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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
National
Seamus McDonnell

How the gruesome murder of a teenage girl lay unsolved for years - until DNA evidence revealed the truth

The body of 15-year-old Louise Sellars was discovered in a field five miles from her home on the day after she went missing in 1995.

She had been savagely beaten and strangled.

Soon afterwards, police believed they had the man responsible for the Wigan schoolgirl's devastating murder.

Officers had immediately set about to finding Louise's killer, and began to focus on people living in and around Appley Bridge.

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But, despite detectives finding the man they believed to be responsible, there was not enough evidence to tie local youngster Darren Ashurst to the scene.

It would be years before one vital clue would bring him to justice.

Now, the devastating murder which left Louise's family bereft and baffled police is the subject of a new TV show.

Greater Manchester Police continued to dig into the murder, bringing Ashurst in for questioning and picking holes in the stories he told about his whereabouts.

They built evidence against him, including reports of his car spotted on the evening in question being driven erratically.

Darren Ashurst was the prime suspect as police investigated the killing (PA)

Those investigating the murder believed that they had found their killer.

But, without definitive evidence placing Ashurst in the area where Louise's body was found, the trail began to run cold.

It was not until three years later, when the files were reopened by a cold case team working with new techniques, that the truth finally began to come out.

Police analysed a cigarette butt found at the scene of the killing and were able to match the discarded roll to Ashust's profile.

Det Supt Peter Mockett (left) and Det Ch Insp Gordon Evans at the spot where murdered schoolgirl Louise's body was found (PA)

In 2000, five years after Louise was killed, her family were finally handed justice when her killer appeared before a judge and was handed a life sentence.

Ashurst, who was 21 at the time of the murder, was found guilty by a jury at Manchester Crown Court.

He has since served his sentence and was released from prison in 2020.

Floral tributes are left at the bus stop where Louise was last seen (PA)

Now the saga is set to be the subject of a new TV show.

Murdertown is a documentary series which looks at how some of the UK's most gruesome murders have impacted the surrounding communities.

In each episode, TV and radio broadcaster Anita Rani visits the towns and local communities where murders took place to re-tell the tragic episodes through the testimony of investigating police officers, local journalists, friends and relatives.

The episode on Louise's death will take place at 9pm tonight (Monday, October 11) on the Crime & Investigation Channel.

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