Monstrous child killer David Boyd will serve at least 29 years behind bars for murdering little Nikki Allan to silence her after luring her away to sexually abuse her.
Paedophile Boyd tricked the seven-year-old into going with him, with the intention of carrying out a sex attack. When she screamed at what he did or tried to do to her, he forced her into a pitch black derelict building, then smashed her skull with a brick and knifed her 37 times.
The killer evaded justice for more than 30 years, adding to the torture of her parents Sharon and David, which was laid bare in their statements read to Newcastle Crown Court as Boyd was locked up. The court heard how three decades of pain, anger and frustration have taken a heavy toll on Nikki's parents and the wider family. Now, after a long battle, they finally have some closure after advances in DNA techniques nailed Boyd as the culprit.
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Sharon, 57, who could not face going into the courtroom for the sentencing hearing, said in a statement read to the court by prosecutor Richard Wright KC that her little girl's murder had "destroyed" her family's lives.
She said: "Nikki was a bright and sparky child who was always a mammy's girl. She had a beautiful smile and was loved. I cannot put into words how I felt when I heard Nikki was missing and was ultimately found murdered."
She described the "horror" of a 1993 trial when innocent George Heron was found not guilty after being falsely accused of the heinous crime . Sharon said Northumbria Police said at the time they were not looking for anyone else in connection with Nikki's murder.
Sharon added: "After the acquittal I was accused of being a bad mother." She said she felt people were angry with her rather than with the killer and she had to fight for justice.
She said: "It became part of my life. "That incurred great stress, and impacted her physical and mental health to the point she was sectioned and has spent periods of time in hospital.
She said she had sought information about the murder and challenged people she believed might have been covering for others, and that had even led to her own arrest. She added: "I've felt so frustrated over the years because I felt I had not been listened to.
"I speak to Nikki all the time and tell her I will never give up. I'm 57 and I've spent more than 30 years fighting for justice. My life and that of my family has never been the same since Nikki was murdered.
"By murdering Nikki, David Boyd destroyed the life of my beautiful daughter, my life and the lives of my daughters and grandchildren. We have not been able to live normal lives since that day."
Nikki’s dad, David Allan, said in his victim impact statement he feels “anger and hatred”, adding: “I know I will never be able to forgive the man responsible for her murder.
“I’ve never been able to walk past the building in which Nikki was found. I live close by and as it is on the main through road I pass and see it regularly and it’s a constant physical reminder to me. I think about Nikki lying on her own in the cold in that building that night. The building which, on the night she was missing and murdered I drove past countless times searching for her.
"The devastation I felt from that moment onwards, confirmed by the finding of her body, is indescribable. The man responsible for Nikki's murder has lived his life for 30 years whilst Nikki did not get to live hers."
On the night she disappeared, on October 7 1992, the youngster was seen "skipping to her death" behind a man in Sunderland. She had been lured her away by her killer as she waited for her mum outside a pub. Witness accounts described Nikki heading toward the derelict Old Exchange building with the man and she was described as appearing "comfortable in the company of her killer" - blissfully unaware of the horror that was soon to follow.
Piercing screams and unnerving noises were then heard from the area of the building by people who were in the area at the time. Whatever convicted paedophile Boyd did to her on waste ground behind the building, she lost her shoes and coat during her initial ordeal.
Residents and police spent the night looking for Nikki and the following morning her shoes and coat were found outside the Old Exchange building. A 16-year-old and his stepdad then made the horrific discovery of the youngster's badly injured body in the corner a dark room in the basement of the building.
The court heard she had been put through a 6ft 2 high window, smashed over the head with a brick before being stabbed in the chest dozens of times. She was then dragged by her ankles from the room where the attack happened down the the basement where she was dumped.
Jurors were shown pictures from inside the building - which Boyd knew well having been there just a few days earlier with another child - showing the scene of he attack, which was heavily bloodstained both on the floor and wall. Images also depicted drag marks leading to her body and blood on the stairs from her head bouncing off them.
Advances in DNA techniques led to a breakthrough in the case in recent years, with Boyd's DNA being found on Nikki's clothes in areas where he would have touched her to lift her through the window. That led to Boyd being arrested at his home in Stockton, sparking the beginning of the end of the mystery of who killed Nikki.
Jailing him for life, with a minimum term of at least 29 years, Mrs Justice Lambert said: “You decided to kill her, to silence her and prevent her from telling anyone that you had sexually assaulted her or attempted to do so.
“It would not have taken the seven-year-old long to appreciate she was trapped in that cold and dark building and that you were coming through the window to get her.
“The site of the of the fatal assault was as far away from the window as Nikki could have got on that ground floor, that is the far wall of the furthest room. No doubt that is where she ran to get as far away as possible from you.
“Her fear, as she saw you lurching towards you in the dark, is unimaginable. You found her standing or sitting against that far wall and it was there you struck her at least twice with a brick, fracturing her skull into several pieces."
She added: “You caused Nikki great mental suffering in the minutes before her loss of consciousness. After you pushed her into the building she must have quickly known you were coming after her to hurt her and there was nowhere for her to hide.
“She was in a cold, pitch black building. Her terror at what was to befall her as you stalked her in that building is unimaginable.
“This must have been a truly terrifying experience for this seven-year-old girl.”
The court heard Boyd has a total of 45 previous convictions, mainly for acquisitive crime. As well as the two sexually motivated convictions revealed during the trial - indecent assault on a nine-year-old girl and breach of the peace in relation to grabbing a youngster and asking for a kiss - it was revealed he was convicted in 1986 of indecent exposure when he ran by an adult female three times naked from the waist down. He told a psychiatrist he had been exposing himself to women since he was 16.
He was further investigated in 1997 for exposing himself to a 15-year-old girl. He admitted exposing himself to three young girls but was not charged despite his admissions.
Jason Pitter KC, for Boyd, said he has learning difficulties for which he requires support in his day-to-day functioning and has an IQ which is in the bottom 2% of the population.
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