Police have reopened an investigation into the killing of two 11-year-old boys in Merseyside in 1980.
John Greenwood and Gary Miller were found badly beaten and hidden under a mattress at a rubbish tip in Whiston, near Liverpool. They died in hospital and an autopsy found both had suffered head injuries.
A man was tried for their murder but acquitted in 1981. Police were criticised for interviewing the man – who had a mental age of 10 – without a guardian or lawyer present.
The case has been reopened 36 years later after a Sunday Times investigation unearthed new evidence and witnesses.
Greenwood’s younger sister, Deborah Lewis, who was two when he was killed, said: “Losing the boys in such an horrific way was devastating for both families and has been heartbreaking to cope with. The fact that no one has been convicted for their murders has made it so much harder.
“For 36 years we have lived with the frustration and the fear that we could be sitting next to their killer on a bus, or walking past them on the street. The murder of a child in a family causes so much pain to everyone, the very least we deserve is to find the evil person that did this and put them behind bars.”
The case was reviewed in 2008 when it was found that items of forensic evidence had been lost or destroyed.
DCS Paul Richardson told the newspaper that the failure to reopen the case before now was “completely unacceptable”.
In a statement he added: “This is a tragic case and the families of both boys quite rightly want justice. This was a high-profile case at the time and I am sure that people in Whiston will have information which could help us identify the person, or people responsible.”
Merseyside police’s serious crime review unit has asked for anyone who saw Greenwood and Miller on Saturday 16 August 1980 to make contact.
