The conviction of David Boyd, more than 30 years after he killed schoolgirl Nikki Allan, has given fresh hope to the family of another murdered child.
Boyd was this week jailed for life after a jury found him guilty of killing seven-year-old Nikki in Sunderland in 1992.
The 55-year-old had escaped justice for more than three decades until a DNA breakthrough enabled detectives to link him to his horrific crime.
And now the brother of 11-year-old Allan Graham, who was murdered in 1970, has told of his hope that he too will see justice served one day.
Fred Baron said: "I followed the Nikki Allan case, I hadn't realised what he had done to that lassie, it was horrific.
"But when I read about cases going back all those years getting answers it does give me a bit of hope. It shows it's possible."
Paedophile Boyd, from Stockton, tricked Nikki into going with him, with the intention of sexually abusing her. When she screamed, he then forced her into a dark, derelict building in Sunderland before he smashed her skull with a brick, and then knifed her 37 times, Newcastle Crown Court heard.
Allan, who lived in Gateshead with his mother Mary Wells, had been spending the weekend with his brother Denis, now 79, and his late wife Moira at their home on Gerald Street in Benwell when he disappeared.
He made the short walk from the terraced house to a sweet shop at the bottom of the road on the afternoon of Saturday, January 24, 1970, but was never seen alive again.
Allan was found strangled in a water-filled ditch at Callerton Grange Farm, near Ponteland, the next day. It was thought he had been lured to his death as he walked the 50 yards back to his brother’s house.
Yet who killed Allan remains a mystery.
Boyd was finally brought to justice after advances in DNA techniques led to his profile being found on Nikki’s clothes.
And Fred remains hopeful a similar breakthrough could be possible with his brother's case.
Northumbria Police detectives have been reviewing Allan’s case since the Chronicle highlighted it as part of an Unsolved Crimes series in 2014 – which prompted a new witness to come forward.
While Fred grows more and more frustrated with every year that passes without his brother's murder being solved, he is pleased for Nikki's family.
"I'm so happy for Nikki's family," he said. "For anyone to get justice in something like this is amazing. I know what it's like waiting for answers."
A Northumbria Police spokeswoman said: “Unsolved murders are all subject to periodic reviews and if any new information comes to light about this case, our detectives will make sure it is fully investigated. If you have information that could help detectives with Allan’s case, or any of our unsolved cases, then please call us.”
Call Northumbria Police on 101 or the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
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