of raping and killing a 15-year-old girl in 1976. |
| Janet Commins' body was found on a school field in Flint, north Wales, by three children playing hide and seek. | Janet Commins' body was found on a school field in Flint, north Wales, by three children playing hide and seek. |
| Stephen Hough, 58, from Flint, was convicted of manslaughter, rape and sexual assault at Mold Crown Court on Thursday. He was cleared of murder. | Stephen Hough, 58, from Flint, was convicted of manslaughter, rape and sexual assault at Mold Crown Court on Thursday. He was cleared of murder. |
| Janet went missing after leaving her home to go swimming on 7 January 1976 and another man has already served six years for her manslaughter. | Janet went missing after leaving her home to go swimming on 7 January 1976 and another man has already served six years for her manslaughter. |
| Noel Jones, who was aged 18 at the time, admitted killing Janet and served half of 12-year prison sentence. | Noel Jones, who was aged 18 at the time, admitted killing Janet and served half of 12-year prison sentence. |
| However, he told the trial he was made a scapegoat by police because he was a Gypsy who could barely read or write. | However, he told the trial he was made a scapegoat by police because he was a Gypsy who could barely read or write. |
| Janet made plans to go swimming on 7 January, but her mother said she did not look well so could not go. | |
| She left her house without her parents knowing and left them a note saying she would be back by 20:30. | |
| She left the pool just after 19:30 and told a friend she was heading straight home - but she was spotted with two boys at about 20:10. | |
| A boy who reported seeing them said one of the boys with her was thin and fair-haired, while the other was an older-looking, about 17, and they were laughing and joking with Janet. | |
| Edward Commins reported his daughter missing at about 23:00 that night and her body was found four days later. | |
| Mr Hough was questioned at the time as his grandparents' house overlooked the area where Janet's body was concealed. | |
| He said he was stealing petrol from a vehicle in Flint that night and was subsequently fined for the offence. | |
| In 2006, a review of the scientific evidence in the case was carried out and DNA from a man was identified from samples taken from Janet's body. | |
| In 2016, Mr Hough's DNA was taken by police in an unrelated matter and a match was found, prompting his arrest. | |
| DNA matching Hough's was found on samples stored from the crime scene at the time and the jury heard it was a billion times more likely to belong to Hough than anyone else. | |
| The court heard Janet was killed during a sexual assault and there were signs her body had been left lying face down "for some time" before being moved to where it was found. | The court heard Janet was killed during a sexual assault and there were signs her body had been left lying face down "for some time" before being moved to where it was found. |
| Prosecutor Mark Heywood QC said Janet died "as a result of her neck and her external airway being compressed and blocked during that sexual assault". | Prosecutor Mark Heywood QC said Janet died "as a result of her neck and her external airway being compressed and blocked during that sexual assault". |
| Hough, who was 16 years old when he raped and killed Janet, will be sentenced at a later date. | Hough, who was 16 years old when he raped and killed Janet, will be sentenced at a later date. |