DNA evidence helps convict man of Elaine Doyle's murder after 28 years

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/jun/17/dna-evidence-murder-elaine-doyle

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A man has been convicted of murdering a teenage girl in 1986. Elaine Doyle, 16, was found dead in a lane less than 50 yards from her home in Greenock, Inverclyde, 28 years ago.

John Docherty, 49, was found guilty on Tuesday of killing the teenager as she was returning home from a disco in the town.

During the 50-day trial, prosecutors said Docherty, of Dunoon, Argyll and Bute, forced her to the ground and killed her. She had been strangled.

Docherty denied the charges, claiming someone else was responsible, but jurors at the High court in Edinburgh convicted him of the murder by a majority verdict.

Elaine was last seen alive by two friends after she left the disco in the town's Laird Street on 1 June 1986. Her body was found the next day in a lane off Ardgowan Street.

In the three decades following Elaine's death, police interviewed thousands of people, but made little progress in the inquiry. But advances in forensic science and DNA technology finally helped to snare her killer.

In 2005, a full forensic review of the case was carried out by forensic officers from the Scottish Police Authority.

The scientists decided to re-examine the tapings taken from Elaine's body, which had remained sealed for nearly 20 years, in the hope of obtaining DNA evidence. They found a full male DNA profile on a taping taken from her back, and another profile for the same man mixed with Elaine's DNA on a taping from her face.

As part of the police investigation, Docherty provided a DNA sample voluntarily on 12 May 2012. It was a one-in-a-billion match, and he was arrested and charged in March last year.

He was charged with attacking her and removing her clothes before forcing her to the ground and placing a ligature around her neck and strangling her.

He denied the charges and lodged special defences of alibi and incrimination.

But after evading justice for nearly 30 years, on Tuesday jurors found him guilty of the crime.

In a statement released through Police Scotland after the conviction, the teenager's mother, Maureen Doyle, thanked officers and staff who had worked on the inquiry for the past 28 years.

She said: "Particular thanks must also go to Mr Frank Mulholland, the Lord Advocate, who was kind to my late husband, Jack, when he met him three years ago and who has followed the progress of the inquiry since 1986, and Mr John Scullion, for prosecuting the case at court. The people of Inverclyde who have lived this nightmare with us for the last 28 years and have always supported our family.

"The result at court doesn't make our day-to-day living any easier – the pain doesn't go away – but my son John and I take comfort that we now have justice for Elaine, which is all we, especially her dad, Jack, campaigned for."