Sports Calendar

Lesley, who had learning difficulties, was born with a heart problem and spent the first year of her life in hospital. At the age of 11 she weighed only 3st (19kg) and was 4ft (1.2m) tall. She looked younger than she was.

She was running an errand to the shops for her mother when she was kidnapped by Castree. Miss Garrett recalled her “enchanting” daughter during the trial — the first time that she had spoken publicly about her for many years.

“She was a little rogue at times, she was a little imp. She loved her home, she loved her family, she loved her sisters, she loved her brother, she loved the dog, she was just enchanting.”

Miss Garrett recalled how her daughter set off to get a loaf of bread one October Sunday in 1975 armed with a pound note and wearing the Bay City Rollers socks she had pinched from her sister. Lesley’s fully clothed body was found three days later.

The long trail

October 5, 1975 Lesley Molseed reported missing after running errand to shops

October 8 Lesley’s body found eight miles away on moorland. She had been stabbed 12 times

December Stefan Kiszko, a former Inland Revenue clerk, arrested. His confession to Lesley’s murder is later retracted

July 3, 1976 Ronald Castree abducts and assaults girl, 9, at derelict house in Rochdale

July 21 Kiszko convicted and sentenced to life by Leeds Crown Court

May 1978 Kiszko’s appeal fails

February 1992 Conviction quashed by three appeal judges after scientific evidence rules him out as the killer

December 23, 1993 Kiszko collapses and dies at home

May 11, 1994 Dick Holland, a former Detective Superintendent, and Ronald Outteridge, a retired forensic scientist, are “summoned with charges of doing acts tending to pervert the course of justice” after an inquiry by Lancashire Police into the apparent failure to disclose crucial evidence

May 1995 Court rules out prospect of prosecution for the two men

1999-2000 New scientific evidence rules out Kiszko

May 8, 2001 West Yorkshire Police relaunch the murder investigation into Lesley’s death

February 5, 2003 Fresh appeal for information on the BBC One programme Crimewatch UK

April 8, 2003 Police reveal they have 90 new suspects as a result October 1, 2005 Ronald Castree gives DNA sample after his arrest for unrelated offence. It proves a complete match with sperm found on Lesley’s underwear

November 6, 2006 Castree charged with murder

November 12, 2007 Castree convicted at Bradford Crown Court

Source: Times database

Times Recommends

• The real-life adventures of Tintin the spy
• Our universities face a radical upheaval
• Doctor Who