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| Man jailed for bus station murder | Man jailed for bus station murder |
| (20 minutes later) | |
| A man has been jailed for life for the murder of a grandmother he sexually assaulted and mutilated in a bus station toilet 12 years ago. | A man has been jailed for life for the murder of a grandmother he sexually assaulted and mutilated in a bus station toilet 12 years ago. |
| Ian O'Callaghan, 38, had denied attacking 66-year-old Shirley Leach at Bury Interchange in January 1994. | Ian O'Callaghan, 38, had denied attacking 66-year-old Shirley Leach at Bury Interchange in January 1994. |
| But a jury at Manchester Crown Court found him guilty after hearing that traces of his blood were found on a door handle at the scene. | But a jury at Manchester Crown Court found him guilty after hearing that traces of his blood were found on a door handle at the scene. |
| O'Callaghan, of Wragby Road, Bury, will serve a minimum of 28 years in jail. | O'Callaghan, of Wragby Road, Bury, will serve a minimum of 28 years in jail. |
| Mrs Leach, a widow from Brandlesholme, Bury, had been to visit her daughter in hospital on 5 January 1994. | Mrs Leach, a widow from Brandlesholme, Bury, had been to visit her daughter in hospital on 5 January 1994. |
| She was waiting for a bus home when she went into a toilet cubicle and was attacked. | She was waiting for a bus home when she went into a toilet cubicle and was attacked. |
| Being attacked in those circumstances must have been quite horrific Mr Justice Henriques O'Callaghan, who was 25 at the time, sexually assaulted her with a bottle, strangled her and then mutilated her body by cutting off her right breast. | |
| But during the killing he cut himself, leaving vital DNA clues which led to his arrest 12 years later through a combination of luck and science, the court heard. | But during the killing he cut himself, leaving vital DNA clues which led to his arrest 12 years later through a combination of luck and science, the court heard. |
| After a road accident earlier in 2006, O'Callaghan was arrested on suspicion of drink-driving and police took a DNA swab, which matched the killer of Mrs Leach. | |
| The court heard that O'Callaghan has a string of convictions for sex offences. | |
| He collapsed in the dock and began weeping as Mr Justice Henriques told him his minimum tariff before parole is considered. | |
| 'Taking a trophy' | |
| Describing the 38-year-old as a "sexual deviant", the judge told him: "You attacked her in a most vicious and violent way." | |
| He said O'Callaghan may have decided to amputate her breast to destroy evidence, but added there was a possibility he had been "taking a trophy". | |
| "You had a propensity for violence and sexual misconduct towards women who were strangers to you, as your three previous convictions demonstrate," the judge said. | |
| "The victim was vulnerable, she had mental and physical suffering inflicted upon her before death. Being attacked in those circumstances must have been quite horrific." |